WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Public utility company Pacific Gas and Electric Co., a subsidiary of PG&E Corp. (PCG), Friday said its residential customers will see flat to moderate increases in gas and electric rates from the start of 2012. The utility said the increases are in order to generate higher revenues to buy energy and invest in new plants and equipments.
The San Francisco, California-based company said average rates for residential gas customers will increase 1.8 percent over December 2011, while it will decline 0.3 percent compared to January 2011. Average residential electric rates will increase 2.4 percent over December 2011, and will rise 2.9 percent over January 2011.
Tom Bottorff, Senior Vice President of Regulatory Relations for PG&E, said, 'These revenues help us serve customers by reducing the frequency of electrical outages, improving the responsiveness of our call centers, providing more convenient services and, above all, continuing to upgrade the safety of our system.'
'Although electric and gas rates fluctuate from year to year, we have managed to keep them below the rate of inflation over the past five years,' Bottorff added.
PG&E Corp., which mainly serves in northern and central California, said electric rates and gas rates have not been affected by its costs stemming from the San Bruno tragedy.
PCG closed Friday's trading on the NYSE at $41.22, down $0.23 or 0.55%, on a volume of 1.6 million shares.
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