Understanding Commercial Rates

Save Money with Pioneer

The number one priority for Pioneer Community Energy is offering competitive and stable electricity generation rates. Since 2018, Pioneer has saved customers $85 million.

Pioneer Commercial Rate Adjustments

In July 2024, Pioneer Community Energy’s Board of Directors voted to reduce rates.
Pioneer’s new summer rates have been lowered by an average of 5%.

Customers should take rate adjustment data into consideration when evaluating energy options and the pending financial impacts of energy choices.

For information on other rate-related topics, visit Pioneer’s Green100 and Time-of-Use pages below:

Pioneer has several different rate classes for business customers. Please review Pioneer’s rate sheets to learn more.

What is PG&E’s Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) Fee?

PG&E’s Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) fee applies to both bundled and unbundled customers and is charged on a “per Kilowatt-hour” (kWh) basis. Customers will find the PCIA fee on each month’s bill. PG&E is authorized to recover the difference in value between energy resources already contracted by PG&E before the shrinking of its customer base due to popular customer adoption of Community Choice Aggregators, like Pioneer Community Energy. PG&E uses what is known as a “Vintage Year” to determine this difference.

What is Vintage Year?

The Vintage Year is typically the year that a community made the decision to join a CCA, like Pioneer. The Vintage Year is identified by PG&E. Placer County has Vintage Years that range from 2017 through 2024, depending on the geographic area and start of CCA service. El Dorado County has Vintage Years of 2021 and 2024. Grass Valley and Nevada City has Vintage Years of 2023 and 2024. Future customers may have different Vintage Years.

Specific PCIA Fee Table

Rate	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
B1	$0.01057	$0.00917	$0.00719	$0.00687	$(0.00494)	$0.00082	$0.00765	$0.00765
B10	$0.01115	$0.00968	$0.00759	$0.00725	$(0.00522)	$0.00086	$0.00807	$0.00807

For customers with another Vintage Year, please visit PG&E’s Rate Tariff Webpage. To determine the applicable PCIA, customers should review their PG&E bill. Need assistance? Do not hesitate to contact Pioneer at 1-844-937-7466.

What is Pioneer Doing About PG&E PCIA Fees?

Pioneer Community Energy is the community voice and customer advocate. Pioneer is working toward protecting customer rights to choose energy providers, gaining more transparency in PG&E PCIA fees and advancing legislation that benefits that benefits Pioneer members at the state level and with PG&E. Pioneer continues to challenge the PG&E PCIA fee methodology by:

Engaging with the Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) across the state, through the California Community Choice Association to reduce PG&E PCIA fees.
Requesting that the CPUC make public the data that PG&E uses to create the various PCIA “exit fees.”
Eliminating PG&E Utility-Owned Generation from the PCIA calculations.

Choose Pioneer

Have questions regarding power generation rates, PCIA fees, or electric utility bill? Please contact the Pioneer customer service team by email at info@pioneercommunityenergy.org or over the phone at 1-844-937-7466. The Pioneer team will be happy to help with your power and your choice. For stable and reliable energy rates, enroll in Pioneer