In 2025, most utility bills and non-negotiable expenses are going up for residents of San Diego. ABC 10News is breaking down how each bill is going up, depending on a resident’s financial status, location and habits. We’ve averaged out the increases that went into effect this year and could go into effect at the beginning of next year.
ABC 10News
*This is our best estimate of the average impact of the bill increases and will vary person to person. Please check the links below to see how it will impact you.
- Water and Sewer
- Pending a public hearing at the end of September, water and sewer rates could go up with an impact of around $18 for both, depending on the usage of a single family. The rates are pending a public “protest” on the bottom of a pamphlet.
- Pending a public hearing at the end of September, water and sewer rates could go up with an impact of around $18 for both, depending on the usage of a single family. The rates are pending a public “protest” on the bottom of a pamphlet.
- Electricity and Gas
- Natural Gas rates actually went down at the beginning of 2025to keep costs low, however, per state law, San Diego Gas and Electric restructured billing to show a “Base Services Fee.”
- Per their price forecasting tool, some people’s bills will go up slightly, while others will go down, depending on the financial status of the customer, electricity usage, and area of service.
- Low-use customers who use less than 200 KwH will likely see the largest impacts at around $14 a month, while high-use customers (around 600 KwH) could see their bill drop around $9. Our estimate factors in the potential increases only and averages those.
- For a full estimate of your new electricity costs and to learn more, click here.
- Trash
- In June 2025, the San Diego City Council voted to add a new fee schedule for trash collection, after trash fees had been free for more than 100 years. How this all happened is convoluted, but the bottom line is that houses that are eligible for city trash collection pay anywhere between $43 and $32 a month for trash, depending on the size of bin needed for a household.
- See exact fees and breakdowns here.
- Parking
- The fees we’ve added to a monthly budget breakdown account for the increase in the costs of parking meters for a once-weekly four-hour session in downtown areas. This does not include the recent increases near Petco Park for large events, or the possibility of an increase at Balboa Park.
- RELATED: Parking meter hours extended in some parts of city of San Diego
