The costly mistakes driving up your summer PG&E bill

This weekend, temperatures are expected to hit as high as 110 degrees in California’s Central Valley, and in the 90s to low 100s across the interior Bay Area.

The world is on course for what could be the hottest year on record due to human-caused climate change and a strenthening El Niño, scientists say — and despite the Bay Area’s relatively moderate climate, summer temperature extremes can have a sudden, outsized impact on household budgets.

California has the second-highest electricity costs of any state in the U.S. Mark Toney, the executive director of nonprofit consumer advocacy group The Utility Reform Network, said high rates and fluctuating weather patterns can make monthly bills unpredictable.

Electricity bills “have high volatility,” he said. “They can go up very quickly, before you know it, based on the weather that you really have very little control over.”

“It’s not like you did something wrong,” he added. “The unpredictability of the electricity bill, where it can be $75 one month and $400 the next, that’s what makes it so difficult for a lot of people to keep up. And why it’s so easy to fall behind.”

The most recent report from the California Public Utilities Commission’s Public Advocates Office indicated 24% of PG&E customers, or about 1.3 million people, are behind on their bills, by an average of $572. The report notes PG&E costs are up 69% in the past decade, primarily due to wildfire mitigation and liability costs, infrastructure investments, and costs related to the rooftop solar net energy metering program. 

PG&E has touted three rate cuts since the start of 2024, due to completing some of its wildfire and energy projects. And there is some relief on the horizon: The utility’s annual state-mandated electricity climate credit — $36.18 this year — will appear on August and September bills, totaling $72.36 in savings. 

The utility provider also has a program called HomeIntel that helps people find ways to reduce their electricity usage. James Tuleya is a senior energy coach for HomeIntel, based in Los Altos. He’s helped close to 1,000 people figure out how to plug energy leaks in their homes, including a San Francisco family that started saving $1,400 on PG&E bills annually with his tips.

Tuleya offered several recommendations to help trim your summer energy bills. 

Get your system serviced. A lot of people assume they can skip the annual tune-up on their HVAC system, Tuleya said. But if your unit is running low on refrigerant, that “has a huge impact on how well it operates and how much energy it uses to try to cool the home.”

He said the industry standard is to have it done every year; he recommends aiming for at least once every two to three years. HVAC technicians are probably pretty booked up right now handling emergencies, he said, so if you can’t find someone to come out in the immediate future, set a calendar reminder for November.

Make sure you’re using your appliances the right way. On a memorable visit to a home in San Jose, the owner told Tuleya that every evening, he cooled down all five bedrooms by turning on the ceiling fans a couple of hours before his family headed up for the night. 

That’s a fundamental misunderstanding of how fans keep us cool, Tuleya said.

Air conditioners and heat pumps work by cooling the air with refrigerants. Fans just move air around. It makes us feel cooler because the moving air evaporates moisture on our skin — the same reason a breeze feels good on a hot day. But without a person to cool, a fan isn’t serving any purpose.

“A fan only has value if there’s somebody in the room,” Tuleya said. “Running fans to ‘cool down the room’ doesn’t do anybody any good, it doesn’t save you any money.”

There is a different strategy that leverages your fans for cooling power: In the evening, after  the temperature outside drops below the temperature in your house, open a window, position a box fan or table fan in front of it, and blow the cooler air inside. For extra cooling power, position another fan at the bedroom door to blow the hot air out. That would have made a difference for the  San Jose homeowner, who was turning on the fans but leaving windows closed, Tuleya said.

Turn up the thermostat — just a bit. Each degree Fahrenheit you raise your thermostat (71 versus 70, for example) will save you roughly $40 to $150 per summer, Tuleya said. “Overcooling” — making the house colder than needed for comfort — is one of the biggest money-wasting mistakes he sees people make. 

“You should be comfortable but not overly comfortable,” he said. “You shouldn’t be walking around with a sweatshirt and long pants on.”

“Precool” before peak times. Yes, we just told you to turn the thermostat up. But perhaps counterintuitively, blasting the air conditioning before higher afternoon and evening rates kick in could help you save money by giving your A/C a break when power is the most expensive. The majority of PG&E customers are on the time-of-use plan that charges more for electricity between 4 and 9 p.m. At around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, Tuleya said, crank your A/C and let things in your house with “thermal mass” — walls, floors, countertops — get nice and chilled. Dial the A/C back by 4 p.m. and you’ll get some time in a tolerably cooled-off house before you need to run it again.

Close your drapes when the sun is out. Using one or two modern LED light bulbs to light a room takes a lot less electricity than running the A/C to keep a sun-warmed room cool, Tuleya said.

Check that you’re on the optimal rate plan.  The 4-9 p.m. time-of-use schedule is PG&E’s standard residential rate plan, and the one most customers are on. But you can check PG&E’s website to see if you’d save money on a different plan. Log into your PG&E account, click on the “Usage and Rates” tab, and select “Compare Rate Plans.” Select the account, then click “Manage Rate Plan.” You’ll then see available plans and a breakdown of the estimated yearly cost based on your usage data. You can change plans up to twice in a rolling 12-month period.

“You wouldn’t believe how many people are on the wrong rate plan or not optimized for it,” Tuleya said. “Particularly people with EVs, they’re charging their car at the wrong time.” 

What’s so special about 4 to 9 p.m., anyway? Michael Stadler is a former energy research scientist who worked at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory before co-founding Xendee, a company that helps people generate electricity at building sites with things like rooftop solar and battery systems. He said the late afternoon and early evening is when demand on the grid is highest as people arrive home from work and school. At the same time,  renewable power such as solar is winding down. Many utilities in California and other states have established these time-of-use rate plans to address the imbalance, he said.

PG&E also lists some tips on its website, including replacing and cleaning air filters regularly, using major appliances during off-peak hours, charging electric vehicles overnight, sealing gaps around doors and windows, and unplugging devices when not in use.  

Especially in the wake of all the Bay Area tech layoffs in recent years, people should take a closer look at PG&E’s income-based savings programs to see whether they qualify, Toney said.

For PG&E customers, the California Alternate Rates for Energy program, or CARE, offers a 30% to 35% discount on electric bills and a 20% discount on natural gas bills. People are eligible based on their household income or if they’re enrolled in certain public assistance programs such as WIC, CalFresh/SNAP, Medicaid/Medi-Cal and Supplemental Security Income. 

The Family Electric Rate Assistance Program, or FERA, gives income-qualified customers an 18% discount on their electric bills. Eligibility is based on gross annual household income and household size. For CARE, the income limit for a family of four is $66,000; for FERA, it’s $82,500.

FERA and CARE share one application; if you apply, PG&E will check whether you qualify for either program. Learn more about income-based eligibility guidelines and find out if you qualify at this link.

If you or another full-time resident in your home relies on energy for a medical need — for instance, if you use a respirator, oxygen generator, powered wheelchair, dialysis machine or apnea monitor, or if you need a refrigerator to keep medicine such as insulin cold, or depend on heating or cooling for conditions like multiple sclerosis or scleroderma — you are eligible to receive an extra monthly allotment of energy at the lower baseline price. Eligibility is based on medical need, not income. 

“I call it one of the best-kept secrets because people always assume, ‘Well, I have to be low-income to qualify for assistance,’” Toney said. “And this is one program where you don’t.”

Your doctor must complete a form for your application. See more qualifying devices and conditions and learn how to apply at this link. 

And in the long term, if you’re unhappy about your electricity bills, Toney said, your local representatives should be hearing about it.

“I’m a ‘call to action’ kind of person,” he said. “You’ve got to let your elected officials know on a regular basis, got to let the California Public Utilities Commission know on a regular basis, that you’re at a breaking point.”