San Diego Gas & Electric earned $563 million in profit last year, according to the annual report filed Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
That’s down more than one-third from the year before because of a large, one-time charge to the company called “regulatory disallowances” — essentially, company management thought they would recover costs for which regulators are now telling them they’re on the hook.
Without that loss, SDG&E would have earned nearly $1 billion in profits.
The company charges among the highest rates in the country. Spokesperson Anthony Wagner attributes that to increasing costs for things like replacing aging infrastructure and reducing wildfire risks, and having to recuperate those costs from customers who tend to use less energy than other areas.
They now charge customers more than eight times what they did in 2007.
Their profits more than tripled between 2007 and 2024.
“They toast each other with champagne on their earnings annually, at the backs and the sweat and the threat of families not being able to pay their rent, not being able to keep up with their bills,” said Yusef Miller, a member of the Interfaith Coalition for Earth Justice.
That coalition is one of several community groups pushing the City of San Diego to create a publicly owned, nonprofit utility they say could charge lower rates.
To do that, the city would have to purchase SDG&E’s infrastructure, an expensive and potentially long process.
Public Power San Diego argues it’s worth it. Last year’s profits represent more than just wealth for SDG&E shareholders, said their program director Isaiah Glasoe.
“That’s families choosing between putting food on the table and keeping the lights on. It's the cost of you deciding if you can afford to keep turning on the AC during a dangerous heat wave,” said Glasoe. “And I think the question that arises to me is, is this morally right for SDG&E to be making a profit off of a basic human right?”
About one in five residential SDG&E customers were at least a month behind in payments at the end of January, according to a company report.
Wagner said the company works to keep bills as low as possible while still investing in their infrastructure.
