SDG&E; Wants to Cut Rates, Drop Extra Charge

San Diego Gas & Electric officials on Monday asked the state Public Utilities Commission’s approval to cut residential rates and eliminate a $4.80 monthly customer charge, which would mean a 5% decrease in utility bills for its Orange County customers.

The announcement came on the eve of a meeting at 6 p.m. today at which the Laguna Beach City Council will decide whether to begin procedures to change utility companies in South Laguna from SDG&E; to Southern California Edison.

Since South Laguna was annexed in December, city officials have discussed the change so that all of Laguna Beach would be served by one utility company. Some South Laguna residents also have lobbied City Hall for the change because Edison’s current rates are about 26% lower than SDG&E;’s.

SDG&E; officials said the timing of their PUC request and the Laguna Beach meeting are coincidental. But they acknowledged that they were hoping the rate cut request will improve their image with all 70,000 of the firm’s south Orange County customers, some of whom have been following Laguna’s lead in talking about changing utilities.

“We’re asking for this (rate reduction) systemwide,” SDG&E; spokesman Dave Smith said Monday. “To say that we had no consideration whatsoever to what’s going on (in Laguna Beach) would not be honest, but the public relations problem the customer charge has caused is systemwide. The customers don’t understand the charge and we take the blame.”

The $4.80 customer charge went into effect Jan. 1, but the utility’s officials said they did not adequately explain it to customers, who have “spoken with one voice” against it, said Bill Reed, manager of regulatory affairs.

Reed said the customer charge was compensated for by a reduction in usage rates, but customers still saw it as an additional charge appearing on their bills.

The elimination of the $4.80 charge and a $30-million annual reduction in residential rates will decrease the typical Orange County customer’s bill by $2.66, or about 5%, for 469 kilowatt hours of electricity.

Laguna Beach City Manager Kenneth C. Frank on Monday had not heard about SDG&E;’s proposed rate reduction. When told that SDG&E; was asking for a 5% decrease, Frank said, “It won’t make a big difference.”