Lawmakers Send Gov. Newsom Letter Opposing Income-Based Utility Rate Charges

‘A change of this magnitude to the electricity rate structure should be more thoroughly vetted and subject to public discussion.’

A PG&E contractor works on utility poles along Highway 128 near Geyserville, Calif., on Oct. 31, 2019. Philip Pacheco/AFP via Getty Images

Republican state senators have asked California Gov. Gavin Newsom for his assistance in changing a law requiring utility regulators to charge customers based on income, in what critics are calling a “hard work utility tax.”

“We need to drive down the cost of energy in California and keep people here. That’s our goal,” state Sen. Brian Dahle, a Republican, one of eight senators who signed a letter on Nov. 27 to the governor on the issue, told The Epoch Times. “With this, the harder you work, the more you pay.”