SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Liberty Utilities has announced the implementation of a base service charge of $31.50 to residential customers’ bills starting in September.

Liberty says this is not an additional charge or an increase to rates. Rather, the charge is a fixed service charge that replaces a portion of customers’ volumetric charges that are based on electricity use.

This change is in response to new California State legislation, Assembly Bill 205, which mandates the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to change the structure of electric bills for investor-owned utility customers.

Due to the reduced volumetric totals, the base service charge structure aims to make the transition to clean all-electric vehicles and homes more affordable for customers.

The charge also creates a more equitable allocation of the physical infrastructure costs, according to Liberty’s webpage explaining the change.

Liberty explains that when fixed costs like system maintenance, wildfire mitigation, reliability upgrades, and regulated programs are all charged to customers through volumetric rates, high-usage households end up paying a disproportionate share of the physical infrastructure costs, while low-usage homes may not contribute proportionally to the upkeep of the system they rely on for grid connectivity.

Liberty expects the switch to result in little to no impact on average customer bills.

The utility company has provided a dedicated page explaining the base service charge: california.libertyutilities.com/south-lake-tahoe/residential/rates-and-tariffs/base-services-charge.html

The base service charge is available at a discounted rate to Liberty’s Care and Care Plus income-eligible programs.