San Diego Gas & Electric this week briefed stakeholders on the utility’s proposal to increase monthly bills by about 8.6% in 2028.
SDG&E, energy regulators and ratepayer advocates will now spend roughly 18 months hashing out how much the utility spends to run and maintain its system. The complex process — called a general rate case — will set the stage for how much SDG&E’s 3.7 million customers will pay for energy between 2028-2031.
Jamie York, SDG&E’s director of general rate case and revenue requirements, said the rate request filed last month outlines a few key priorities.
"This includes maintaining safe and reliable service, as well as compliance with regulatory requirements; affordability, or managing costs with discipline; making investments that deliver measurable value to customers; and then applying lessons learned from prior GRCs," she said during a remote public workshop.
SDG&E wants to collect about $3.8 billion from customers in 2028, a roughly 8% bump over what the company estimates it will charge customers next year. Under the current proposal, in 2028, electric bills would rise by about $14 over 2027 estimates. Natural gas bills would jump about $8.
SDG&E said several factors are driving the increase, including rising wildfire insurance costs and ongoing system maintenance and operations.
Kaitlin Barlow, an SDG&E regulatory case manager, said managing wildfire risk and hazardous vegetation makes up a big slice of the utility’s proposed electric operations budget.
“We’re focusing on grid hardening through our undergrounding and covered conductor programs to reduce exposure to catastrophic wildfires, and the costs and future ratepayer risk that come with those,” she said during this week’s workshop.
SDG&E wants to harden about 600 miles of “high-risk” electrical infrastructure over the four-year rate cycle starting in 2028.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is wading into SDG&E’s rate request proceedings as many San Diego County residents struggle with their bills. About a fifth of SDG&E residential customers are at least a month behind, according to CPUC’s Public Advocates Office. The office found SDG&E’S average residential electric rates rose 98% over the last 10 years.
Ratepayer advocacy groups are planning to formally protest SDG&E’s rate request, including the San Diego-based Utility Consumers’ Action Network. Staff attorney Jane Krikorian said her team is digging into some of the major cost drivers, like wildfire mitigation and electric distribution.
“As far as UCAN is concerned, it’s a big increase from the 2024 authorized amount,” she said, referring to SDG&E’s previous rate request cycle. “Which drives these affordability issues that are very concerning to ratepayers.”
Ratepayer advocates have until July 20 to intervene in SDG&E’s rate request proceedings.
The CPUC's five governor-appointed commissioners have final say over SDG&E’S application.
