Breaking down SDG&E's new base service charge coming to bills in October

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Starting in October, most SDG&E customers will see a new $24 charge on their monthly statement, listed as a “base service charge.”

"The base services charge covers pipes, wires, meters, the call center, everything that SDG&E already does for customers to ensure safe and reliable electricity," said Anthony Wagner, communications manager for SDG&E.

The utility company says it is not a new charge, rather classifying it as a reallocation. By cutting down rates by an average of 10% per kilowatt-hour, SDG&E says the service charge will be offset.

However, critics like County Supervisor Jim Desmond argue customers could actually still see their bills go up in some cases.

"If everyone’s paying the same amount, regardless of how much you use. So if you have solar or you turned everything off, you left the house for a month, you’re still going to be paying that 24 dollars a month," Desmond said.

The lower rates are also meant to encourage customers to adopt more electric and eco-friendly measures in their homes.

The change in bill structure is due to Assembly Bill 205, which passed in 2022, and a subsequent vote from the California Public Utilities Commission in 2024. 

According to the legislation, SDG&E cannot profit from the base service charge.

Whether that $24 charge ever increases is up to the CPUC or the state legislature, according to Wagner.

"They don’t say for how long, but that offset is going to go away in a few years," said Desmond of the rate reduction.

As for the status of SDG&E rates in general and how long that 10% reduction could last, Wagner says "there are certain regulatory proceedings on the horizon that have the capability of affecting rates in the future."

If you are enrolled in one of the bill assistance programs through SDG&E, the base service charge will be somewhere between $6 and $12 monthly.