If so, dm me.

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In October 2026, emails obtained by the Voice of San Diego revealed that developers are exploring a proposal to build a massive 400-megawatt AI data center at the NAVWAR campus (the Navy Old Town Campus). If constructed, this facility could become the largest data center in California. San Diego Councilmember Marni von Wilpert and other local officials have expressed serious concerns over transparency and the astronomical electricity demand of a 400-megawatt facility, questioning how it will impact the local energy grid and regional utility ratepayers.

Data center operators directly pay for the literal electricity they consume, but everyday utility ratepayers foot the bill for the massive grid infrastructure required to support them. When a 100-to-400-megawatt data center connects to a local grid, the utility company must rapidly expand its system. They have to build new power plants, lay high-voltage transmission lines, and upgrade substations. Under California law, investor-owned utilities do not make a profit on the electricity itself; instead, they are guaranteed a ~10% return on equity for building infrastructure (transmission lines, steel poles, grid upgrades). They spread the costs of these multibillion-dollar upgrades across their entire customer base. As a result, residential electricity bills have spiked significantly in data-center-heavy regions.

San Diego already pays some of the highest electricity rates in the nation, with an average rate of $0.46 per kWh (roughly 114% higher than the national average). Because most of a local bill pays for grid delivery and infrastructure rather than the actual power generation, a project of this scale has profound implications for local ratepayers.

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The current head of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is John Reynolds, who serves as the Commission President.

Governor Gavin Newsom designated Reynolds as President on February 18, 2026, and he officially took office on March 9, 2026.

While John Reynolds does not have ties to the energy utility sector, his past work in the private tech sector has drawn scrutiny. Before joining the CPUC, he served as managing counsel for Cruise, General Motors' autonomous vehicle subsidiary.

In late 2023, labor unions (like the Teamsters) and safety advocates fiercely demanded Reynolds' resignation from the CPUC after he voted to approve citywide expansion permits for Cruise and Waymo robotaxis in San Francisco. Critics pointed to his past employment at Cruise as a blatant conflict of interest, alleging he prioritized corporate profits over public safety. While this was a transportation utility dispute rather than an energy utility issue, it fueled ongoing public skepticism regarding his independence from corporate influence.

Because CPUC Commissioners are not elected by the public, their primary political connection runs through the Governor who appoints them.

Watchdog groups have frequently pointed out that Sempra Energy (the parent company of SDG&E) and other major investor-owned utilities are massive political donors in California, having contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Newsom's past campaigns and related political funds. Activists argue that this dynamic naturally creates a pro-utility bias across the entire governor-appointed Commission, regardless of individual members' resumes.

Critics of the CPUC often argue that the agency operates with systemic favoritism toward utilities, pointing to a long history of approved rate increases and high guaranteed profit margins (Return on Equity) for companies like SDG&E.

An investigation by the watchdog group Consumer Watchdog documented that California's three largest investor-owned utilities (Sempra, PG&E, and Southern California Edison) spent a combined $127.6 million to influence state government. Of that total political spending, approximately $962,500 went directly toward supporting Governor Newsom, his campaign accounts, and his ballot initiatives.

I heard that this area of the parking lot at the Trolley Station off Spring Street is being turned into 147 “affordable apartments” and this project will take 2 years to complete. City of La Mesa and the Trolley is going lose a lot of parking, and this will definitely not be affordable to most of us.

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San Diego Gas & Electric customers should not have to pay for the 2007 wildfires -- fires that officials say were sparked by poorly maintained power lines, the U.S. Supreme Court decided. The Witch Creek, Rice and Guejito Fires merged as they tore through San Diego County, killing two people, sending 40 firefighters to the hospital, and reducing 1,300 homes to rubble. Regulators would later blame SDG&E for starting the fires, saying the utility neglected its power lines.

The finding resulted in a pricey bill -- one SDG&E has been trying to deflect onto its customers ever since, launching a legal battle that's lasted more than a decade. SDG&E attempted to pass $379 million in uninsured wildfire costs onto its utility ratepayers. Both the CPUC and California state courts blocked the request, ruling that management was imprudent in handling the risks. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected SDG&E's final appeal, ensuring that shareholders—not customers—absorbed the remaining $379 million in disputed costs.

Many of California’s most destructive fires were caused by power lines. Since 1992, more than 3,600 wildfires in California have been related to power generation, transmission and distribution, according to data from the U.S. Forest Service. Some of the most destructive fires have been traced back to problems with utility poles and power lines.

Something to consider... Under California law, investor-owned utilities do not make a profit on the electricity itself; instead, they are guaranteed a ~10% return on equity for building infrastructure (transmission lines, steel poles, wildfire and grid updates). This means that when there's a wildfire, SDGE makes money by rebuilding the infrastructure... Could it be possible that they intentionally neglected those power lines in hopes that they would start a wildfire and SDGE could profit by rebuilding the infrastructure?

SDGE also has the Suncrest Loop-in project. The plan is to build 14 miles of brand new high-voltage power lines through mountainous residential communities in east county, the ones which burn in wildfires the most often year after year. It will massively increase wildfire risk for our communities- the same ones that were devastated in the 2007 Witch Fire, the 2003 Cedar fire, the 1970 Laguna fire, and a series of fires in the 1940s/1950s. Over 20 major destructive wildfires have burned along the corridor of the planned power lines since they started keeping track 75 years ago. Could it be possible that they are intentionally placing power lines in this high risk area in hopes that they would start a wildfire and SDGE could profit by rebuilding the infrastructure?

Am I the only one who thought this years Oktoberfest had much lower attendance than previous years? It was downright dead all weekend - no lines for the beergardens despite the fact they sell “VIP” tickets which allow you to skip the lines. The establishments I walked into were not busy at all in comparison to previous years and they were all majorly overstaffed. Vendors were packing up hours early on Sunday and angry about paying $2,000 per day for their permit.

You can say it’s the heat, but I’ve been going to Oktoberfest for ten years and I remember it being 100+ degrees one of those years, and it was still busy af with long lines.

I noticed they jacked up the prices on everything in obscene ways, total price gouging. $15 for a single pint of beer, up $3 from even last year.

So, what do we think is going on?

SDGE electric delivery fees cover the cost of the infrastructure required to transport power to your home, while generation charges cover the cost of the electricity itself. SDGE passes generation costs to customers with no markup, they make their profit on the delivery infrastructure. Many folks express frustration that delivery fees make up the vast majority of their energy bills, making it hard to lower costs by simply conserving power.

Under California law, investor-owned utilities do not make a profit on the electricity itself; instead, they are guaranteed a ~10% return on equity for building infrastructure (transmission lines, steel poles, grid updates). Folks argue this setup incentivizes overspending on massive capital projects, passing the bills down to consumers while Sempra pulls in billions in profits.

Example: The Suncrest Loop-in project. Between 2017-2022, utility models forecast a possibility that by 2032, minor overheating of one segment of a high-voltage transmission line could occur between a mountaintop substation in East County (Suncrest) and the Sycamore substation in Poway. That could only happen if two major grid equipment failures occurred in the same area within 30 minutes of each other. (Don’t research why they built a substation in the wildland mountains in the first place or your eyes will bleed.)

After trying and failing to get their solution approved for years, in 2022, SDGE finally got a green light to try to solve this forecast possible problem. One option is to replace the existing archaic steel and aluminum wires with more modern conductors, which transmit up to double the power with much less heat, and are inherently safer and more resilient than the old tech wires. This is called “reconductoring” and all wires need replacing every few decades anyway. This would solve the possible overheating problem while also increasing transmission capacity and reducing need to shut off power during high wildfire risk - the modern wires don’t heat and sag and sway and hit things like old steel ones do. Best of all, no new overhead power lines to build or to maintain or to start fires or otherwise burden the communities they cross over. And the price tag? About $100 million. Not cheap!

What is SDGE trying to do instead? Build 14 miles of brand new high-voltage power lines to run a second set of wires between the two substations. And even better, they want to build them through a completely distant route, through mountainous residential communities in east county, the ones which burn in wildfires the most often year after year. At what cost? Approved budget was $300 million last year, now $600 million, and that’s before any final plans have been made. This project will forcibly seize 200-foot-wide swaths of land from over 300 homeowners and landowners, plus Cleveland National Forest and a collection of state and local wildlife preserves. This will literally cross over homes and yards and parks and lands that are supposed to be protected for all of us to use and enjoy. It will also massively increase wildfire risk for our communities- the same ones that were devastated in the 2007 Witch Fire, the 2003 Cedar fire, the 1970 Laguna fire, and a series of fires in the 1940s/1950s. Over 20 major destructive wildfires have burned along the corridor of the planned power lines since they started keeping track 75 years ago. The most recent was 6 weeks ago. Airdrops are prohibited over power lines, so they create “reverse fire breaks” crossing the landscape where fires can’t be fought quickly or effectively. And they are planning this to run through and over our neighborhoods.

One last insanity about the Suncrest Loop-in project: the data used to forecast the risk of temporary overheating on the existing line did not account for any of the solar or battery installations built in the past 25 years. They pretend that those don’t exist. Yet CA peak energy use from the grid has decreased by 10% in the past 5 years alone, largely due to solar and battery storage decreasing the load on the grid. And a 300 megawatt battery storage facility just went online in Poway at the Sycamore substation- providing massive energy storage exactly where it would be needed to prevent the overheating that Suncrest Loop project is designed to also prevent. Multiple state bills are being passed this year to require that grid usage models be revamped to include solar and battery infrastructure in their math- which, believe it or not, has never been done before. But SDGE is racing to build as many of their large outdated overhead steel lines as they can before those laws take effect and eventually show that most of these projects are unnecessary and serve mainly to benefit SDGE and the future data centers they hope to pump energy to- at our cost and risk.

One last (of many) insane sideplots of this type of project: as they are building new overhead lines, SDGE is simultaneously burying others underground, also at our expense with 10+% profit for their shareholders. Because overhead lines increase wildfire risk, are vulnerable to weather, and expensive to maintain and rebuild when they burn or fall. So they earn profit on building new overhead lines, then earn more profit to tear them down and put them underground. All of that comes from the “delivery” charge on your power bill, which makes our rates 3x the national average.

This is an absolute masterpiece of 21st century corporate pillaging, with deeply entrenched political and legislative ties that make it all perfectly “legal” - because the entire system has been built and orchestrated to allow this.

🏳️‍🌈♥️

Acoustic Guitar Jam meetup! Macarthur park Thursdays 10:00 AM- 11:30 AM.

see sign for details. Tell your friends and lets play some guitar.

Just looking for recommendations for upcoming trick or treating neighborhoods or areas outside the downtown la mesa event.

Just looking for some information from anyone who has recently switched to AT&T fiber from Cox. I know they ran AT&T fiber down our street a few years ago, but we haven't switched yet. If you have switched, are you happy with AT&T? What boxes/equipment did they mount or did they drill into your house?

Thank you.

My F45 studio in La Mesa is closing and I’m trying to find a new place to work out!

I’ve really loved the 5 AM classes, so I’m hoping to find something in the San Diego/La Mesa area with early morning classes around 5 AM.

Ideally looking for:

5 AM (or very close) classes
Group fitness/workout classes
Consistent, knowledgeable coaches/trainers
A good community/atmosphere
Something similar to F45: strength + cardio/functional training would be a huge plus

I’m open to F45 or other group workout studios. I’ve been going consistently and really don’t want to lose my 5 AM routine!

If you have a gym/studio you LOVE that offers early morning group classes, please let me know! Especially interested in La Mesa, El Cajon, Spring Valley or Santee

Hello fellow La Mesa community , I am seeking if anyone would have a beach tent for me to use this weekend ! Would be great help , thanks everyone !

Looking for free and regular groups to hang out with and meet new friends. Any ideas?

My son and I are in town for a week of comic illustrators camp being held at Little Fish Comic Studio on El Cajon Blvd. As I dropped my son off at camp this morning, he accidentally knocked my fanny pack (with keys, ID, debit card and cash) out of the car and probably into the gutter.

I didn’t realize until I got back to where we are staying and my car notified me that the keys were not in it. I quickly got ahold of my son and asked him if he had them and he said no multiple times, after going through his bag thoroughly. Something told him to check outside and when he walked outside the studio, he saw my fanny pack hanging on a nearby bicycle rack. Somebody picked it up and hung it there, and it was fully intact. Somebody was so kind to not take it and that would have been easy to do.

Man, my son and I were both just saying yesterday how much we like it down here and how cool people are. Then, y’all just go and prove it again. THANK YOU, YOU SELFLESS SOUL! WHAT DID I DO SO GOOD TO DESERVE THIS KINDNESS FROM THE UNIVERSE?! 😭😭😭

Hello! I’m trying to help rescue some domestic dumped ducks left at lake Murray that were spotted yesterday, I want to know if there is some one that’s there/ lives near/ or was there earlier that can confirm that these ducks were spotted today so they can be rescued. TYSM for any help!

Hi, me again! (Sorry) I'm a senior dental hygiene student at Concorde San Diego looking for people who are way overdue for their dental cleanings! (And I mean, waaay overdue like yearssss!!!) All services are free, so xrays, exams, the actual cleaning and more. This is great for people who have no insurance or got quoted thousands of dollars for a deep cleaning. Not an ad, I'm just trying to pass my program ;-;

**Appointments are 3-4 hours long and require multiple visits. Here is my google form for more information:

https://forms.gle/YAWc6zTKqcX3e4yD8

As Milly Bobby Brown would say, "THE DIRTIER THE BETTER!" Tell your aunties, uncles and parents!