L.A. City Council Wants State To Investigate Possible SoCal Gas Billing Spike

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles City Council Friday urged the state watchdog of public utilities to investigate the recent rate increases by Southern California Gas Co.

The council unanimously voted to support a resolution calling on the California Public Utilities Commission to look into the sudden spike in bill amounts.

Councilman Mitch Englander, who represents the Porter Ranch area, said his office has "gotten scores of gas bills ... stacks of them, emails, phone calls" from residents of his district and other parts of the city and as far away as Riverside County.

Customers want to know why their bills are hundreds of dollars "when they're normally a fraction of that." Englander said one woman who lives in an apartment received a bill this week for $167, while her bill from the same day last year was $14.35.

"Palmdale, Lancaster, Riverside, San Bernardino ... People are reporting their bills are in excess of $500," the councilman said. People who live in the city Los Angeles are not the only ones complaining. Other Southern Californians have been seeing their bills jump exponentially.

However, Englander pointed out that the increase may be due to recently installed smart meters, which he said may not be calibrated correctly.

Some councilmembers expressed concern that the bill increases may be linked to the Porter Ranch methane gas leak, since it occurred around the same time.

The utility has denied any connection between bill increases and the gas leak that was temporarily stopped Thursday. According to the company, rising bills are the result of increased usage during colder winter months.

But Councilman Mike Bonin, who represents Venice and neighboring areas, said he has been receiving complaints in the past several weeks. The bill increases do not make sense because it has not been very cold lately, he added.