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Opinion: High water, power rates may make inflation vise even worse in San Diego

A smart meter
(The San Diego Union-Tribune )

Inflation may be more of a headache in San Diego than in much of the nation because of the near-constant increases in how much residents must pay utility companies for life’s basics.

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The editorial board operates independently from the U-T newsroom but holds itself to similar ethical standards. We base our editorials and endorsements on reporting, interviews and rigorous debate, and strive for accuracy, fairness and civility in our section. Disagree? Let us know.

Inflation rose 6.8 percent from November 2020 to November 2021, the biggest 12-month price shock since June 1981 to June 1982. Rising prices for gasoline and food drove the increase. Burritos that cost $10 and burgers and milkshakes that cost $5 are now common at drive-throughs. With raises averaging 3 percent in 2021 for U.S. workers, people are actually losing ground when it comes to purchasing power.

San Diego’s minimum wage becomes $15 an hour Saturday, but inflation may be more of a headache in San Diego than in much of the nation because of the near-constant increases in how much residents must pay utility companies for life’s basics.

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A study released last February by UC Berkeley’s Energy Institute at Haas and the nonprofit think tank Next 10 found that San Diego Gas & Electric customers paid double the national average per kilowatt hour, and that SDG&E rates are among the nation’s highest. In March, the utility said residential electricity rates were going up 15 percent more.

SDG&E said the hike was needed to pay for “infrastructure and reliability improvements, fire hardening, operational expenses, climate action, customer assistance programs and energy procurements.” There is no reason to doubt those claims or to assume the California Public Utilities Commission is allowing SDG&E to gouge its customers. But when a middle- or low-income family in a small house has to spend $300 some months for electricity, that’s a kick in the stomach. No wonder SDG&E residential customers were $145.3 million behind on their bills as of January.

It gets worse. A study this year by statista.com found San Diego’s water rates were among the highest in the nation. That backed up the American Water Works Association’s 2017 report that found that a typical San Diego household spends more than twice the national average on water. In September, the San Diego County Water Authority said it expects to raise rates by at least 5.5 percent in 2023.

Once again, there is no suggestion here that gouging is going on. The authority has done a superb job since 1991 of diversifying water supplies to the point where the drought that is hammering the rest of California is not causing many hardships locally. But here’s what hammers some San Diegans: water bills that are hundreds of dollars.

On sewer rates, the city’s bills for single-family homes go up 17 percent on Saturday, part of a four-year, 31 percent increase. The main reason for the hike is that a comprehensive study found that such homes had underpaid compared with other sewer customers for years. Even after the increase, sewage rates aren’t unusually high.

That fact will be of little consolation to those who feel besieged by the steadily increasing cost of life. Since the Census Bureau began issuing reports on poverty that included such costs, California has had the highest poverty rate of any state. In one of the wealthiest places in the world, it’s common to see families with $100,000 in annual income living paycheck to paycheck. It’s no wonder that 1.2 million more people left for another state than moved here from other states from 2010 to 2020.

The Golden State, of course, remains great in many, many ways. But for those who face a constant struggle to make ends meet, its allure is muted. The beautiful beaches and weather can’t pay their bills.

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