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The two tariffs applicable to reading your Residential SDG&E bill are the
Domestic Residential Tariff and Electric Energy Commodity Charge.
The first part of the bill is composed of the Residential Tariff noted above.
Total Usage: This amount, listed in kilowatt hours (kWh), shows how much electricity your meter registered for the billing cycle. A rough average of a single family San Diego home is about 624 kWh per month, according to information from the California Energy Commission.
Baseline Allowance: This allowance is the threshold amount of energy that is billed at a lower rate than the non-baseline amount. Oftentimes, a residential user will have 249 kWh as a baseline allowance. Any electricity consumption above this threshold will be billed at a higher, non-baseline rate per kWh. The Baseline Allowance is supposed to meet 50 to 60% of your home's electricity consumption. The Baseline Allowance is determined by four things: The climate zone in which the account is located, whether the home is all-electric or uses both Natural Gas and electricity (see page two), number of days in the billing cycle, and whether it is summer or winter.
You may be eligible for an increased baseline allowance if you or someone in your home uses a medical device that runs on electricity. For m information about the Medical Baseline Allowance.
Baseline Usage: If your total usage is greater than the baseline allowance, your baseline usage will be the baseline allowance; any remainder will be your non-baseline usage. If your total usage is less than the baseline allowance, your baseline usage will be your total usage and you will have no residual usage billed at the higher, non-baseline rate.
If total usage > baseline usage, then baseline usage = baseline allowance
If total usage < baseline allowance, then baseline usage = total usage
In this example, the baseline usage is 249 kWh and the non-baseline usage is 500 - 249 or 251 kWh
The overall rate that you pay for the baseline usage is listed on your bill. For instance, your bill may look like this:
Baseline Usage 249 kWh @ $.06326
This indicates how much you were paying per kilowatt hour (about 6.3¢) for your baseline allowance. This rate is determined from the line items below the Total Electric Charges, such as Transmission, Distribution, etc. to determine the Baseline Usage Rate per kWh. In this instance, the total charges for Baseline Usage are $15.75.
Non-Baseline Usage: If your total usage is greater than the baseline allowance, any additional amount is considered to be your Non-Baseline Usage. This is billed at a higher rate than the Baseline Usage. Your bill may look something like this:
Non-Baseline Usage 251 kWh @ $.08781
This indicates how much you were paying per kilowatt hour (about 8.8¢) for your non-baseline usage. This rate is also determined from the line items below the Total Electric Charges, such as Transmission, Distribution, etc. The slight difference between the Baseline and Non-Baseline charges is due to an increase in the Distribution and Transmission charges for Non-Baseline kilowatt-hours. In this instance, the total charges for Non-Baseline Usage are $22.04.
So, the total bill is calculated as $15.75 + $22.04, or $37.79, plus the actual cost of electricity, which is listed as the Electric Energy Charge minus the Electric Energy Rate Adjustment. If you take the Energy Charge, subtract the Rate Adjustment and then divide this by your total kWh, you should find that you are being charged $.065 (6.5¢) for the market price, which is the current capped rate for SDG&E customers. This price is an average of the market value of electricity that the State's Dept. of Water Resources is currently purchasing on behalf of consumers for your billing cycle. Yes, this is a big chunk of change. In fact, if you meet certain low-income guidelines, you can qualify for the California Alternate Rates for Electricity, or CARE Program.
Line Item Components
Electric Energy: This is the actual price you are charged for electricity. In California, the price of electricity used to be wholly determined by supply and demand, but given the upheaval in the electricity market that has been experienced for the last year, the State's Dept. of Water Resources has locked in long term contracts. The average rate of those contracts has been hovering just above our capped rate for the last month and is shown on your bill. The price for electricity fluctuates on a day-by-day and hour-by-hour market structure. The price you are charged on your bill is the average price for which electricity was selling over the duration of your billing cycle.
SDG&E and all other private California utilities must buy the electricity for all of their customers from the Dept. of Water Resources. If you are a typical residential customer, this price for electricity is then averaged over the number of days in your billing cycle. SDG&E makes these average rates available. For which ever week you want to view, the current residential rate is listed near the bottom of all the different kinds of accounts and is listed as "Residential--Secondary--Total" for 29 to 35 days (5 weeks) in the billing cycle. Or you can count the eighth line up from the bottom.
Electric Energy Rate Adjustment: This credit comes about because of the legislated rate cap implemented in September, 2000. Now that the commodity price of electricity is capped at 6.5¢, the rate adjustment credits back the difference between the market price listed under the Electric Energy Charge and the capped rate for the total amount of kWh on your bill. For those customers who are with alternative providers (ESPs), you will not see this rate adjustment on your billl.
How do you make sure the adjustment was properly calculated? Take the market price from your bill and subtract $.065. Take this difference and multiply if by your kWh. This rate adjustment is what is being incurred in the balancing account that will be have to be repaid in the not-too-distant future.
Transmission: This is the cost to bring high-voltage electricity from power plants to distribution points near to you and includes the cost of high-voltage power lines and towers, as well as monitoring equipment.
SDG&E is the company that paid for the construction of the transmission grid back when it was the local, regulated utility. No other companies were allowed to generate their own electricity and build their own grid, since that would be redundant. Now that SDG&E is no longer in the business of generating power, it receives revenue by charging for transmitting electric energy from the power plant to consumers over its grid.
Transmission charge = Total Usage X $.00688 / kWh
Distribution: This charge is the cost to deliver electricity through power lines strung on utility poles, across transformers, to where you use it. This charge also includes repair crews and emergency services. Basically, this charge reflects any extensions from the transmission grid to your home and the maintenance of keeping you connected to the grid.
Distribution charge = (Baseline usage x $.03940 / kWh) + (Nonbaseline usage x $.05154 / kWh)
Public Purpose Programs: This cost provides for state-mandated assistance programs for low-income customers and energy-efficiency efforts.
Public Purpose Programs = Total usage x $.00352 / kWh
Nuclear Decommissioning: Nuclear power was once the wave of the future for power generation. In hindsight, however, the risks and costs associated with producing electricity in this fashion far outweigh the benefits of this form of "cheap" energy. SDG&E previously invested in nuclear power and subsequently bills this charge to recover the additional costs and stranded assets associated with nuclear power.
Nuclear Decommissioning = Total usage x $.00065
Trust Transfer Amount (TTA): This is a bond repayment charge, the same bond that was recently paid off 2.5 years early by SDG&E and from which customers will be receiving a refund. At the time, SDG&E purchased $650 million in bonds, of which they only subsequently needed $260 million. Therefore, the additional $390 million is being returned to the people who paid for it, averaging $260 for most customers. However, all SDG&E customers will be paying off the interest from this bond.
Trust Transfer Amt. = Total usage x $.01077 / kWh
Competition Transition Charge (CTC): When California had only regulated, monopolies as utility providers, utilities made investments in what was then new forms of power production and long-term power contracts. Those costs have always been recovered in the electric rates charged to consumers and by the revenue created from the contracts. So, in essence, this charge has always been on your bill. Now, however, in California’s deregulated utility industry, private utilities like SDG&E recover their assets that are "stranded" in these investments through the CTC charge, and thus can remain competitive in the new market. This charge will be phased out in four years.
Competition Transition charge = (Baseline usage x $.00204 / kWh) + (Nonbaseline x .01445 / kWh)
The amounts of each line item above, when added up, should equal the Total Electric Charge amount shown under your baseline and non-baseline usages. So, you should get the exact same total in two places, which assures consumers that they are being billed appropriately (or confuses the heck out of them).
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If you think you can't afford heating
My house is old. Built in 1978. The insulation is bad and I need a new roof. The heaters are old floor board heaters. I don't even have gas out here, because it would cost 10,000 dollars to run a line to my house. During the winter, if I heat the entire house, it would run me about 475-600 per month. As it is, I only heat the two back bed rooms in which my sister and I live out of in the winter, because we cannot afford to heat the rest of our home or pay for a new roof or for insulation. Outside of the two back bedrooms, the rest of our home is like and ice box! I feel sorry for seniors who are in our situation. Electricity just continues to sky rocket!! Eventually, we won't even be able to afford to pay to heat our two bed rooms.
If you think you can't afford heating
My house is old. Built in 1978. The insulation is bad and I need a new roof. The heaters are old floor board heaters. I don't even have gas out here, because it would cost 10,000 dollars to run a line to my house. During the winter, if I heat the entire house, it would run me about 475-600 per month. As it is, I only heat the two back bed rooms in which my sister and I live out of in the winter, because we cannot afford to heat the rest of our home or pay for a new roof or for insulation. Outside of the two back bedrooms, the rest of our home is like and ice box! I feel sorry for seniors who are in our situation. Electricity just continues to sky rocket!! Eventually, we won't even be able to afford to pay to heat our two bed rooms.
Very High electric Bill
We added an additional 1,100 square feet to our home in 2001 making the total square footage 2,900 square feet. This additional 1,100 square footage was just over a 50% additional square footage we added to our home. Significant.
We have noticed on our electric bill that the base "Baseline Usage" kWh has remained as if the house was still 1800 square feet. Bigger homes have bigger "Baseline Usage amounts. We have been getting killed on our electric bill because of the low Baseline Usage amount incorrectly assigned to this house.
Here are some facts. Our neighbor who's house is 1800 square feet used 663 kWh of electric for September 2009. We used 3,768 kWh of electric in September 2009, a difference of 3,105 kWh. We used 5.7 times more electric than our neighbors. Our neighbors electric charge was $118.99. Our electric cost would normally be 5.7 times 118.99 = $678.24. We have 3 computers on all the time for work purposes. No pool, no uplights, and we really try to conserve electric as much as possible by turning out lights when not needed, stc. We only run AC about two weeks a year during extreme hot spells.
But our electric cost is $1,145.42 for September 2009 which is 9.6 times what our neighbor paid, with a penalty charged to us in the amount of $467.18 based on "Baseline Usage" calculations, this is not fair. In essence, we are paying 2 times the dollar amount per kilo watt that our neighbor is paying. Because we have a bigger house we should have had an increase to our "Baseline Usage" kWh amount. All permits and legal tax plans where filed with the county at the time of adding additional square footage back in 2001.
I am requesting that our "Baseline Usage" amount be increased to reflect our current square footage and be retroactive back to 2001 when we added 1,100 square feet. And our electric bill needs to be adjusted accordingly. And should reflect any retroactive overpayments we have made since 2001. We will see what happens....
More expensive the more you buy
Welcome to the new economy. Basically the CPUC sets the base line number regardless of how big your house is, if you want more you will pay more. I mean you will pay more per kWh. After all, from the CPUC's point of view if you can aford to purchase a home 50% larger you can aford to pay more for your electricity... sorry, this is not my oppion just my observations of the current energy movement.
This is just the beginning. You should prepare yourself for much high bills then we have now. This is why the utilities are subsidizing so many energy efficiency and solar programs. It is called the vertual power plant, instead of investing in building real power plans we are investing in programs that will reduces the consumptions.
PPP Scam for the people who do not work
Say no to the PPP, I would just like to make a comment about all the hard working class who actually get up every morning and go to work and yes pay their bills on time. Why are the responsible households having to pay for the people who do not work. It is going to get worse for the hard working people of America. WE need to write and make noise about this Unfair tax to all California's.
This is for the one who
This is for the one who judges. I work 2 jobs. I get assistance with my bill often. I have the care discount and sometimes I can't afford it. I work from 5am to 8 pm 5 days a week. Don't categorize everyone like that. U must not no sh*t about living a hard life. Your lucky you don't have to humiliate yourself and ask for help.
SDGE and puplic purpose programs
Well, SDG&E has done it. My bill is now so high I can't pay my own bill yet I have $212 in ppp alone, 30% of my total bill. If the ppp is really to pay for people who can't pay their bill, when do I start getting rebates-lol
Rates are out of control. People continue to conserve and do all the things asked of us, yet rates continue to climb. The end result is we conserve and pay them more anyway. Seriously, are they going to turn my electricy off because I can't pay the extra $212 going to peope who can't pay their bill!? Slightly ironic don't you think?
SDG&E-over $300 in PPP alone to keep my dying mother-in-law cool
Here it is.... The kicker of all kickers. We bring my mother-in-law to live with us during her last days. BUT - we don't "qualify" for any reduction for her hospice???? Oxygen tanks, pumps, A/C, etc.????? Does anyone out there know where I can get a hold of someone that can actually DO something about these rates? I understand this is a forum for us to gripe - but I am in a position now where I have to get something done - and done soon. Bill explanation below. Please help! I can't even get any of the 2800 I put in to PPP over the past 12 months back to help me out with my own bill. How crazy is this??????????????????
Service/Rate
Meter # Dates/
Meter Readings Meter
Constant Therm
Multiplier Total
Usage Amount
ELEC/DR 08-27 09-28
#01963384 12623 15693 1 3,070 kWh $585.18
Baseline Allowance 326 kWh
Baseline Usage 326 kWh @ $.01692
101% - 130% of Baseline 98 kWh @ $.03709
131% - 200% of Baseline 228 kWh @ $.19880 28/ 32 Days
Over 200% of Baseline 2,418 kWh @ $.21880 28/ 32 Days
131% - 200% of Baseline 228 kWh @ $.20379 4/ 32 Days
Over 200% of Baseline 2,418 kWh @ $.22379 4/ 32 Days
DWR Bond Charge 3,070 kWh @ $.00491 15.07
Electric Energy Charge
Baseline - 326 kWh @ $.10684 34.83
101% - 130% of Baseline - 98 kWh @ $.10684 10.47
131% - 200% of Baseline - 228 kWh @ $.10684 24.35
Over 200% of Baseline - 2,418 kWh @ $.10684 258.34
TOTAL ELECTRIC CHARGES $928.24
TOTAL ELECTRIC CHARGES $928.24
The Total Electric Charges shown above include the following
components. Please see definitions on back of bill.
Electric Energy 327.99
DWR Bond Charge 15.07
Transmission 35.38
Distribution 238.47
Public Purpose Programs 302.29
Nuclear Decommissioning 1.42
Competition Transition Charge 6.06
Reliability Services 1.56
Total Electric Costs 928.24
I am looking into getting as
I am looking into getting as many SDG&E customers as I can to sign a letter regarding this public program nonsense and send it to the governor. I'm not sure how you would be able to get immediate help, but if all of us send letters to him with as many signatures from neighbors as we can, I do think that he would start to pay attention to how ridiculous this is. Paying almost as much in "public programs" as YOUR electric usage is completely outrageous. Your bill is doubled because you are helping out lower income families? I don't think that this is what he intended if he did sign a bill regarding this program. I have spoken to someone that has Edison and they could not find this line item on their bill. If this is true, then SDG&E has some explaining to do. Writing to the governor asking for him to review and investigate SDG&E bills seems to be a good place to start.
PPP
Enough of social responsibility when it hits the pocket book…twice! Say no to PPP
PPP
Since we are being forced to donate to their low income program, we should be able to write off that portion of our bill when tax time come around.
Another Great Bill From San Diego Gouge and Extort
This is just about as puzzeling as any word problem I remember from elementary school... dang.
I keep a spreadsheet of my bill using thier online portal for the data. I noticed that in Sep of 08 I used 1370KWh and in Aug of 09 I used 1323KWh. Why is the total cost from Sep 08 only $281...and my Aug09 bill for elec was $343.
Wow. I used more elec last year but paid less. I did notice the baseline changed from Aug08 to Sep08, but that should not have made this much of a difference. The rates are, of course, higher than last year, but holycrap!!
Anyone want to buy a slightly used kidney??
Soaring SDG & E Invoices
How do I get an energy audit from SDG & E for my soaring energy bill?
My bill went up $156 from last month. I paid $300. My neighbor across the street paid $54. I can't believe there is such a discrepancy in invoices in the same neighborhood. His total bill was just $2.00 more than my PPP charges. What's up??????? And why do I have to subsidize low income household electric bills?
Let me know what I can do to get some satisfaction from these outrageous expenses.
Thank you!
Finally rid of SDGE
I have replaced every light bulb with the new low-energy ones, I don't have air-conditioning at all, but I have been saddled with a $200+ monthly electric bill forever. I have finally fallen behind which they shut it off. While my wife was reasonably freaking out, I felt a huge sense of relief and bought a generator. I look at the white tag on my electric meter as the ticket to freedom. Over the past 10 years I have paid more then $24,000 to the electric company. I can do better then they at producing electricity, maybe it is because I don't have tens of thousands of stockholders to please.
SDGE is ridiculous. I am going to write to Sacramento.....
1,698 kWh $319.95
Baseline Allowance 324 kWh
Baseline Usage 324 kWh @ $.04363
101% - 130% of Baseline 97 kWh @ $.06380
131% - 200% of Baseline 227 kWh @ $.21818
Over 200% of Baseline 1,050 kWh @ $.23818
DWR Bond Charge 1,698 kWh @ $.00491 8.34
Electric Energy Charge
Baseline - 324 kWh @ $.08013 25.96
101% - 130% of Baseline - 97 kWh @ $.08013 7.77
131% - 200% of Baseline - 227 kWh @ $.08013 18.19
Over 200% of Baseline - 1,050 kWh @ $.08013 84.13
TOTAL ELECTRIC CHARGES $464.34
The Total Electric Charges shown above include the following
components. Please see definitions on back of bill.
Electric Energy 136.05
DWR Bond Charge 8.34
Transmission 21.80
Distribution 130.57
Public Purpose Programs 162.37
Nuclear Decommissioning .78
Competition Transition Charge 3.55
Reliability Services .88
Total Electric Costs 464.34
35% of my bill for PPP??????????????? WTF?????????????????? Am I not taxed enough already? In phoenix, I ran 2 A/C units in 115 degree heat, kept my house at 70 degrees and my highest bill was $650. This is with no A/C, the same washer, etc... Same TVs, etc... Only difference is that SDGE is reading the meter.
What can we do here?
SDGE is ripping us off
SDGE is taking advantage of us...they know we don't have time to deal with them. The "distribution" is a RIP OFF. The lady in Customer service said the charge was "a little" more than what it costs. Also, the "public purpose programs" pays for homes where 10-15 illegals live and half of them are home all day using the FREE electricity
FED up with SDGE and all the fees!
I am shocked at my SDGE bill. Every month I try to conserve energy - turn lights off, have all high efficiency appliances, etc. My bill keeps going up and up and up. I called SDGE and the lady told me that there was a rate change in January. Really? I didn't hear about that. She also told me that if I used less KWH I wouldn't be fined so highly! I asked her what the public programs were and she told me it went to energy savings programs!!! Ok, I believed her until I read this page. Ah!
Here's the best part of the phone call...she thought we got disconnected on the phone so she just kept talking out loud what she was typing in the notes on my account...."customer complaining over and over again about fees. Customer upset about paying high fees"...etc...then she started talking to someone else about the call...I kept yelling in the phone "Hello! Hello! I can hear you!!! Can you hear me?" I was kind of laughing about it, but wow...it was weird.
I went from a $145/mo bill to a $275/mo bill in less than a year. I paid over $100 this month in Distribution fees, public program fees, etc. $100!! I'm calling TURKO! This is highway robbery....can this be legal? How come everyone in SD is not SCREAMING about it?!?!?! I AM.
SDG&E BILL -- It's outrageous! Avg. $130 to avg. $400
Unbelievable. My average bills have gone from approximately $130.00 per month to nearly $400.00 per month. I went to my box and shut off everything I could (save lights in the house) and my bill was over $530.00. I even shut off the well pumps AND I'm on propane. What the hell. This is bull sh.........!!!!! I have called just about every month for over a year now and if I hear that I need to understand the billing tiers one more time -- I am going to go postal. Where does this utility company think that this money is going to come from? I'm a widow with two children to raise and I am certain I am doing everything possible to lower my KWHs. BULL SH......!!!! BULL SH....!!!! BULL SH....!!!!
Well, in our area, before we
Well, in our area, before we used about 600+ Kilowatt, and our bill is about $60.00+. But now a days our Kilowatt consumptions is 500Kilwatt and our bill is 57$. It does not decrease that much even though our consumption decrease 100Kilowatt. san diego solar
PPP Not called for
Hey this is something very unwanted and uncalled for, as our ppp charge last year was $17 - $20/per month.........last month...$275.
The contribution to public purpose programs is unwanted for, everyone may not be interested to do that and that could be done in other ways too. such a high contribution there is not called for.
PPP rates outrageous & confusing.
MY PPP fee was only $ 18.45 this time last year ( $.0111/Kwh ) for the same Kwh usage, but it has risen every billing cycle since, now up to $99.21 last month and that equates to $.0059729/Kwh PPP Tax. However by law ( Assembly Bill 100 ) the tax listed is supposed to be $.00352/Kwh across the board, what's up?
Public Purpose Programs
Public Purpose Programs: This cost provides for state-mandated assistance programs for low-income customers and energy-efficiency efforts.
Why do we have to contribute to this? Is this redistribution of my money??
My charge for this program this month was 110.00! What! I can't afford that!
This is ridiculous. We should be able to OPT out of this. I don't want to donate my money to this program!
http://www.ucan.org/comment/reply/245/13110#comment-13110
In the same boat... last year PPP under $10, now PPP cost over $100 which is more than my actual electric usage charge. PPP is now a usury fee. I am so sick of California milking their residents...
People PPP IS A TAX! CA gov't requires SDG&E to charge this fee! Complain to your state assembly-person and state senator if you want something done.
thanks
thanks this article...
Lida
Lida
Lida
Lida
PPP is ridiculous
Count me in as another unhappy SDGE customer. My PPP charge is suddenly $100 which basically doubles the charge of my actual electricity usage plus another $100 distribution fee. My $100 of actual electricity usage mystically turns into a bill over $300. The baseline is not even close to actual usage. And a person in a 500sf home gets the same baseline as someone in a 3000sf home?!?! WTF!
I was told flippantly by the SDGE rep that she actually receives a credit for her PPP because she stays under her baseline. I was then told that that the PPP also goes towards fliers and basic necessities of the power company. Why should someone under the baseline receive a credit while everyone else is stuck paying for fliers and general necessities?
Anyone know who we can write a letter to about this? I can't afford electricity at this cost. Nothing runs in my house and my thermostat is at 66 degrees for 5 hours a day and off the rest. I walk around my house with a ski jacket on and still get a $300 bill... This isn't reasonable!!!!
Anyone have some good sources/info for liquid propane generators?
Write to the governor. I'm
Write to the governor. I'm going to draft a letter and get as many neighbors as I can to sign it. Surprisingly he may not know that SDG&E is inflating this program the way they are. My parents have Edison and say this public program is not on their bill. The governor will have to investigate if enough of us write him about it.
Too high electric bills, no useage.
For some odd reason for months we only pay around $30 a month. All of a sudden last month we get a bill for $131. Heres the thing, we live in a tiny cabin with a very small space heater that cost next to nothing to run. We use only one little lamp at night. Even in the summer it only was costing us $40 with the air conditener going. For some reason our landlord has 8 cabins, that every two cabins share eletric meters. He gives each of us a bill at the start of the month. The only way he could be doing this is if he splits the bills in half for each cabin. Is this safe? And is this legal? It doesn't sound like it to me. I think he goes by how many people are in the house and divides it up. Please let me know what you think and what should be done? I've never seen any bill of any kind in the whole 3 years that we've lived here. Thanks Shelley
ppp
Our ppp charge this month last year was $17.........last month...$275. WTF....give me a break. I don't want to donate either. I'm about ready to buy a gas generator...might be cheaper. If you can't afford your sdge bill.....MOVE TO OREGON. Quit making ME pay someone elses bill. I think we better find out WHO voted for this legislation and boot'em out of office.
Dan
PPP
You ask who voted for this? It is every democrat in the legislature. They are always the party of taxation and redistribution. Just look at the health care reform bill for another example.
Public Purpose Programs.... to costly!
My Public Purpose Programs charge went up to $86.00 this month from $45.00 last month and I only used 6% more KWH ? In 2003 our total electric bill was only $132.00 a month and now it averages $245.00 for the same KWH.
Something is really out of line? I'm retired on a fixed income in a small home. Every month my bill is larger and we don't qualify for that program. I also heard that SDG&E was getting about 500 application requests per day for that Program. I rather give it to a charity when I can afford it, but not monthly. Feels like were being robbed!
outrageous Charges from SDG&E
After spending approximately 3 hours trying to interpret my SDG&E bill, I was floored to find out the exorbitant amount they were charging me. For 1 month of service my electric energy was $140 BUT I was being charged $191 on top of the $140 in transmission and distribution fees. After farther inquiry I was also being charged $78 for Public Purpose Program. These charges seem very disproportionate!!! How can they charge more in fees and programs then the actual energy charges??? I have filed three complaints with the California Public Utility Commission; hopefully they receive my third complaint because for some strange reason the complaint fairy keeps deleting my complaints from their system. If need be I will sprinkle fairly dust on the next complaint in hope of getting a response! Despite the fact that, When I contacted them regarding the amount per kWh SDG&E was allowed to be charging for thing like the Public Purpose Program, they had no idea!!! What are they here for, if not to help regulate utility companies from over charging??? If anyone has any suggestion in dealing with either the CPUC or SDG&E please let me know, I’m all ears!!!
PPP rates outrageous & confusing.
My PPP rate this past month went from $ .0065 / kWh in November to $ .0483 / kWh. Something is way out of line. My calls to SDG&E are in vain, they say we don't calculate the PPP that way? So how do they calculate it and what is the actual PPP rate they use?
You think your bill is bad...
My wife, daughter and I moved into a new-to-us house in August last year. We were a little worried when we first moved in because it is a 100% electric home... But our Aug-Nov bills were just a little higher than when we lived in a condo (~$75 at the condo and now ~$90). We bought a new low-e washer and dryer, put in low-e fluorescent light fixtures and were already in the habit of turning off lights when we weren't in the room. But then December came and it got cold... Our daughter is under 2 years old and we did the same thing we had done the previous winter... We broke out the space heater. We would set the temperature to 70 degrees and heat our daughter's room. We also put a heater in our bedroom but set it to 65... Needless to say, we saw a sudden hike in our bill. It jumped to about $200. Scared of outrageous bills we stopped using our heater and converted to an electric blanket. Our next bill was $270. We then found a leak in our hot water pipe and although we hadn't seen an increase in our water bill we thought it could be the culprit so one afternoon I fixed the leak and our next bill (Feb) was ~$90. Now we were a little confused, but there were some warm days leading into that bill so we thought great! We've fixed our problem. But then March we got a bill for ~$380! What the hell?!?!?! I called SDG&E and was told that our Feb bill had been estimated because the meter reader couldn't (or didn't) actually read the meter. [On a side note, we saw her come up and read the meter that month and there is NO REASON why they wouldn't be able to read the meter. It has been in the same location for about 70 years, there is no fence blocking it, no dogs to deal with, no vegetation in front of it...] So SDGE did their duty and re-calculated our bill so that our 100% eclectic home base line allowances would be reflected over both months. Great! It saved us about $4.00! Now, we have used the heat less, fixed the leaking hot water pipe, don't use a heater at all in the master bedroom, have been bbq outside (therefore not using the electric stove as much), keep the lights off unless we're in the room, make our loads of laundry bigger, take shorter showers, still mostly use low-e lights, and yet our bill was $375! WTF?
SDG&E BILL -- It's totally out of control
I am with you -- WTF? My average bills went from approximately $130.00 per month to nearly $400.00 per month. I went to my box and shut off everything I could (save lights in the house) and my bill was over $530.00. I even shut off the well pumps AND I'm on propane. What the hell. This is bull sh.........!!!!! I have called just about every month for over a year now and if I hear that I need to understand the billing tiers one more time -- I am going to go postal. Where does this utility company think that this money is going to come from? I'm a widow with two children to raise and I am certain I am doing everything possible to lower my KWHs. BULL SH......!!!! BULL SH....!!!! BULL SH....!!!!
I moved, don't use my dryer at all, have energy star everything, halogen light bulbs, power strips on everything to shut off the "ghost" costs, hell -- all my clocks are battery operated and my bills are still almost $200/month. BULL SH......!!!! BULL SH....!!!! BULL SH....!!!!
We in the same situation
We use Reliant because when we signed with them June of 2008 they are the cheapest. But this month bill are outrageous. We life in a 2 Br and 2 b and only 1100 sf house but our electric bill are $376, Since last month we turn the furnish down to 60 F at night because we use portable heater and our electric keep jumping up from $163, then $276 to $376. My husband is over the road truck driver he home every other week and stayed home just a couple of days. We only had 1 son, 20 months old and i cook every other day, so it only me and my son and we just don't understand who used up the electric? We use front load washer and dryer which supposed to help save the electric. I think reliant charge a another hidden bill. They supposed to check the meter on Monday so We can't wait how that come out.
Not fair at all, because our friend who life in high end neighborhood with their 2600 sf and 4 Br house only got charge 187 for their electric bill so I really think it's not fair.
I feel your pain, we felt we
I feel your pain, we felt we were doing so good....front loader washer/dryer that is supposed to save water and electricity, new windows/doors, insulation, new exterior (Nu-cote) to reduce heat/cold penetration and loss, new energy star/efficient appliances, tankless water heater, less water used in house, lights turned off, etc. You name it we try it. We still have the same bills in this house with all this as we did in a rental house that leaked, had horrible windows, heat, A/C unit, and was the most inefficient house located in Lakeside. What is that about SDG&E? WE are going solar-Thanks U-can for so much information to make this happen!!
I really don't understand
I really don't understand this... I believe it cames too much for my house... i'm paying 100 dollars per month for an apartment ?! I don't think it's normal.
being charged for previous tenants bills
within the last three months at least as many people ,(one being my son), have told me that upon moving to a new house or apt. ,when they've gone to get their power turned on, they are told that because the previous tenant left a high balance, the new tenant cannot get THEIR electric on. my son and one of the other people have never had an apt. before. How can they do that???
Because SDG&E tries to take
Because SDG&E tries to take advantage of people like that. I am in a similar situation right now. A former roommate of mine hadn't paid his energy bill since Jan. 2008. I lived with him from April until June. His balance was actually TRANSFERRED into my name when I went to sign up for a new account at the same residence!!! From what I understand from Bella at SDG&E, the former roommate's balance with the company is now at zero and the former roommate will have nothing happen to his credit if they don't get the money. Guess whose credit will suffer now that they don't have anyone else to pin the debt on?...yeah, me. It's not my job to collect money from the person who was being billed by the friendly folks at SDG&E. I lived with the guy, but it ain't my job to make sure he's taking my money and using it to pay the electric company...that's YOUR job. Thanks SDG&E!!
Jump in bill, too!
The highest bill last winter in my 1700sf house was $250. This year, I rec'd a bill for $450! My co-worker, same sf, just rec'd a bill for $500+. Someone needs to investigate SDG&E.
Or you could conserve and use less energy
Buy your an American so you are wasteful and fat
Yea. ....
Thats uncalled for.
SDG&E Outrageous Bill Jump
Two months ago (Oct-Nov) I was paying approximately $40 for SDG&E: same house, same appliances, no fancy technology/gadgets/toys, same single person who works full time and is not home much on the weekends.
My last electric bill jumped 71%. The month before that it was about $75 higher than usual but I thought it was just two combined bills. This past month it was over $170 more than usual or than it has ever been, in any circumstance, anywhere I have lived.
I do not have heat, I have a fridge, microwave, two TV’s (only one ever watched at a time), a space heater (only in one room). I am very conservative and I have the new green conservation light bulbs everywhere. It's just me in the house ever. I called SDG&E regarding the huge bills and got that same "we don't make mistakes" attitude. The rep even asked me if I was SURE I was the only one living in the house.
I went on the SDG&E website and did all their tests to see where I should rank in energy usage, given all my circumstances. By SDG&E's own standards regarding this last cost acceleration, only one or two households filled with people would rank higher than my usage, as alleged by the last bill. Thus by their own standards, these increases are not possible in my household, yet I cannot get any kind of relieve/repeal/appeal, and the bills will just keep coming that way unless I shut off the electricity.
My gas bill, in complete contrast, comes to about $20. Seems like common sense that anyone only using $20 worth of gas would not additionally be using $160 or so worth of electric.
How can my bill go up over $170 more than three months ago? What could possibly cause a real rise in costs such as that?
Reading all these other similar cases online here, it appears that SDG&E is just charging arbitrary and huge amounts that are not allowed to be disputed or changed. Where is our governmental protection of this utility practice? How can we have no recourse?
What is going on at SDG & E????
We purchased a condo conversion in Nov of 06. Every month our usage has gone up.. We are not doing anything different and have all " Energy Star" appliances as well as light bulbs. We used less electricity in the winter than in the summer per SDG&E.. WHAT?? We don't have an air conditioner and lights come on later than they do in the summer. It should be less. I call SDG & E and they are rude and don't offer any help. I have left several messages for a manager to call me and still hear nothing. I can't even check the meter to see if they are estimating because the closet is locked and per our HOA only SDG& E has the key and SDG& E says the HOA does.. .. Something fishy is going on and I want to know what we can do about this.. If anyone knows please let me know..
Thanks and good luck
SDG&E FLUORESCENT LIGHT REPLACEMENT SCAM
WE HAD ALL THE LIGHT FIXTURES REPLACED WITH "EFFICIENT" FLUORECENT FIXTURES IN OUR BUSINESS AS PART OF A SDGE SUPPORTED PLAN.
OUR BILL WENT UP SINCE THEN?
WE HAVE SKY LIGHTS IN OUR BUILDING, AND MOST DAYS DO NOT USE THE LIGHTS?
IS THIS A SCAM THEY ARE PULLING?
MIKE
My SDGE bill stresses me out
My SDGE bill stresses me out every month. I have a house with no air conditioning; I heat it with a woodstove. I have no pool, no major electricity sucking device. All my appliances are low energy. All my lights are fluorescent. But my bill is always around $550 a month. What are other people paying? Is this normal? I looked at purchasing a new house in Scripps Ranch (Stonebridge), and they told me that the average bill there was $250 a month. With air conditioning, central heat AND a pool. I've asked SDGE on numerous occasions to help with an energy audit, but they don't do that for residential customers... What else can I do?
Baseline Allowance
I have recently added a central heating system to my
house. The baseline rate, if I remember correctly was established some time
ago, and of course it did not include the usage of electricity by a heating
system. Now my SDG&E bills are considerably higher and I wonder if there is
a process by which ones baseline rate can be recomputed and re-established?
Baseline Allowance
If you previously used gas and have switched to electric heat you do qualify for an additional baseline allocation for the winter months. You will need to contact SDG&E customer service, 1-800-411-SDGE (7343) to inform them of the change in your heating method. http://www.sdge.com/forms/baseline.pdf
Electrical Baseline Amount Changes
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Being that an electrical baseline amount is supposed to cover 40 to 60% of the usage during the period.
What happens when your baseline was calculated in 1985 on a home with no air conditioning, no fans, no computers, no washer, no dryer, etc; and is "artificially low".
Over time as you add a computer, an air conditioner, new refrigerator, new TVs, and a host of other electrical appliances with "phantom" power useage...your baseline just barely covers the amount of electricity with all lights off!
Is there a method to have Baseline recalculated in cases such as these with SDGE?
Regards,
Mark Pugh
Non-baseline amount charges
This is something that we have pondered over for several years (since the crazy shortage years with $1200/mo electric bills). This is what I don't understand... why is it that they can charge us so much extra for going over if the baseline usage is intentionaly meant not to meet our need? And why can they charge us up to three times for some of our usage 100-130%, 130 - 200%, 200-300%? Lastly, why is it that I pay one rate for 24 days of the month and another for 5 days of the month, shouldn't they all be the same? We are a family of four in an area of southern California that routinely reaches extreme low and highs in temperature seasonally, myself and my husband both work full time so our house is EMPTY 8-10hrs a day five days a week! We do have a few luxury items... fish tank, extra TV's, rechargable toys...but we routinely go up to 300% over our baseline usage. We have changed out every lightbulb in our house to fluorescent (makes everything ugly) and spent the extra money for new "low energy" appliances and none of it seems to make a bit of difference! I feel like I'm getting ripped off every month for something I can't change. I did inquire before and was told the baseline usage amounts were set back in 1980, before electric phones, home computers, microwave ovens, VCR/DVD's and non-free TV reception! The other thing I was told was that it was the same for one person in a 1 bedroom appt as a family of 4 in a 3 bedroom house, how can that be!!!!
Baseline Allowance is just
Baseline Allowance is just another excuse for SDGE to charge their consumer with higher bill. I just moved from LA to 36th street in San Diego and my first bills this month stating that I went over my baseline allowance (292 kWh/month) 200% so they are charging me $ .2818 cents per kWh from $ . 04363. I did not abuse my electric usage, just regular use as watching TV and computer and one portable heater which I only turn on at night when the weather gettin chilly. If our regular electric usage is always result in over the baseline allowance then we should know what's up. What we need is to created a group for San Diego resident to join together so we can keep track of how many residents/houses are being charge for going over baseline allowance mothly, then we can go to the City Council with that
perplexed by electric bills
how are all those charges calculated?
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