SDG&E profits have jumped sharply in recent years. What’s going on?

Source: The San Diego Union Tribune  |  By Rob Nikolewski

A review by the Union-Tribune of federal financial submissions shows SDG&E profits have been steadily increasing for about a generation, with the pace accelerating since 2008. Last year’s earnings came to $915 million, the highest in company history. At its current pace, the utility may crack the $1 billion mark by the end of 2023.

“If we’re going to stop that trajectory, we will need to look ahead and think about the ultimate price tag of some of these initiatives,” said Jennifer Dowdell, senior policy expert at The Utility Reform Network, or TURN, a consumer group based in San Francisco. “At this point, we are operating in a rate environment that has no margin of safety.”“The utilities will invest in anything the regulator indicates they’d like them to invest in,” said Dowdell of TURN, “because every dime they spend on rate base, they make money.”For Dowdell, the policy expert for the consumer group TURN, the auditor’s report shows the CPUC must keep a sharp eye on approving projects that go into the rate base because that “is a huge driver” in higher monthly bills that customers pay.“When you look at that rate base trajectory, that to me is the story,” Dowdell said, adding, “The commission and policymakers have to recognize that there may not be sufficient room in rates to fund every policy initiative.”