Average gas bill expected to decrease by $140 relative to January

East County News Service

February 28, 2023 (San Diego) – After hitting a historic high in January due to unprecedented natural gas market conditions in the West that resulting in a doubling of consumers' gas bills, San Diego Gas & Electric announced today that the March natural gas commodity price has declined by approximately  83% compared to January 2023, plunging from $3.45 per therm to $0.60 per therm.

The typical residential customer’s gas bill (commodity plus delivery charges and other mandated fees and taxes) is expected to decrease to about $85 in March, from  around $225 in January. This is the second month in a row that natural gas commodity prices are going down. The reduction in wholesale natural gas price is driven in part by the restoration of service to an out-of-state pipeline.

East County News Service

February 22, 2023 – The storm has caused power outages amid frigid weather in some parts of East County. While power has been restored in most areas, power went down in parts of Borrego Springs last night due to weather affecting SDG&E equipment, and is not expected to be restored until this evening.  Borrego resident Nikki Symington posted on Facebook, “I am freezing. No electricity since 9 last night."

According to SDG&E, “Last night at its peak 11,000 SDG&E customers were without power during the night, in addition to momentary outages caused by high winds. Crews have made significant progress in restoring thousands of customers and are working to restore remaining customers as quickly and safely as possible.”

The utility states that to protect the safety of its customers, employees and communities, the company has taken proactive steps to prepare for winter storms this week, with the strongest storm due this weekend. A news release from SDG&E states, “In anticipation of these storms, SDG&E increased the number of field crews and equipment available to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. The company’s meteorology team is also monitoring weather conditions minute-by-minute to help provide situational awareness to crews working hard to maintain the infrastructure that serves our communities. However, preparedness is a community effort, and the company encourages all of its customers to have a plan in place in case of unplanned outages.”

To help customers prepare for the upcoming storm, the company is sharing the following safety tips to help keep you and the region safe:

Source:  SDG&E

November 21, 2022 (San Diego) - San Diego Gas & Electric customers looking to save money are encouraged to take advantage of a new statewide program offering rebates of $20 - $500 for energy-efficient water heaters, room air conditioners and smart thermostats.

East County News Service

September 6, 2022 (San Diego) – You’re invited to join SDG&E on Wednesday, September 7 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in a virtual workshop in wildfire safety and public safety power shutoff preparedness. Find out how you can make a difference.

First live demonstration of bi-directional charging since launch of the federal cross-sector collaboration initiative to rapidly commercialize technology

Source: SDG&E

July 26, 2022 (San Diego) - Today, San Diego Gas & Electric announced that it has successfully deployed an innovative technology that enables eight electric school buses to put electricity back on the grid when needed such as on hot summer days. A collaborative effort between SDG&E, the Cajon Valley Union School District and locally based technology company Nuvve, this is the first vehicle-to-grid (V2G) project to become operational in Southern California, helping to advance clean air and climate goals while also bolstering grid reliability. 

California Climate Credit to offset natural gas bills by as much as $171.40, hopes to encourage residents to invest in clean energy options

Source:  SDG&E

March 27, 2022 (San Diego) - In the coming months, San Diego Gas & Electric’s (SDG&E) residential customers will receive a break on their utility bills – up to $171.40 in bill credits, thanks to the California Climate Credit program. Administered by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the program is part of the state’s efforts to fight climate change.

Fraudulent, yet sophisticated, robocalls tell customers that their service will be disconnected within the hour and demand immediate payment

Source: SDG&E

February 13, 2022 (San Diego) – SDG&E is warning of a new round of scammers targeting utility customers. The robocalls tell customers that their power will be turned off within the hour and direct them to press “1” to reach customer service, where they demand immediate payment to keep service in place. This scam is troubling because the calls sound professionally produced and claim to connect customers to the billing and collections department. If the scammers do not reach a person on their first call, then they will likely call back or leave a message with the same instructions.

By Miriam Raftery

November 25, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – SDG&E has shut off power to 5,311 customers as of 10 a.m. Thanksgiving morning.  Another 47,934 are at risk of outages amid a red flag warning for extreme fire danger and high winds. 

So far, these are the communities without power:  Alpine, Boulevard, Descanso, Jamul, Pala, Pauma Valley, and Potrero as well as the Campo, Cuyapaipe, La Jolla, Pauma, and Viejas reservations.Many more areas are on a list of potential outages to come.

View an outage map and click on your community for estimated power restoration times:  https://www.sdge.com/residential/customer-service/outage-center/outage-map   Some areas are listed as likely to be without power until Saturday.

SDG&E has opened several community resource centers where residents can get water, ice, snacks, and preparedness supplies, car power inverters, solar-powered batteries, radios, and update on outages.  View map at https://www.sdge.com/resource-centers.

Update November 24, 2021:  SDG&E has widened its list of possible outage areas to include more than 53,000 customers. See the updated list of impacted communities here:  https://www.sdge.com/psps-dashboard

By Miriam Raftery

November 22, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) -- Before you stock up on turkey and other groceries for a feast, be aware that San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is asking customers in 38 local communities to prepare for potential Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) over the Thanksgiving holiday.

By Miriam Raftery

July 3, 2021 (San Diego) -- The San Diego County Office of Emergency Services is asking all County residents to fill out a survey about the Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program.  The SDG&E program to shut off power during high fire-risk conditions has sparked controversy across the backcountry among residents left without electricity to power their homes, businesses, wells pumps, and other vital needs. The deadline to complete the survey is July 13.

The survey asks residents whether they received adequate notification of such outages and whether they experienced financial losses, among other details – the first step toward documenting impacts of the program and potentially leading to changes.

Company filed application in 2018 asking regulators to get rid of state-mandated charge and provide bill relief to customers

Source: SDG&E

March 15, 2021 (San Diego) -- San Diego Gas & Electric customers will no longer have to worry about getting hit with the state-mandated High Usage Charge (HUC) – a substantially higher price for electricity that kicks in for customers once their energy usage exceeds a certain threshold.

East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts

December 2, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) – SDG&E has shut off power to 22,000 homes tonight as winds up to 76 miles per hour have been recorded in parts of East County.  A red flag warning is in effect starting tonight through Saturday at 10 p.m. for inland valleys and mountains countywide due to low humidity and strong winds with gusts of 60 miles per hour or more.

SDG&E earlier  warned 88,700 customers of potential for prolonged public safety shutoffs that could last several days. Tonight, power has been shut off to thousands of residents in areas that include Alpine, Boulevard, Campo, Deerhorn Valley, Dehesa, Descanso, Jacumba, Jamul, Julian, Pine Valley, Potrero, Ramona, Rancho San Diego, Spring Valley, Valley Center, Warner Springs, Wynola and more. Power could be off through Sunday or Monday, according to SDG&E.

Brian D’Agostino, SDG&E’s director of fire science and climate adaptation, will provide a video briefing daily before 3 p.m. for the duration of the weather event. These video briefings will be available on SDG&E’s YouTube channel. The link to today’s briefing is available here. SDG&E will also be posting hourly updates on its NewsCenter at sdgenews.com, as needed.

East County News Service

Nov. 25, 2020  (San Diego’s East County)  – Stock up on coolers to keep your Thanksgiving leftovers chilled.  Due to a Red Flag Warning  issued by the National Weather Service and forecasted Santa Ana winds, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has notified approximately 2,700 customers in the communities of Alpine, Campo Reservation, Crestwood, Descanso, Julian, La Posta Reservation, Manzanita Reservation, Pala, Santa Ysabel, Santa Ysabel Reservation, Valley Center and Viejas Reservation, that it may have to turn off power to reduce wildfire risk beginning early Friday morning.      

 “The last thing we want to be telling any of our customers right now is that we may have to shut off power given the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and the ongoing COVID pandemic,” said SDG&E’s Chief Customer Officer Scott Crider. “Public Safety Power Shutoffs are a last resort to prevent wildfires, and our employees are dedicated to doing everything we can to minimize impacts should it come to that. We’re hoping Mother Nature cooperates, but in an abundance of caution we have reached out to our customers so they can be prepared.”

Several hundred SDG&E linemen, troubleshooters and support personnel will be working on Thanksgiving Day and through the holiday weekend to ensure that power can be restored as quickly and as safely as possible, should safety power shutoffs occur.