Join TAHOE SPARK: Fair Energy Pricing from Liberty Utilities

Liberty Utilities is proposing yet another rate increase for its customers, threatening the financial stability of countless people living across South Lake Tahoe, Placer, El Dorado, Alpine, Sierra, Mono, and Nevada Counties. This campaign is your call to action, your opportunity to protect your hard-earned money and advocate for fair energy pricing. Here’s what you need to know:

The Alarming Facts

• Liberty is asking for a 19.1% increase in its current general rate case application.

• In the last rate settlement, only the vacation rental/second homeowners customers were negotiating rates-shifting rate increases onto the permanent residents who live here.

• Residential Permanent Non-CARE rates will increase 23%, at 40.3 cents/kWh it’s over 3x’s the national average.

• Page 7 – 9 of the marginal costs and rate design notes Liberty proposes to consolidate the residential permanent and non-permanent rate schedules into a single residential schedule.

• Peak energy demand is consistent with visitation demand, when homes are often used as mini hotels, more consistent with a commercial demand.

• In the Lake Tahoe region, vacation rentals make up a significant portion of the housing stock. Approximately 12% of the housing stock was officially listed as vacation rentals in 2019, with numbers notably rising. This means that a large portion of the housing market is dedicated to short-term and vacation stays, which can impact the availability and affordability of long-term housing for residents and impact peak demands of energy as well as increase wildfire risks, including emergency response.

• Liberty is increasing rates, stating wildfire insurance went from $7M to $37M with no supporting information.

• Liberty’s shareholders and executives continue to rake in record profits and bonuses yearly, while most of our permanent residents are struggling to pay the energy bill.

Join along with TAHOE SPARK and other ratepayer advocates to hold Liberty accountable and ensure that rate increases align with the annual cost of living and that demand and risk-based pricing is distributed to those who create it. TAHOE SPARK is a 503c4 with energy and land use professionals who has hired a legal team and expert witnesses to participate in the rate setting process to assure residents have a voice with the California Public Utilities Commision.