SDG&E finishes near the bottom of J.D. Power rankings

San Diego Gas & Electric fared poorly among utilities in the West in a pair of studies from J.D. Power evaluating the overall brand appeal of electric and gas utilities across the country.

SDG&E finished 28th of 30 among electric utilities in the region, with a score of 652 on a 1,000-point scale.

The only electricity providers with lower scores were Hawaiian Electric at 629 points and Pacific Gas & Electric, which serves customers in central and Northern California and is the largest investor-owned utility in the Golden State, with 622 points.

The average score in the region was 678 points.

In a separate study ranking natural gas utilities, SDG&E finished second-to-last among 19 companies in the West in brand appeal, scoring 672. Pacific Gas & Electric finished at the bottom with 632 points. The region average came to 699 points.

The results were part of a nationwide survey that J.D. Power conducted. The Michigan-based company pored over responses from more than 155,000 residential utility customers that were fielded between July 2024 and May 2025.

“While customers trust their electric and gas utilities to deliver reliable service, they do not feel like their utilities are going the extra mile to help them by keeping costs down, delivering personalized communications, demonstrating commitment to the environment or focusing on innovation,” Chris Oberle, managing director of utilities intelligence at J.D. Power, said in a statement.

The two studies, released in July, come as electric and gas bills are climbing. J.D. Power reported the average monthly residential electric bill in the U.S. has risen 6% in the past year and the average monthly gas statements are 7% higher since 2024.

In California, concerns about customer affordability are even more acute.

According to the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, average rates for the three big investor-owned utilities in the state — SDG&E, PG&E and Southern California Edison — have increased 48% to 67% from 2019 to 2023.

SDG&E rates have consistently finished at or near the top in the U.S.

More than 322,000 residential customers in SDG&E’s service territory in January were at least one month behind in paying their bills, according to a tabulation by the Union-Tribune. That equated to 23.6% of all residential accounts.

“We’re focused on evolving every day to meet the needs of our customers and remain deeply committed to delivering safe, reliable and affordable energy to the communities we serve,” SDG&E said in an email, responding to the J.D. Power rankings. “Driven by a culture of continuous improvement, we find new opportunities every day to consistently deliver the level of service our customers expect and deserve.”

PG&E has also come under harsh criticism for high rates, as well as wildfires that have ignited in its service territory in recent years, including the Zogg Fire in 2020 that killed four, the Dixie Fire in 2021 that cost $637.4 million to put out and the devastating Camp Fire in 2018 that killed 85.

The highest-rated electric utility in the West, according to J.D. Power, was the Salt River Project — a government-owned cooperative in Arizona that serves the greater Phoenix area — with 757 points. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District, known as SMUD, came in third with 728 points.

In the natural gas provider category, Cascade Natural Gas finished No. 1, with 743 points. Owned by privately held MDU Resources Group Inc., Cascade Natural Gas provides piped natural gas service to roughly 300,000 customers in Washington and Oregon.

Among all power companies in the J.D. Power 2025 rankings, the highest point total went to Delaware Electric Cooperative, a member-owned electric utility that serves about 300,000 customers, that racked up 763 points.