By Marcie Wilde, General Manager
I’m sure many of you have heard about the ongoing challenges with Liberty Utilities on the east side of Plumas County, particularly in the City of Portola. We believe it’s important to be transparent with our community about how these rising utility costs are directly impacting our Portola location.
Over the past several years, we’ve watched Liberty Utilities increase its rates year after year. At what point do these increases become too much for our local businesses and community to bear?
As a cooperative, we operate on tight margins, with little to no profit at the end of the year. That is intentional. Cooperatives exist to serve the people who use them, not to generate profits for executives or shareholders. Our priority is reinvesting in the cooperative and the communities we serve.
But there is a limit to what a small business can absorb, and we cannot continue to overlook the impact of these substantial utility increases. Unlike many other expenses, we also don’t have the option of shopping around or choosing another electricity provider.
It is also important for our community to understand that the City of Portola and its city managers do not have the authority to set or approve electricity rates. Liberty Utilities operates within a state-regulated service territory, and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) oversees the utility and approves the rates it charges customers.
This means our local city leadership does not have the authority to simply select another electricity provider, reject rate increases, or lower our utility bills. Those decisions fall under state regulatory oversight. While our city leaders can advocate on behalf of residents and businesses, the ultimate authority over Liberty’s rates rests with the CPUC.
We believe it’s important for residents and business owners to understand where that authority lies. If we want meaningful change, our concerns need to reach the people and agencies with the power to make it happen.
Here are the numbers for our Portola location:
- 2024–2025: Electricity rates increased by 12.4%.
- 2025–2026: Electricity rates increased another 14.3%.
- Our average monthly electric bill: $3,439.
To put that last number into perspective, our average monthly electric bill is now twice what we pay in rent for our building.
How is this sustainable for a local cooperative, or for any small business operating in our community?
What message does this send to businesses considering opening in Portola? How can we encourage new businesses to invest here when the cost of simply keeping the lights on is becoming such a significant financial burden?
And perhaps most importantly, are these rising costs already contributing to businesses closing their doors?
We believe these are important questions that deserve attention. Our goal in sharing this information isn’t simply to complain about higher utility bills. It’s to bring awareness to an issue that affects the long-term economic health of our community.
Portola needs a business environment where local businesses can survive, grow, and thrive. Unpredictable and continually increasing utility costs make that increasingly difficult.
Our community deserves to understand the impact, and we believe it’s time we started having this conversation.
So, how do we make our voices heard?
The good news is that residents, business owners, and community organizations are not powerless. The CPUC has a public participation process that allows customers to share their concerns directly with the decision-makers responsible for approving utility rates.
Here are some ways we can get involved:
- Submit public comments to the CPUC. When Liberty requests rate increases, customers can submit written comments explaining how those increases affect their households, businesses, and ability to remain in our community.
- Attend public participation hearings. The CPUC holds public hearings, sometimes virtually and sometimes in person, where customers can speak directly to the commission about proposed rate changes.
- Contact our state representatives. Our Assemblymember and State Senator need to hear how these utility costs are affecting rural communities like ours. They can help bring attention to the issue and advocate for our region at the state level.
- Stay informed and get involved. Residents can sign up for CPUC notifications to receive updates about Liberty’s rate cases and opportunities to provide public input.
Individual voices matter, but a united community voice can carry even more weight. Sharing our experiences, providing real examples of the financial impact, and participating in the regulatory process are ways we can help ensure our concerns are heard.
We encourage everyone in our community, especially local business owners, to get involved. This isn’t just about one electric bill or one business. It’s about the long-term affordability and economic future of Portola and the surrounding communities.
As the General Manager of our cooperative, I want to make a commitment to our members and our community. I will not sit quietly and watch these rising utility costs continue to put pressure on our local businesses and the people we serve.
I commit to writing letters to the CPUC and our state representatives, attending public hearings and meetings when I can, and actively participating in the regulatory process. I will continue to bring attention to the financial impact these rate increases have on our cooperative and our community. I also commit to keeping our members informed and looking for opportunities to make our voices heard.
I may not have the authority to change who provides our electricity or what rates are approved, but I do have a responsibility to advocate for our cooperative and the community it serves. I take that responsibility seriously.
I encourage others to join me. Our community deserves to be heard, and I believe we have a responsibility to speak up for the future of Portola.