EPIC's Joe Kaatz Quoted in KPBS on Intervenors Challenging SDG&E's Rate Proposals
Joe Kaatz, ’11 (JD), Senior Staff Attorney with the Energy Policy Initiatives Center (EPIC) at the University of San Diego School of Law, was quoted in a KPBS article titled, "'Something's got to be done': Challenging SDG&E on behalf of ratepayers."
The article profiles the small handful of "intervenor" groups, including the Mussey Grade Road Alliance and the Utility Consumers' Action Network, that formally challenge SDG&E's rate requests during state regulatory proceedings. It centers on SDG&E's pending request to raise monthly bills by 8.6% starting in 2028, which would add roughly $14 to the average electric bill and more than $8 to the average gas bill over 2027 estimates. The increase comes as SDG&E rates have climbed 97% over the past decade and nearly a fifth of the utility's customers are behind on their bills, even as Sempra, SDG&E's parent company, reported $762 million in adjusted second-quarter earnings.
Weighing in on the intervenor process itself, Kaatz credited these groups for helping keep California's regulatory system accountable, while noting the structural constraints they face.
"It's a regulated monopoly," Kaatz said. "It's their system, their equipment. They know how their business operates, and they're the author of the application that the regulator is reviewing."
The article notes that limited staffing among intervenor groups tends to confine their challenges and recommendations to narrower issues within each rate case, even as their work has previously led regulators to trim utility requests — during the last rate cycle, the California Public Utilities Commission approved $2.669 billion of the $2.995 billion SDG&E sought after intervenors formally protested.
To read the full article by Kevin Trevellyan, visit KPBS.
About the Energy Policy Initiatives Center
The Energy Policy Initiatives Center (EPIC) is a nonprofit academic and research center of the University of San Diego School of Law that studies energy policy issues affecting the San Diego region and California. EPIC integrates research and analysis, law school study, and public education to help policymakers, regulators, and community stakeholders make informed decisions on energy matters. To learn more, please visit EPIC's website.
About the School of Law
Each year, USD Law educates approximately 800 Juris Doctor and graduate law students from throughout the United States and around the world. The law school is best known for its offerings in the areas of business and corporate law, constitutional law, intellectual property, international and comparative law, public interest law and taxation.
USD School of Law is one of the 88 law schools elected to the Order of the Coif, a national honor society for law school graduates. The law school’s faculty is a strong group of outstanding scholars and teachers with national and international reputations. The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Founded in 1954, the law school is part of the University of San Diego, a private, independent, Roman Catholic university chartered in 1949.