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The California Public Utilities Commission will return to Chico next Thursday (July 14) for a second local hearing on Pacific Gas & Electric’s application to raise rates in 2017. The public meeting will be at the Chico Elks Lodge, 1705 Manzanita Ave., at 6 p.m.

A previous forum on April 26 focused on residential electricity rates and also included a session on Cal Water hikes under the commission’s review (see “Sticker shock,” May 21, Newslines).

The CPUC now is accepting public comments about the entire proposal, or general rate case, submitted by the gas and electric utility to justify its requested increases. If approved by the CPUC, PG&E’s new rates would boost revenues by $333 million next year, $469 million in 2018 and $368 million more in 2019.