A grassroots campaign to end the region’s relationship with San Diego Gas & Electric after years of escalating electricity costs and replace it with a municipally-run electric nonprofit that promises to lower rates and solar power has officially gathered enough ballots to make it before the San Diego City Council.
The council will then vote whether to put it on the November ballot.
The effort by Power San Diego brought in 24,167 verified signatures — enough to force the council vote, but not enough to bypass the council entirely.
The San Diego City Clerk’s office confirmed via email that the San Diego Power initiative met sufficiency on a 3% initiative petition process.
“Per San Diego Municipal Code § 27.1032, Action by City Council on Three Percent Initiative Petition, the City Council may approve or reject the legislative act as presented, but may not amend it,” said San Diego City Clerk Diana Fuentes.
“The City Council may submit the petition to the voters but is not required to do so.”
The Power San Diego campaign originally said that they wanted to gather 80,000 signatures, which would have placed the issue directly on the ballot, but campaign chair and energy expert Bill Powers said that their volunteer-driven model lacked the funding for a broader effort.
“The critical thing is raising funds,” Powers said.
Powers said that their vision of replacing the utility company with a public nonprofit would lead to lower electricity bills, emphasizing that San Diegans continue to pay among the highest rates in the nation and SDG&E makes record profits.
He added that members of the public can contact their council representative to offer their opinion on whether the measure should make it on the November ballot.
“Go to the Power San Diego website and just sign up to send a message to their council member,” he said.
“They can also do the good old fashioned, pick up the phone or send that email and say look — I’m at least in support of giving San Diego residents the opportunity to opine.”
Responsible Energy San Diego, a coalition of business and labor leaders that includes SDG&E, opposed the initiative, claiming that it would immediately run up a $9.3 billion debt for the city of San Diego.
“Bottom line — this initiative is a very bad idea and comes with massive risks to the region, said Matt Awbrey with the Responsible Energy San Diego coalition.
“City officials have already rejected Power San Diego proposals twice before. Now that the proponents have failed to collect enough signatures to place this measure directly on the ballot, we remain hopeful the City Council will reject it yet again.”
Even if it is rejected, Bill Powers said that the initiative is creating a space for important discussions about San Diego and its present and future energy needs.
“It shows the possibliity under the right power utility scheme,” he said. “The level of hyperbole and disinformation on this issue is breathtaking.”
