SAN DIEGO — Electricity rates for SDG&E customers are the most expensive in the country and the utility company is asking to raise those rates, which is causing outrage among ratepayers.
David Deioma wrote in and asked the question, "I'm curious if electric car recharging is causing the increase in SDG&E usage and driving up rates."
THE QUESTION
Are SDG&E rates going up because of the amount of electricity used to charge electric vehicles?
THE SOURCES
- Scott Crider, San Diego Gas and Electric Senior Vice President of Customer Services and External Affairs.
- The Department of Energy electric vehicle registration data
- The Utility Consumer's Action Network (UCAN), Edward Lopez, Executive Director.
THE ANSWER
WHAT WE FOUND
“Fundamentally the answer is no,” said Crider.
He estimates SDG&E is charging 100,000 electric vehicles in San Diego County which he says is the highest concentration in the state.
The Department of Energy reports in 2022 there were 563,070 EVs registered in the state of California, which is the most in the country.
Crider says even with that many EVs charging on the grid it's not driving up rates. Think of it as when you buy in bulk you end up saving.
“The more electricity that we use, that really means that we're spreading out the cost of the infrastructure across more customers and more sales of electricity. So that can actually have a downward pressure on rates over time,” said Crider.
The Department of Energy says home heating and a water heater pulls in more electricity than charging an electric vehicle.
CBS 8 also verified SDG&E's time of use (TOU) rates are cheaper during super off-peak hours for EV owners (EV-TOU-5 14.5 winter) than non-EV owners (TOU-DR1- 41 cents).
“The rate doesn't necessarily change depending on how much you use. The rate actually is set through a very sophisticated and complex regulatory proceeding. But the amount of energy you use, multiplied by that rate, obviously will impact your total bill,” said Lopez.
However, UCAN cautions as SDG&E makes more investments in analytics, data, infrastructure and grid upgrades to accommodate the growing number of EV’s, those costs could be passed on to ratepayers,” said Lopez.
“While maybe if you have lots of customers getting on the grid, it doesn't drive up the costs, the cost to transmit and deliver to all of those customers could go on up,” said Lopez.
WATCH RELATED: SDG&E customers sound off about potential rate hikes (March 2023):