SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Starting in October, you'll see a monthly $24 "Base Service Charge" on your SDG&E bill. So what is it?
It's part of the implementation of Assembly Bill 205, signed into law back in 2022, and the new billing structure for residential electric customers that was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission in May 2024.
SDG&E said the fee is part of the state's effort to move to 100% clean energy and help create transparency on your utility bill.
They said the new base service charge isn't an extra fee on your bill, and that the costs covered by this fee were previously included in the kilowatt-hour price. Those costs include equipment, like transformers and meters, as well as the utility's customer service.
For most customers, that fee will be $24. SDG&E says that customers enrolled in FERA & qualifying DRAH customers will see that charge come out to $12. Customers enrolled in CARE will see a $6 base service charge.
SDG&E says that now that the base service fee is separate, you'll see about a 10% decrease, or roughly 5 cents, in your per-kilowatt-hour price.
Solar customers will also see this base service fee on their bill. SDG&E says this fee covers the infrastructure solar customers rely on to draw electricity from the grid, and send it back to the grid.
In a press release, San Diego County District 5 Supervisor Jim Desmond called the fee a "utility tax".
"SDG&E will be slightly lowering electricity rates to offset the new fixed charge. But when SDG&E’s energy rates routinely rise faster than inflation and have increased 82% over the past ten years, a small decrease does very little to help people’s wallets," Desmond's release says. "Californians are already paying the second-highest energy prices in the country, and now this new fee guarantees you will pay more, no matter how much or how little power you use."
The change isn't just affecting SDG&E customers; it's affecting customers of the state's three largest investor-owned utilities, including SDG&E, Pacific Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison.
