SAN DIEGO — California’s summer months are around the corner and we know what that means. The warm weather and more sunshine is on the way, and with that comes the tendency to run our air conditioners much more. Sound familiar?
The unfortunate part is that drives up our utility bills when we use our air conditioning. It’s not uncommon for a California household’s utility bill to double or even triple during these hot summer months.
San Diego Gas and Electric — which already charges its customers the highest electrical rate in the country — wants to raise gas and electric bills again. This time by almost 9 percent!
This means a small residential customer would see their utility bills jump around $18 per month, according to the SDG&E. Many customers will see $50 or more tacked on to their bill per month.
With all of these increases in price going on Sempra, SDG&E’s parent, just paid out its highest profits ever to its investors. SDG&E’s earnings alone for 2021 were reported as $819 million! It’s no wonder our costs are so high and why so many homeowners switching to solar.
If you have ever considered going solar this may be the very best time to do it as the Net Metering programs are soon going to change. Let me explain what Net Energy Metering (NEM) is and how it works. Currently, Net Metering allows you to receive a credit for the surplus electricity you supply to the electric grid. So basically, during the day your meter is running backwards from the sun’s energy sending excess power to SDG&E’s grid. On cloudy days and evenings, you get energy from SDG&E and it’s an even exchange.
SDG&E would like to change that and receive an 75% discount on the energy you provide them and then charge you retail rates for the energy that you use. In addition, they are requesting an increase in the monthly connection fee that could be more than $100 per month alone!
A version of NEM 3.0 is absolutely going to happen. Right now, you have the option of being grandfathered into the current NEM 2.0 pricing for 20 full years. This allows you to avoid the constant energy price increases as well as guaranteeing you an equal rate for exchanging energy with the grid.
I’ve been a San Diego resident for over 40 years and I am very passionate about the environment. I launched the San Diego and US Green Chambers of Commerce. San Diego has taken a true leadership role in sustainability and has the third most solar installed of any city in the US. We are doing the right thing and still we can do so much more.
If you are interested in adding Solar to your home I would be honored to help. I am an Independent Solar professional with Powur, a national solar provider and Certified B Corp. located right here in San Diego. We are currently offering homeowners in San Diego solar with zero money out of pocket and we will even make your first three years of payments for you!
Feel free to contact me directly at (760)846-7660 or http://davidsteel.org.
