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A Fight to Replace SDG&E With a Nonprofit is Getting Serious

There’s currently an ongoing battle to decide whether there will be a nonprofit SDG&E replacement in San Diego. Here’s what you should know.

San Diego Gas & Electric is the primary electricity vendor in San Diego County, providing power and other services to millions of residents. However, many San Diegans are unhappy with the service, and are making moves to seek an SDG&E replacement.

More specifically, an organization called Power San Diego has launched a petition to gather signatures. If they get 80,000, there will be a ballot measure to replace SDG&E with a nonprofit energy provider run by the City of San Diego.

San Diego is known for its high electricity delivery rates. In fact, San Diego residents pay the most of any county in the U.S. for electricity. In late 2023, San Diego residents paid paid $0.475 per kilowatt hour for electricity — double the rate that those in Los Angeles pay, and slightly more than the second-place of Hawaii.

It’s for that reason that local residents appreciate the electricity bill credits that are periodically given. It’s also why recent SDG&E price hikes seem to add insult to injury for customers.

Creating a nonprofit power company, of course, will cost the city government money. However, according to CBS 8, the estimates for how much an SDG&E replacement will set back the city vary.

Power San Diego estimates that it would cost the city $3.5 billion to buy out SDG&E. Despite the municipal cost, the organization says that customer electricity bills could go down by about 20%.

On the other hand, an SDG&E political action committee gives a different estimate. The PAC, dubbed Responsible Energy San Diego, suggests that the buyout would cost the city between $11 billion and $13 billion.

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