RIVERSIDE, CA (MPG) - Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco today released the following statement after Governor Gavin Newsom’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) approved Southern California Edison’s nearly 10% rate increase:

“Today’s decision by the Gavin Newsom’s handpicked PUC is a slap in the face to every hardworking Californian. Edison already saddles Southern California families with some of the highest electricity bills in the nation, and now the Newsom administration is rubber-stamping another rate hike that will push people further to the brink.

“Under Newsom’s leadership, Californians’ cost of living has skyrocketed. We are all paying more for gas, groceries, housing and utilities. As Governor, I’ll fight to end this cycle of rising costs and put Californians – not special interests like investor-owned utilities – first.”

Sheriff Bianco sent a letter to the Public Utility Commission earlier this week asking them to reject Edison’s rate hike, which would increase the average household’s electricity costs by $200 per year.

Southern California Edison provides electricity for nearly 15 million Californians across Southern and Central California, including residents in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange County.

To download a copy of Sheriff Bianco’s letter to the Public Utility Commission, click here.

Sheriff Bianco is the leading Republican candidate for Governor, according to recent independent polling. He raised more than $1.6 million from more than 8,100 individual donors in the last fundraising period, outraising nearly the entire field of Democrats and Republicans.

Learn more about Sheriff Bianco and his run for California Governor at www.BiancoforGovernor.com.