Fresno restaurant owner hit with $21,000 PG&E bill for one month, nearly double his rent - KMPH Fox 26

Fresno restaurant owner hit with $21,000 PG&E bill for one month, nearly double his rent

A Fresno small restaurant owner says he has had enough after his PG&E bill was nearly double his rent.

Manuel Perales, the owner of Yosemite Falls Cafe Owner says, his June utility bill came out to nearly $21,000. His rent? $10,000.

“How do you pay that bill?" he said.

He says it doesn't make sense to receive that astronomical bill even during the hottest months of the year.

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He's not the only one outraged with the increase of PG&E bills.

He shares that one of his servers told him her monthly bill was $1,000.

"This is a young lady with two kids. She goes, you know, we can't afford that," he said.

Daisy Saldana, a server at Yosemite Falls Cafe says, her bill last month was around $700.

"It has been hot but that is a little too extreme, $700," she said.

For May, her bill was at $400.

Luckily, she says she splits it with three roommates, or else it would be her whole paycheck going towards the electricity bill.

For Yosemite Falls Customers, it's the same story.

Dale Manasco said, "It's ridiculously high and especially when you're on a set income. I don't have the best-paying job and what I make, seems like it's going to the PG&E bill."

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Other customers who overheard a FOX26 News crew speaking to Perales say, they couldn't believe his utility bill was double his rent to keep his business running.

That, on top of inflation and minimum wage recently going up.

"We heard that when he told you. Shocked, just shocked. Then, I look at the menu and I'm like... their prices are great." said Mola Allen, who was eating at the restaurant.

As for Perales, he says PG&E can raise their rates to whatever they want and as their customer, he can't do anything about it. Nor can he switch to another company for cheaper rates because there is no competition.

“What am I supposed to do? Should I raise my hamburgers up to $30.00 so I can pay for that? Then, I won't have any customers," he explained.

He says 60% of his customers are senior citizens who are on a set income.
If I were to raise my prices up 25% like PG&E does, they wouldn’t be able to come in. I just don't have the heart to do that. I wish PG&E had a heart. You know, I wish that Sacramento had a heart. Our legislators had a heart because somebody needs to do something about this.

Perales shared his bill from last year around the same time this year. It was around $14,000.

FOX26 News did reach out to the California Public Utilities Commission via phone and email to find out why customers are seeing such high rates.

We are still waiting to hear back from them.