Countywide

San Diego Gas & Electric’s typical residential electric and natural gas bill would fall by $1.51 to $64.38 a month if the state Public Utilities Commission approves a proposed rate reduction, utility officials said Wednesday.

If approved, SDG&E;’s typical residential rate would fall to “more than $8 below what it was in 1983, when (the typical bill) was $72.75,” according to Doug Hansen, SDG&E;’s pricing manager. The proposed rate cut would “help SDG&E; retain its goal of remaining the lowest-priced investor-owned energy utility in the state,” he said.

The proposed $66-million rate reduction was the result of negotiations that involved the utility, the City of San Diego, the U.S. Navy, the PUC’s Division of Ratepayer Advocates and Utility Consumers Action Network, a San Diego-based consumer group. The agreement now must be approved by the full commission.

UCAN Executive Director Michael Shames attributed the lower rates to fuel costs, which are now substantially lower than had been anticipated. The rate decrease also included a $23-million settlement received in a lawsuit that SDG&E; had filed against parties involved in an experimental geothermal power plant that was closed down in 1987.