SDG&E Expands Lower-Cost Daytime Pricing
- SDG&E expanded its lower-cost daytime electricity pricing beyond March and April, increasing cheaper midday hours. - Previously limited to March and April, the program now offers extended lower-priced hours during daytime months. - The move aims to lower bills and shift usage patterns, potentially easing grid demand and customer costs (patch.com).
San Diego Gas & Electric will make its cheapest weekday daytime electricity window available year-round starting May 1, extending lower midday prices beyond March and April. (sdgetoday.com) The new super off-peak period will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays for customers on residential and commercial time-of-use plans that include super off-peak hours, SDG&E said. Overnight super off-peak hours will stay in place from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays, and from 12 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends and holidays. (sdgetoday.com) Time-of-use rates charge different prices depending on the hour, and SDG&E’s residential plans still put the highest prices in the 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. peak period. SDG&E’s pricing-plan materials say customers who can move laundry, dishwashing, charging or cooling outside that evening block can cut costs. (sdge.com, sdge.com) SDG&E said the extra midday discount tracks the hours when electricity is “more available on the grid,” a reference to strong daytime solar production in California. The utility said the change is meant to give households and businesses more flexibility to shift power use into those lower-cost hours. (sdgetoday.com) The change lands as electricity affordability remains a major issue in California. The Public Advocates Office at the California Public Utilities Commission reported in February that SDG&E’s average residential electric rate reached $0.457 per kilowatt-hour by January 1, 2026, the highest of the state’s three large investor-owned utilities. (publicadvocates.cpuc.ca.gov) The same report said 480,334 SDG&E customers were in arrears as of December 2025, equal to 35% of its customer base, with an average amount owed of $250. It also said SDG&E’s residential average rate rose 98% from January 2016 to January 2026. (publicadvocates.cpuc.ca.gov) The expanded midday pricing will also apply to customers served by community choice programs in San Diego County that use SDG&E’s wires and billing structure, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. That means the lower daytime window reaches beyond customers who buy generation directly from SDG&E. (sandiegouniontribune.com) Customers who are not already on a plan with super off-peak hours can compare options through SDG&E’s My Energy Center, the utility said. The broader message from the new schedule is simple: in San Diego County, the cheapest electricity is moving further into the middle of the day, while the 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. window remains the expensive one. (sdgetoday.com, sdge.com)
