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SANTA BARBARA NEWS-PRESS

California has become a thief’s paradise / C2

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Bonnie Donovan

Natural gas’ unnatural rate hikes

Suddenly, natural gas is more expensive than electricity!

Regarding the exorbitant Southern California Gas Co. bills we received last month, it appears that the cost of natural gas now seems to be double the cost of electricity, which traditionally was the reverse. And that conveniently works with the narrative, “Look, electricity is better after all.”

A Santa Barbara resident posted on Nextdoor, that after speaking with SoCal Gas regarding his next bill, he discovered it will increase to $550! Last month he paid $356, and he will be using approximately the same number of thermal units.

His take on the outrageous increases is that the SoCalGas’ natural gas utility has been structured similarly to the Southern California Edison/ Santa Barbara Clean Energy bills.

In the breakdown of the SoCal Gas bill, there now exists both delivery charges and commodity (usage) charges much like we now have with electricity.

“… The actual delivery charges have not changed much over the last year as these are the charges SoCal Gas uses to pay for the plumbing and gas infrastructure, which is essentially the maintenance of the system,” the Santa Barbara resident wrote on Nextdoor.