AUGUST 19, San Diego — In a unanimous 5-0 vote yesterday, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors formalized its official support for a pending state legislative package designed to cap investor-owned utility profits.

The Board’s vote brings the weight of California’s second-largest county to state-level reform efforts, as local families face financial strain, with 18% of San Diego Gas & Electric customers behind on bills.

At a pre-vote press conference, Chair Pro Tem Paloma Aguirre highlighted the local toll of rising energy costs: “In District 1, I hear every day from working families, renters, seniors on fixed incomes, and small business owners who are overwhelmed by the bills they simply can’t keep up with. Everything is getting too expensive.”

“We have a responsibility to pursue smart, fair policies that make life more affordable,” said Vice Chair Monica Montgomery Steppe. “This isn’t just about SDG&E or any one utility; it’s about a system that too often rewards the wrong priorities while asking working families to shoulder the costs. These reforms don’t just respond to high utility bills; they change the policies and incentives that help drive them.”

The state legislative package targets the root causes of California’s energy affordability crisis by:

• Increasing utility accountability,

• Slashing excessive corporate profits,

• Limiting overspending.

By formalizing its support today, San Diego County joins an expanding coalition of Southern California local governments demanding state rate relief, including San Diego, Irvine, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Laguna Beach, and Buena Park.

“Leaders have spent years talking about the affordability crisis while our communities live it,” said Serena Pelka, Senior Policy Advocate at Climate Action Campaign. “The state needs to walk the talk and check utility power to lower bills. The support of California’s second-largest county should be a huge signal to Sacramento that the era of unchecked rate hikes is over.”