It’s the only store for dozens of miles. PG&E’s latest rate hikes could put it out of business

Twelve years ago, when Tammy and Tim Babcock saw businesses closing in rural northeast California and families moving to bigger cities, they purchased the Big Valley Market in Bieber, with the hope of revitalizing the dying town. 

Since then their grocery store has become crucial to the day-to-day lives of residents in the surrounding communities, especially to the 200 or so people living in Bieber, about 250 miles north of Sacramento.