SOUTH COUNTY : SDG&E; Reduces Electricity Rates

Customers of San Diego Gas & Electric began getting a decrease of as much as 5.8% in their electricity rates Friday, the company announced.

Residential customers received a 4% decrease while commercial and industrial customers got a 5.8% decrease, said Don Felsinger, SDG&E;’s senior vice president, in a prepared press release.

The utility company has 87,000 customers in South County and provides electric service to Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, San Clemente and portions of southern Laguna Beach.

The new rates, which were approved by the Public Utilities Commission in April, will slice $70 million off the company’s overall electric rates, Felsinger said.

“The decrease will mean a savings of $1.65 on the monthly utility bill for the typical residential customer,” Felsinger said. A typical residential customer’s monthly bill for 400 kilowatt-hours of electricity will be trimmed from $44.10 to $42.45, he said.

Felsinger cited three reasons for the decrease: cheaper natural gas for the company’s power plants; a onetime refund from gas suppliers, and a recent settlement in a lawsuit SDG&E; filed against two parties involved in an experimental geothermal power plant in the Imperial Valley.