B6.5 Natural gas fee
Create a utility fee for natural gas use.
Berkeley’s energy advisory committee recommended that the City seek authorization to adjust its utility taxes to make them proportional to the relative emissions of the City’s natural gas and electricity. (If you didn’t raise utility taxes overall, this would lower electricity costs while raising gas costs.) PG&E says it doesn’t currently have the ability to collect gas and electricity taxes at different rates. However, Berkeley’s 2020 ballot measure to raise both utility taxes 2.5% to fund climate action includes a provision to raise gas taxes an additional 2.5% if and when PG&E can collect a higher gas tax.