Chills Bring Gas, Electric Bills Double the Typical Amount

The uncharacteristic cold that descended on San Diego last month will leave another legacy beyond chilled bones, frozen crops and cool holiday memories.

Residents who have received their December utility bills already know the bad news: Average gas and electric bills may be double or more the typical monthly payments.

“This is going to have a tremendous impact on bills,” said Shirley Ball, customer service representative for San Diego Gas & Electric.

Since most bills have yet to be calculated, Ball could not provide exact figures, but she estimated that many bills would be two or three times more than normal. (The average monthly bill for residential gas and electric usage in San Diego is about $60, according to SDG&E.;)

The principal reason for the high bills, of course, is the unusual chill that made last month the coldest December since 1948, and the 11th coldest December dating back to 1872. The average temperature here last month was 53.9 degrees, about 3.5 degrees below normal.

Largely because of the weather, use of electricity and natural gas was very high. In fact, December is usually a high-demand month, because of the combination of cool temperatures, shorter days, Christmas lighting demands and traditionally heavy energy consumption during the holidays.

But the 1.17 million megawatt hours of electricity use recorded here in December set a new monthly record for such use, Ball said. The previous record was 1.13 million megawatt hours, set in August, 1986.

In addition, use of natural gas last month was up 37% from December, 1986, noted Ball. On one particularly chilly day, Dec. 14, SDG&E; customers set a single-day record for use of natural gas, she said.