I was having a hard time paying my utility bill even before I lost my job during the pandemic. But after my employer closed its doors and the paychecks stopped coming, it became harder than ever.
I faced an agonizing decision: pay my rent or pay my utility bill. I did what I think any reasonable person would have done. I kept a roof over my head, and the utility bills started to pile up.
I cut costs everywhere I could to keep the lights on. But after every bill I paid, the next one seemed to be higher. My utility, San Diego Gas & Electric, isn’t cutting costs to keep bills down for us. In fact, while I was scrambling to keep my electricity on, they were posting $891 million in profits.
And now, they’re asking California regulators to authorize even higher profits. The California Public Utilities Commission is about to decide whether to give SDG&E what they want — or finally put customers first.
This decision will be made within weeks, and it will determine whether households like mine get relief or get squeezed even harder. SDG&E currently has a 10.23% profit margin for money it borrows and wants to keep it that high or push it higher.
But financial experts say a fair rate would be closer to 6%. If the CPUC sets rates at that level — the level consumer advocates are recommending — my household, and yours too, could save over $450 a year.
I’ve been a San Diego resident for nearly 80 years and SDG&E is the only utility company I’ve ever known. And for most of my life, their bills were manageable. When I began to face trouble, I started talking to others in my community and realized I wasn’t alone.
With electricity rates up almost 80% in 10 years, roughly one in three SDG&E customers are behind on their utility bills. These are my friends and neighbors. As my utility debt increased, I began to wonder, “Why are these bills so high?”
While Californians are struggling to pay their bills, private utilities are posting record or near record profits: SDG&E had a record-setting year in 2023 and 2024 wasn’t far behind; PG&E and SoCal Edison customers saw their rates rise, while both companies posted record profits in 2024.
The more I learned, the more disgusted I became. How could these companies be earning hand over fist while California families struggle to keep their lights on and their houses warm in the winter and cool in the summer? Who’s letting this happen?
I became a member of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) when I learned they were fighting on behalf of Californians like me on economic issues, including utility accountability. And down the rabbit hole I went as I learned how private utilities like SDG&E make money. One of the most surprising things had to do with how utilities pay for the massive projects they take on.
Whether it’s wildfire mitigation or upgrading the electricity grid, when private utilities need money for big projects they borrow it from someone else, just like most companies. What’s different here — and shocking — is that private utilities provide lenders a profit rate that those lenders wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else, in some cases nearly double what lenders would get in other situations. And who pays for those guaranteed profits? You guessed it: Californians like me and you.
Every three years private utilities ask the CPUC — whose members are appointed by the Governor — to approve the profit rates they provide their lenders. These five commissioners have the power to set lower rates of guaranteed profit, saving Californians billions of dollars a year. They can deliver an affordability win for customers or prioritize the profits of corporations who clearly don’t need help from regulators — or more money out of our pocketbooks.
Commissioners, please do right by the people of California and take decisive action when you vote in December: Set utility profits at reasonable rates. You have the power to free utility customers like me from choosing to pay our electric bills or pay for food or medicine. You have the power to prioritize everyday Californians over wealthy corporations.
Barbara A. Pinto is a resident of Logan Heights and member of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment.
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