PUC Scales Back Rate Increase for Edison

The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday scaled back a rate hike for Southern California Edison Co.’s 4.6 million electricity customers.

Rates that were originally approved to climb an average of 5%, effective April 14, will now rise 2.2% instead, said Edison, a unit of Rosemead-based Edison International. The PUC ordered the change after the Department of Water Resources lowered its estimate of how much power it needs to purchase on behalf of utilities this summer.

Rates will increase an average of 4.3% for residential customers and 1.7% for small and medium businesses. Prices per kilowatt hour for large commercial and industrial users will not change, while agricultural and pumping customers will get a reduction of 3.9%.

The disparity in the changes in rates paid by different customers is designed to make the charges reflect the actual costs of providing energy, Edison said.

The utility said it needed the rate increase in part because of higher prices for natural gas.