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Last June, when Congressmen Tasha Boerner Horvath (D-Encinitas) and Brian Maienschein (D-San Diego) won unanimous support from the Joint Legislative Audit Committee for the state audit of San Diego Gas & Electric, the public interest Local complaints about the high fees of the business were as ubiquitous as the discussion of the Padres. But with some surprising news this week, San Diegans may look back on those times as the good old days. The utility’s announcement of more than doubling over the course of this month was something of a punch in the stomach, rising from around $105 to $225 for moderate usage. San Diego already had the highest electricity bills of any metropolitan area in the country except Honolulu. So, as of this week, 25% of his 1.3 million individual customers are already bills he is 30 days or more past due.
Extremely cold weather across the country has reduced natural gas inventories and raised wholesale costs, citing SDG&E saying it has no choice but to raise rates. It is still not easily accepted.
A state audit, due out in March, will review the official basis for rate hikes and examine how the California Public Utilities Commission handles rate hike requests. Given the CPUC’s good history with regulated utilities, this audit could come as a surprise. But the 2009 state law mandating an annual analysis of interest rate settings found no bombs. The report points to the high costs of meeting clean energy and electrification mandates and the requirement to make utility infrastructure fire resistant. Who supported these policies? Most state legislators.
Good news may be on the horizon as solar power gains market share while driving costs down. But in the short term, relief is unlikely. More likely than that is the biggest push to date to transform for-profit utilities into non-profit government agencies. Such a state acquisition of troubled Pacific Gas and Electric is already on the table. Defenders of SDG&E have no doubt that utilities have followed the rules. But rules that protect utility investors over customers may not last long in this world.
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