California ratepayers getting electric bill rebates

Reporting from Sacramento —  Almost 11 million customers of the state’s for-profit electric utilities will be getting credits averaging $27 per household on either their April or May bills.

The rebates come courtesy of a complex California program that requires polluting industries to pay for the right to release into the atmosphere carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to global warming.

The rebates account for a portion of the revenues generated by the so-called Cap and Trade program. Most of the proceeds are dedicated to climate change mitigation and other environmentally beneficial activities. They include some funding for a proposed high-speed rail project that would link Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“The California Climate Credit is all about putting money back into the pocketbooks and bank accounts of millions of California households and small businesses, said Mary D. Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board. “This is an opportunity for them to use it to save water, energy and money and fight climate change too.”

According to the Public Utilities Commission, ratepayers at Southern California Edison Co. will receive $29 in credits on their April or May bills. San Diego Gas & Electric Co. customers will get $36 and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. households will get $25.

The rebate will continue twice a year until 2020.

Twitter: @MarcLifsher