Silicon Valley Power (SVP) will ask the Santa Clara City Council to increase rates across the board by 10%. The utility will make the request at the Dec. 5, 2023 Council meeting and ask that the rate increase go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024 with the new rates appearing on the February bills.
SVP says the rate increases are necessary to “complete maintenance and operations of the electric system and cover the rising costs of producing, purchasing and transmitting power as well as equipment and material costs, which has increased by double and triple digits.”
According to the agency, “Electric system improvements include replacing old power poles, crossarms and transformers to prevent outages and maintain high-quality service. The rate increase and system improvements will help ensure a reliable power system for Santa Clara in the future.”
The Council meeting will start at 7 p.m. on Dec. 5, 2023. Residents can attend the meeting in person at the Santa Clara City Council Chambers located at 1500 Warburton Ave., Santa Clara, CA 95050. The meeting will also be available on Zoom.
SVP has already raised rates twice in the past 12 months. In January 2023, the utility raised rates 8%. It raised rates again by 5% in July 2023. If this latest rate increase goes into effect, the rates will have increased by a compounded 24.74% in a 12-month period.
Meanwhile, PG&E recently received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to increase its user rates by 13% in January 2024. PG&E says its rate increases are to help the utility transition power lines to underground in the wake of recent wildfires.
Silicon Valley Power offers a variety of financial-assistance and energy efficiency programs for customers looking for ways to reduce energy costs. It has also Visit SiliconValleyPower.com/Residents or call 408-244-SAVE (7283) for more information.
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I would like a “surcharge” on commercial electrical use based on power consumption and the number of on-site employees. This will of course be directed at the 50 or so “cloud” facilities that are consuming considerable amounts of electricity. A big company with a lot of on-site employees would obviously pay less.
1). How much are you charging the Data Center for power usage? They should be charged at an equal amount if not more than the citizens pay per usage. You say Data Centers make the city a lot of money, shouldn’t that trickle down to the users in the city. Three increases in a year shows me your lack of judgment in projecting future costs. How long have you known about these improvements needed. Did they just all of a sudden come up?