Pacific Power California customers set for 5 percent bill decrease

Pacific Power customers in Northern California will see a 5 percent reduction in their power bills under a decision finalized Thursday by the California Public Utilities Commission.

The decision, based on a filing originally made in early 2018, reflects the company’s reduced operating costs from prudent and efficient management including tax savings from the changes in federal tax law passed in 2017. The decision also approves company investments to improve customer service and reliability, and increase clean energy serving customers through local distribution projects, transmission system upgrades and repowering of over 900 megawatts of the company’s existing wind fleet.

“We are pleased to pass along these savings to our customers while we pursue our plans for a future where increasingly clean energy is delivered affordably and reliably,” said Stefan Bird, president and CEO of Pacific Power.

An average residential customer, using about 850 kilowatt hours per month, will see a bill decrease of $6, going from $142 to $136 per month.

Pacific Power’s 2019 Integrated Resource Plan, announced in October 2019, shows significant benefits to customers by transitioning to lower-cost renewable alternatives. Overall, the plan calls for adding about 7,000 MW of new renewable resources by 2025, and nearly 11,000 MW of new renewable energy resources over the 20-year planning period. The plan also calls for retirement of 16 coal-fired units by 2030. In December 2019, PacifiCorp announced it will retire Cholla Unit 4 in Arizona by the end of 2020. The unit retirements described in the IRP plan will reduce coal-fueled generation capacity by nearly 2,800 MW by 2030 and by nearly 4,500 MW by 2038 while maintaining reliability and affordability for customers.