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PG&E’s Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) fee is an “exit fee” charged to CCA customers as authorized by state law. The PCIA fee is charged on a “per Kilowatt-hour”(kWh) basis. You 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.
During 2022, PG&E increased its rates several times. As a result, customers felt the impact of rising rates, and rate increases will continue through 2026 as a power supply shortage, infrastructure repair and inflation drive energy prices higher.
PG&E has published its intended 2023 rate changes. If approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, PG&E’s pending request would result in a revenue increase of $3.125 billion for 2023 and additional increases of $1.018 billion in 2024, $755 million in 2025 and $561 million in 2026. Find out more here.
Fortunately, Pioneer customers will experience a significant decrease in both the 2017 and 2021 Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) vintage fees.
Placer County customers who have been with us from the start are classified as “2017 PCIA Vintage” in the chart below. El Dorado County customers who joined in early 2021 are classified as “2021 PCIA Vintage.” Grass Valley and Nevada City customers are classified as “2023 PCIA Vintage.”
|
Jan. 2023 ($/kWh) |
Jan. 2024 ($/kWh) |
Difference ($/kWh) |
Difference (%) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
PG&E Generation Rate |
$0.14305 |
$0.16886 |
$0.02581 |
18.0% |
|
2017 PCIA Vintage |
$0.00289 |
$0.01057 |
$0.00768 |
265.7% |
|
2021 PCIA Vintage |
$(0.00397) |
$(0.00562) |
$(0.00165) |
-41.6% |
|
2023 PCIA Vintage |
$0.01309 |
$0.00752 |
$(0.00557)
|
-42.6% |
The PCIA is decreasing because many of the expensive power-purchase agreements PG&E entered into, which are used to calculate the PCIA, have termed out. At the same time, an increase in power supply prices has made existing PG&E assets more valuable. These factors create downward pressure on the PCIA rate.
This is great news for Pioneer customers, who will save money on PCIA and generation rates in 2024.
The Vintage Year is typically the year that your 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 through 2024. Grass Valley and Nevada City has Vintage Years of 2023 and 2024. Future customers may have different Vintage Years.
| Rate | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
E1/TOUC |
$0.01057 |
$0.00912 |
$0.00705 |
$0.00671 |
$(0.00562) |
$0.00039 |
$0.00752 |
$0.00752 |
The rate table above represents rates as of January 1, 2024.
For customers with another rate tariff or another Vintage Year, please visit PG&E’s Rate Tariff Webpage.
To determine your applicable PCIA, please look at your PG&E bill. If you need assistance, do not hesitate to call the Pioneer offices at (916) 758-8969.
In prior years, the PCIA was waived for all Medical Baseline customers. Starting in 2022, PG&E announced that medical baseline customers will begin paying a portion of the applicable PCIA fee. The implementation plan calls for a ramp-up schedule as follows:
Pioneer customers on Medical Baseline will continue to realize additional savings over PG&E’s rates.
Pioneer is the community voice and customer advocate. We are working toward protecting our customers’ right to choose energy providers, gaining more transparency of the PG&E PCIA fees and advancing legislation that benefits our communities at the state level and with PG&E. Pioneer Community Energy continues to challenge the PG&E PCIA fee methodology by:
| Vintage Year | Pioneer (E1)* | PG&E (E1)** | % Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2017 |
$0.13272 |
$0.156140 |
15.0% |
|
2018 |
$0.13246 |
$0.156140 |
15.2% |
|
2019 |
$0.13006 |
$0.156140 |
16.7% |
|
2020 |
$0.12820 |
$0.156140 |
17.9% |
|
2021 |
$0.12591 |
$0.156140 |
19.4% |
|
2022 |
$0.14284 |
$0.156140 |
8.5% |
|
2023 |
$0.14284 |
$0.156140 |
8.5% |
*Pioneer (E1) column includes generation rate, franchise fee surcharge (FFS), and power charge indifference adjustment (PCIA).
** PG&E (E1) column include generation rate and power charge indifference adjustment (PCIA).
If you have any further questions about PCIA fees, Vintage Years or energy-saving questions, please contact your Pioneer team at info@pioneercommunityenergy.org or call (916) 758-8969.
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