Did you know that SCE recently proposed a 40% electricity rate increase through 2028, on top of an already approved 10.6% rate increase for 2024?

Here’s how I found out about this sobering reality and how thousands of California homeowners, including myself, are avoiding it:

It started when I saw a familiar email waiting in my inbox… the electric bill.

I opened the online statement and was absolutely shocked by the numbers I saw on the screen. My bill doubled from the month before.

“This can’t be right…” I thought. But I grew more concerned (and confused) when I noticed that I used roughly the same amount of power…

As I read the public notice from SCE that was attached to my bill, I began to uncover a BIG problem.

The notice informed me that SCE filed a General Rate Case (GRC) application with the CPUC requesting permission to increase revenues for 2025-2028:

That’s a rate increase of over 40% in just 4 years for SCE customers, which would give the utility an additional $3.9 billion in revenue!

My jaw hit the floor…

According to SCE, they’re asking for this increase because “GRCs set rates that customers pay to fund SCE’s day-to-day operations, including maintenance for its equipment and electricity grid upgrades.”

The BIG problem is that the power grid is over 130 years old and becoming less reliable over time. This leads to increased maintenance costs for SCE because they continually have to:

And in order to cover these increasing maintenance costs, SCE is simply passing them down directly to their customers by raising electricity rates and fees!

This explains why half of our bill is made up of JUST delivery charges:

It’s no wonder why so many California homeowners, especially those on a fixed income, struggle to keep up with their power bills.

“What can I even do about this…?” I asked myself.

Pay for energy efficiency upgrades? Nope. Buy solar panels for 10’s of thousands of dollars? Not a chance. I couldn’t afford that and wasn’t exactly in a position where I could wait for a return on my investment.

I felt completely defeated. But with a few clicks, I’d soon discover the answer I was looking for…

It was the Power Purchase Agreement.

It’s a new program that allows California homeowners to immediately reduce their power bills by 30-50% by eliminating the delivery fees on their bill and avoiding the utility’s rate increases.

Homeowners are bypassing these charges by generating their own power with rooftop solar panels, cutting out SCE as the expensive middleman.

The homeowners using the Power Purchase Agreement to install solar panels didn’t win the lottery. They didn’t take any money out of their bank account, nor did they get a loan.

They just realized that by taking advantage of this program they could get the panels installed at absolutely no cost and effectively become their own utility company.

Now they’re enjoying a fixed rate for energy that’s as much as 30-50% cheaper than what they were paying to SCE.

If your home qualifies you won’t have to pay a dime. But keep in mind, at the end of the day the final decision is left to the utility.

If SCE were to give you the thumbs down after reviewing your application, you’ll be stuck paying their prices and will be subjected to their rate hikes. Just being honest with you… you’ll be stuck.

So the catch – not all homes qualify.