Iconic LA delis eye-watering utility bill exposes ugly affordability crisis in California

Canter’s Deli, the nearly century-old Fairfax Avenue institution that has fed Hollywood and locals alike for generations, just got walloped with a massive $34,000-plus utility bill.At that price, you’d think they were mining bitcoin, not slicing corned beef.According to the California Post, Canter’s says its new utility bill is nearly $10,000 higher than it was in the past.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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Never miss a story If the taxes and the homeless problem in the neighborhood weren’t enough, now LA and California want to make it impossible for places like Canter’s to meet their bottom line.Canter’s blames rising electricity prices.The LA Department of Water and Power says that water and sewer costs, and not electricity, are the issue with the deli’s higher bill — suggesting a leak might be to blame for the bill spike.However, Canter’s is not buying it: “We’ve done nothing differently than we’ve done now for 95 years, yet our bill has skyrocketed,” Jacqueline Canter said.Typically, rising bills are not one-off misfortunes or rogue utility glitches.They are the predictable result of California’s decades-long obsessive romance with “green energy” ideology.Green energy costs more.

Even when it looks cheaper, it depends on massive subsidies.And it does nothing for the planet.

Not when China is pumping out coal no matter how many lights go out in LA.Policymakers treat reliability and affordability as optional extras, while chasing ever-more-ambitious renewable targets.The state’s average electricity price hit 27.63 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2025, more than double the national average.Commercial customers like Canter’s, which keep refrigerators, ovens, and HVAC systems running around the clock, cannot simply absorb these inflated rates.

They ...