City Reduces Power Costs at Parks and Ball Fields

Santee is among the first cities in the county to take advantage of new utility rates approved last year by San Diego Gas & Electric for outdoor lighting.

After switching to the lower rates in June, the city was able to reduce its costs for lighting at several parks, ball fields and tennis courts by almost $4,000 over the previous month’s billing cycle. That’s a decrease of 57 percent compared to billings for the same facilities last year.

A cost analysis by SDG&E estimates that Santee should save more than $60,000 over the next year as a result of the lower rates.

Operators of Sportsplex USA-Santee also have experienced a significant cost savings after switching to the new rates this summer.

The lower tariffs adopted by SDG&E are: OL-2 (Outdoor Area Lighting Service Metered – Customer–Owned Installations) and OL-TOU (Outdoor Lighting – Time Metered).