San Diego Community Power’s board of directors approved new 2025 electricity generation rates on Feb. 7 that set the agency’s default Power On service 3% below San Diego Gas & Electric’s generation rates and Power Base service 5% below SDG&E, with the changes retroactive to Feb. 1, 2025.

Board Chair Paloma Aguirre opened the special meeting and then turned the item over to staff. Jack Clark, chief operating officer, summarized staff’s affordability focus, saying, “affordability is a top priority for everyone.” Staff presented a three-scenario analysis and recommended a “balanced” approach that the board adopted.

The balanced scenario was described by staff as intended to offer the largest feasible discount now while preserving financial stability. Lucas Yuto, senior director of data analytics and customer operations, and Timothy Magamot, director of finance, told directors the recommendation aims to meet customer affordability needs while building reserves that would help the agency weather energy-market volatility. “The balance option allows for the agency to essentially meet customers where they are at in terms of affordability concerns today and certainly into the future,” Lucas Yuto said.

Staff outlined several risk factors that informed the recommendation: possible large swings in SDG&E’s rates, participation-rate declines, heat-wave-driven costs, and uncertainty in renewable-energy markets and federal policy. Tim Magamot said a 10-percentage-point reduction in SDG&E rates, if mirrored, could hit Community Power’s net income by about $200 million; a drop in participation to 80% could reduce reserves by roughly $73 million; and an average heat-wave cost could be about $22 million. Staff also reported that commodity-cost projections approved by the California Public Utilities Commission showed a smaller-than-projected SDG&E commodity increase (3.32% in the most recent filing), which staff incorporated into the scenarios.

The board heard that the balanced scenario would still allow the agency to pursue a target of 180 days cash on hand by October 2025 and improve the organization’s prospects for an investment-grade credit rating, which staff said could lower future PPA costs. Staff said rate-stabilization reserves would smooth seasonal swings in customer bills.

During a robust Q&A, directors asked for additional modeling on a conservative scenario that would build reserves faster, and staff said those analyses exist and informed the recommendation. Directors and staff repeatedly emphasized the board’s ability to return for an intra-year rate change if federal or market developments warranted it.

The motion — to review and approve the adjustments for Power Base and Power On as contained in Attachment A, effective retroactively to Feb. 1, 2025, and to maintain Power 100 and Power 100 Green-e premiums at $0.01 and $0.02 per kilowatt-hour respectively — was moved by Director LaCava and seconded by Director Yamani. The board vote recorded unanimous support and the motion carried.

Board and staff comments closed the meeting; no general public comment period occurred because this was a special meeting and public comment was limited to agenda items under the applicable government-code citation noted at the start of the meeting.