r/bayarea • u/Prestigious-Hour6707 • 5d ago

YOOO PG&E WTF Work & Housing

800sq foot apartment. 2 people. Are. You. Kidding. Me.

Called PG&E to tell them they made a mistake. They said “hmm no it looks like the meter is working fine. Nothing we can do, that’s the price.”

No appliance change. No lifestyle changes. And even if we had, how the F*CKK could a 1bd apartment create a $630 bill?? Also yes, the previous bill. On me for not checking our auto payments. Just assumed they wouldn’t be more than $120….!? Dumb assumption on my part

I hate PG&E.

^I know it’s a hostile statement. But I think we can all agree an exception can be made for PG&E…

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u/Pandonia42 5d ago edited 5d ago

Eh, regardless.... heating a 2 bedroom apartment should not cost a significant portion of your rent. Particularly when that utility company is raking in record profits while driving up rate hikes and taking out loans to update infrastructure that is a 100 years old and tends to light the state on fire every summer

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u/Confirmation_Email 4d ago

If OP's place used to be heated by steam radiators, it likely has 50-100 year old insulation, windows, and doors. If their heating used to be included, they're probably used to keeping it hot and toasty in all weather. If their neighbors have been managing their usage better and kept their places significantly cooler, then OP's apartment would literally be losing heat from every side, which is extremely expensive when you're using a cost-intensive heating method like resistive electric.

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u/relevantelephant00 5d ago

Yeah well I certainly agree with that...it's preposterous that PG&E gets away with this shit. But rage-baiting on this sub always turns political and yet for some reason I rarely see people clambering to elect a true progressive who isnt beholden to corporate monopolies. This sub loves to complain but rarely offers alternatives to their boogeyman (Newsom).

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u/Pandonia42 5d ago

My personal belief is that you can not change a corrupt system by working within the system

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u/nextcardplease 4d ago

Who's not already beholden with a practical chance?

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u/eugay 5d ago

And said progressive would do what? Nationalize PG&E? That would just mean we end up paying the same amount just via taxes. Not really believable that this would reduce the actual costs at all.

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u/PoeticumEstAbsurdum 5d ago

Municipalizing PG&E would render it no longer a for-profit enterprise, and even though salaries for maintenance, construction, and administration would still be paid, this would indeed still be covered by usage fees and taxes but without consideration for the needs of investors.

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u/Dont_Think_So 5d ago

Which sounds great but is definitely not the main problem with pg&e. They posted a net profit margin of 9.7% last year, which yeah it would be good if we didn't have to pay that but I think OP would still be almost as upset if their $630 bill was only $565. The problems with PG&E are deeper and more systemic than "we pay then too much in profits."

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u/DarkMenstrualWizard 5d ago

How would we be paying the same amount, if we're not paying corporate and admin salaries??

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u/eugay 4d ago

Are you under the impression that government pays less per a given amount of work that needs to be done?

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u/TruthHertz1 5d ago

“ progressives” are the liars that told the world nuclear is bad.

Deal with it.

Vote for people that will bring in Nuclear. It’s the ONLY answer.

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u/WockySlushie 5d ago

OP is actually an idiot though, this bill is 100% their fault. Electric heaters are one of the most expensive ways to heat a living space.

Im currently paying ~300 a month to heat a whole house using two wall mounted heat pumps units. My thermostat is perpetually set to 72 and these things have been running nonstop this winter.

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u/nextcardplease 4d ago

Better than centeal heating? First year home owner here. Hate that we have to heat all rooms.

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u/WockySlushie 4d ago

It’s going to depend on your rates.

Heat pumps vs gas heating is going to be a tossup depending on pricing.

Heat pumps vs electric heater is a landslide victory for heat pumps. Expect a ~40% lower electric usage with a heat pump.

Central forces air can be either a heat pump or a gas burner.

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u/nextcardplease 4d ago

Pretty sure it's a gas burner

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u/DaxterK 3d ago

That makes sense! OP must own the apartment they live in to put in the two mounted heat pumps. I wonder what that cost you btw? I'm sure it was under 600 dollars right? Right?

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u/WockySlushie 3d ago

LG 12,000 BTU heat pump. On Amazon for $579.99. So quite literally yes, just under $600. These things are cheap nowadays!

It’s a window mounted unit. So no apartment ownership needed.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/WockySlushie 2d ago

Most renters have windows, which will accept comparable systems. I would know because I have rented lol.

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u/Drapabee 5d ago

I don't know how heating a 2 bedroom apartment in the bay even CAN cost that much. I live in a divided up old ass Victorian with piss poor insulation. I wear sweats and a cozy robe, and have a heat pad to sleep on with lots of covers. There's a space heater if I really need it, but I think I've used it like twice this whole month.

Where are they living that it gets cold enough for a bill that high?

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u/portmanteaudition 5d ago

The rates are literally mostly paying for anti fire measures, more extreme weather than anticipated, and actual cost inflation of e.g. labor

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u/Pandonia42 5d ago

While also allowing for record-breaking profits and expansive bonuses. And zero responsibility to use past profits to update infrastructure

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u/Party-Independent-38 5d ago

PG&E CEO made a $14 million salary. :/ I honestly wonder if she has to pay for her power.

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u/Big-Profit-1612 4d ago

CEO didn't make $1M salary. Made $1m salary, $17 total comp.

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u/Mediocre_waste 3d ago

Biden gave them 50 mill this year

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u/portmanteaudition 5d ago

You seem to misunderstand the rate methodology for CPUC

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u/Pandonia42 5d ago

I don't really need justification for a company that is making record-breaking profits while setting the state on fire and passing those costs to their customers.

Particularly when the CPUC has already been tried and convicted of unethical communication with the company they're supposed to be regulating. But I bet they're totally legit now that they're passing every rate hike.

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u/portmanteaudition 5d ago

^ Willfully ignorant are the poorest of poor

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u/Beardmanta 5d ago

It's about $50 a month by my math.

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u/Ok-Fly9177 5d ago

I have friends who keep it on 75 degrees

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u/outkast8459 5d ago

Ok…but regardless using electricity as your sole form of heat is wildly resource intensive. 10 years ago when I was living in Brooklyn I had a similar set up and it also cost me $600 to heat a 450 sqft. 1 bedroom.

This is on the landlord to fix.