Lemon Grove resident Jacquelyn Clark said small price jumps for transportation, groceries, rent and utilities reach into the same household budget \u2014 and add up.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are already struggling in jobs, working extra shifts and cutting expenses. And the math still doesn\u2019t math,\u201d she said. \u201cThe bills are bigger than the money coming in. These multimillion dollar companies are here asking you to protect their bottom line. We\u2019re asking you to protect ours.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"California](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/1794449174_965_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
California Public Utilities Commission member Karen Douglas attended the agency’s public participation hearing on Nov. 11, 2026.<\/p>\n
More than 100 people signed up to speak during the first hearing. Their feedback informs a complicated regulatory process, known as a general rate case<\/a>, to essentially figure out SDG&E\u2019s budget over a four-year span starting in 2028.<\/p>\n The company wants to charge customers roughly $3.8 billion in 2028, an 8% bump over what SDG&E estimates it will collect next year. The utility is allowed to earn a specific percentage profit \u2014 set during a separate CPUC proceeding \u2014 above what it costs to run its system.<\/p>\n Sempra, SDG&E\u2019s parent company, last week reported<\/a> more than $900 million in adjusted earnings over the third quarter of this year \u2014 almost $200 million more than the prior year. Meanwhile, SDG&E is on track to bring in more than $1 billion in profits this fiscal year.<\/p>\n During Tuesday\u2019s hearing, restaurant owner Kevin Rhodes said high utility costs are contributing to business closures in his area. He called SDG&E\u2019s rates predatory.<\/p>\n \u201cThey need to take that profit and sink it back into their business. That\u2019s what I do every day. If I have an oven that goes down for three or four thousand (dollars), I can\u2019t go to anyone and say \u2018OK, I\u2019m going to raise the rates on my menu,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Nearly 1-in-5 households were behind on their bills by an average of $501 over the second quarter of 2026, according to the CPUC Public Advocate\u2019s Office<\/a>. Meanwhile, the office\u2019s data shows SDG&E rates have risen 97% over the last decade.<\/p>\n Community leaders accused the company\u2019s executives of greed during a rally outside Santee City Hall before the first hearing. Sempra CEO Jeffrey Martin made more than $22 million in 2025, according to the nonprofit Energy & Policy Institute<\/a>.<\/p>\n San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera decries San Diego Gas & Electric rates during a rally outside Santee City Hall on Nov. 11, 2026.<\/p>\n San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said if SDG&E doesn\u2019t change course, local elected officials might take action.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause we’re done waiting for SDG&E to give a damn,\u201d he said in front of a cheering crowd. “We’re taking the fight to them. We hired them to be our utility company. We can fire them.\u201d<\/p>\n Elo-Rivera, chair of the City Council\u2019s Environment Committee, mentioned an upcoming meeting when members will consider a resolution<\/a> tied to a prospective public power utility for San Diego. Two city-commissioned studies<\/a> found replacing SDG&E<\/a> could save residents money in the long term, despite significant up-front costs.<\/p>\n In a statement responding to Tuesday\u2019s hearings, SDG&E spokesperson Humberto Gurmilan acknowledged customers\u2019 affordability concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re focused on controlling costs, operating more efficiently and finding ways to keep bills as manageable as possible, while continuing to provide safe, reliable energy,\u201d he said. \u201cOur rate request is a proposal, and it will undergo a thorough public review.\u201d<\/p>\n The CPUC\u2019s five voting commissioners will ultimately decide whether to approve or adjust SDG&E\u2019s rate request next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) customers showed out in force to speak against a proposed rate hike…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":["post-526704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/1794449175_2_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n