Investigation of Abnormally High Gas Bills to Take Place
February 03, 2016
Recently, there has been a large volume of calls to elected officials across Los Angeles from constituents expressing concern over abnormally high bills from the Southern California Gas Company. Affected constituents have reported receiving SoCal Gas bills 4 to 6 times higher than their usual rate for this time of year.
On Feb. 2, Councilmember Mitchell Englander submitted a resolution to the Los Angeles City Council calling for the California Public Utilities Commission to investigate the unusual rate increases experienced by SoCal Gas customers this month across Los Angeles County.
There is concern among constituents that the unusually large increases in the billed amount are either improperly linked to the ongoing natural gas leak at the Aliso Canyon storage facility or due to a flaw in new “Advanced Meters” which electronically transmit gas usage data to SoCal Gas.
“This bill spiking comes at a time when SoCal is experiencing a major disaster at its Aliso Canyon facility,” said Councilmember Mitchell Englander. “I am simply not buying that these two incidents are not related. It appears that the entire Los Angeles basin is now feeling the effects of the Aliso Canyon Gas Leak.”
SoCal Gas has responded to these concerns by highlighting that Los Angeles is currently experiencing its coldest winter in 5 years and has indicated customers are often unaware of increases in their energy usage during winter months.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) regulates privately owned electric and natural gas companies and is currently conducting an investigation of the natural gas leak at the Aliso Canyon storage facility.
