San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) marked a significant milestone this summer as the company moves away from being the region’s primary power buyer.
More than 80% of SDG&E’s customers now buy electricity from either San Diego Community Power or North County’s Clean Energy Alliance. Both were formed in 2019.
That number should jump to 90% next year when Oceanside and Vista make the transition.
California lawmakers opened the door to the shifting energy landscape when they passed Assembly bill 117 in 2002.
The measure allowed community choice aggregators (CCA), like the two in San Diego County, to take over the role of buying power. That was typically the domain of utilities.
The local CCA’s promised to buy power generated with renewable sources at a much faster pace than utilities. The goal is 100% renewable power which aligns with California’s climate goals.
That fundamentally changes the utility’s role.
“SDG&E will continue our primary mission of being an infrastructure company and providing best in class customer service,” said Anthony Wagner, an SDG&E spokesman.
The company will continue to maintain and expand the grid. The utility expects to see the demand for electricity double in the next two decades as the state electrifies the economy. That will require more transformers, power substations and transmission lines for the local grid.
The utility will also remain in charge of billing.
In fact, online accounts are getting an overhaul which focuses customer attention on what factors are contributing to their bill.
The simplified system will emphasize the three primary areas where customers will rack up charges.
“One would be a delivery charge,” Wagner said, which represents about half of the average bill. “That’s the pipes and wires that get the electricity to your home.”
The second is the actual cost of buying the electricity purchased by the CCAs which averages out to be about 35% of the bill.
And finally, there’s a third section that highlights the taxes and public purpose programs each customer is responsible for paying. That portion of the bill averages out to be about 15%.
SDG&E has 3.7 million customers, but only about 1.4 million electricity meters.
The North County’s Clean Energy Alliance serves Carlsbad, San Marcos, Escondido, Solana Beach and Del Mar. That’s about 100,000 electric meters. Oceanside and Vista will join next year.
San Diego Community Power is the larger CCA, buying power for 900,000 electric meters.
The CCA’s territory includes San Diego, Encinitas, and Imperial Beach. It also buys power for San Diego County’s unincorporated areas, La Mesa, and Chula Vista and National City.
“At the end of the day I think it’s a good thing for the community as well as the customer base because we’re a nonprofit, so most of our profits are going to go back into the community,” said Eddie Price, the Community Advisory Council chair for San Diego Community Power.
Interest in the idea surged in recent years as electricity prices spiraled upward.
There are 25 CCAs in California — including the two in San Diego — which buy power for residents in more than 200 cities, towns and counties.
“The process that was laid out in the legislation is actually working and benefitting the communities that actually do this throughout the state, not just San Diego Community Power but you know the other community choice aggregators throughout the state,” Price said.
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Matthew Bowler/KPBSRising sea levels, more frequent wildfires and increased heat are the most pressing climate change impacts the San Diego region is facing. -
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