Electric and gas rates are going up again. Earlier Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission approved a rate increase for SDG&E.
According to the commission, the typical customer will see a 2.6% increase. On your monthly bill, that's about $4.38.
Gas also going up 1.8%. The commission said that works out to about a dollar more each month.
Gas and electric are utilities that have to be used by San Diegans, and Thursday, the state-approved SDG&E proposals to increase those necessities.
"I'm not pleased about it," said Kaitlin Kennedy, a San Diego resident. "Gas is already pretty expensive here. And my electric bill just last month cause it was like "cold" here in San Diego, it doubled. I'm not not happy about it."
Kennedy moved to San Diego in 2020 from Las Vegas, and said her cost of living has been three times more when it comes to rent, gas and electric.
"This is already a very expensive place to live," said City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera. "Energy costs are one of the factors that go into making San Diego so expensive along with housing and transportation, pretty much everything else so yeah, any increase is going to be felt by folks."
Elo-Rivera is the head of the newly formed Cost of Living Committee with the City of San Diego.
Elo-Rivera said when he was council president, he put pressure on SDG&E and asked them to come to city council meetings. He said when it comes to utility rates, it's important for San Diegans to make their voices heard with the California Public Utilities Commission.
"San Diegans are finding it more and more difficult to see a future here and that is because of the cost of living," said And SDG&E has a responsibility to San Diegans to not be so cavalier about raising rates.
In public documents, SDG&E cites the need to modernize electrical and gas equipment along with replacing old and damaged lines, among other things.
In a statement, a spokeperson for the utility wrote in part, "We believe this decision strikes the right balance, allowing SDG&E to more affordably provide the service our customers deserve and expect."
As for residents like Kaitlin, she said she's not alone in her frustration.
"A lot of my friends feel the same way. We don't want to leave, but we're eventually going to be priced out," said Kaitlin.
