We all feel it. Groceries are up. Water is up. Power bills are climbing — and wildfire risk is a big reason why.

Across California, utilities are spending billions to reduce wildfire danger from power lines and to harden an aging grid. These safety upgrades are overdue, unavoidable, and happening statewide — and corporate utilities are passing the full cost straight on to customers.

That’s the reality. The question is how we respond.

It’s more important than ever that we use every tool available to give people more options and push back on unnecessary price hikes.

And here’s the good news: San Diego Community Power is putting affordability first.

This week, as Chair of the San Diego Community Power Board, I fought to secure an electricity generation rate that keeps our most affordable power tier 10% lower than San Diego Gas & Electric — because Community Power answers to residents, not shareholders, even as wildfire-related costs push rates higher statewide.

 Here’s what that means for families and small businesses:

• Our most affordable Community Power tier (PowerBase) will be 10% cheaper than SDG&E on generation. For the average SDCP customer, that is $5.56 per month — nearly $67 per year on generation charges
  
  
• Customers served by Community Power can enroll in the PowerOn option, a higher clean-energy mix with generation rates about 4% lower than SDG&E. 

This vote didn’t make rising costs disappear — but it limits how much our community pays compared to a corporate utility.

Not everyone in San Diego County is served by Community Power. Enrollment depends on where you live — some residents and businesses are automatically enrolled, while others are not or may have opted out. Click HERE to learn more. 

Community Power is public and not-for-profit. When costs rise, our job isn’t to protect shareholder profits — it’s to limit increases, protect the most price-sensitive customers, and keep electricity as affordable as possible.

This vote delivers on the core promise of Community Power: public power that works for the people it serves. It’s exactly why we fought to bring Community Power to our region — because local control means local accountability, and the ability to reinvest in affordability here at home.

I’ll keep using every tool available to help San Diego families and small businesses afford the basics — whether that’s housing, food, healthcare, or energy.