Hello and thank you so much
for joining us on OTT.
I'm Heather Myers and here is CBS eight.
We are working for you,
getting to the bottom of some of the
stories that you've asked about.
San Diego has seen back-to-back storms
since the start of the New Year,
and that's highlighted a huge pothole issue.
In fact, right now the city has a backlog
of over 1000 pothole service requests.
So we wanted to know how fast the city can.
Work to fix and fill them and
what you should do if you drive
through one and damage your car.
CSA's Anna Laurel hit the
streets to find out.
Driving around right now
trying to dodge potholes.
My photographer Anne Marie
is trying to do that now.
But it's hard to do after all this rain.
Let me take you outside.
Look at all the holes in the road.
So we asked the city today how
fast they're working to fix these.
And what should you do if you
drive through a pothole and damage
your car or even blow out a tire?
We're about to be all hands on deck.
That's our MO right now.
All hands on deck to fill as
many potholes as possible.
I got this video from the city
of Crews doing just that. After
last week's heavy rain,
I called the city to find out how
many crews they have.
Anthony Santacroce tells
me there are nine trucks,
each with a two person crew
to fill potholes around town.
He says their To Do List comes
from the city's get it done app.
We go out and repair potholes.
Primarily in the order that they were
reported, but also in consideration
of location and severity, Anthony
tells me as
of this morning, there were 1100
open pothole service requests.
The rain is to blame and with
more expected stay alert.
Be on the lookout for potholes in your
way so you don't blow out a tire.
So if you hit a pothole within the city
of San Diego and it damages your car,
take a picture immediately.
You need to document it and send it in to
the city because they could pay for it.
All claims must be in writing and
include estimates for repairs.
Send it to the city's risk
management division and it'll either
be approved or denied.
The city's website
says it takes on average 10 days for
a reported pothole to get filled,
but I ask Anthony about that since so
many viewers tell me about potholes.
Seem to be on their streets indefinitely
with 100 reports coming in a day,
1000 plus open this morning,
that average time is going to expand a bit.
Going to be longer than 10 days.
All right, back out here
on Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
We put the information for the
city's risk management division.
That's where you can send a claim.
It's with this story on
our website at cbs8.com.
And here we are working,
driving and working for you.
I'm Anna Laurel for CBS8.
Anna, thank you. Do you have an update
on this story you want to share with you?
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria says on
average the city normally has about 18
workers out filling potholes. Well,
that number got bumped up to 150 workers.
To help get those potholes
filled as soon as possible,
he still urging people to report
the potholes that you see to the
city using the get it done app.
We've also been working to get
to the bottom of big rate hikes
on natural gas from SDG and E we
heard from so many frustrated.
Customers saying you were just shocked
at your January SDG and E bill.
Well now we are being told that
there may be relief coming.
Earlier this week,
the power company announced that natural
gas prices are now dropping by 68%,
hopefully bringing cheaper bills.
CBS 8 Shannon Handy is working for
you and asked the company why we
are waiting for the cheaper rate.
That price drop will be
reflected in your February bill.
That's the good news. The bad news?
I spoke with customers who say
they're still trying to catch up
from January, when bills were
the highest they've ever seen.
I think it's welcome news
that welcome news, says S GE
spokesperson Anthony Wagner,
is starting February 1st, the price
of natural gas is dropping by 60%.
The gas rate for San Diego Gas and
electric customers went from $5.11 in
January to $2.00. $0.77 in February
So what will that look like on your bill?
Wagner told me the typical
residential customers gas bill is
expected to decrease to $110 in
February from $225 in January.
This price drop is a result of
changes in the market. By law,
SDGE sells gas for what they buy it for.
But as a lot of our viewers have pointed out,
natural gas prices have
been dropping for some time.
Why didn't we see discounts
prior to February 1st
in the state of California?
Utilities buy their gas in certain windows.
San Diego Gas and electric
purchases gas for the whole month
at the end of the previous month.
In other words, there's a delay from when
SDGE buys gas to when they sell it to you.
Wagner doesn't expect the price will
jump back up in March since demand
isn't as high during warmer months,
so not everyone is pleased.
Does that ease any of your frustrations?
No, because I know how easily
they can raise it. Again.
Margaret Espiritu is one of several CSA.
They were sharing their bills and anger
towards utility company this month.
The 90 year old to lives alone on a fixed
income is paying more than $340. And
what is it? Normally half
that? I feel like I'm being gouged.
Reluctantly, she plans to pay the
bill in full, but there's a lot
of people who aren't able to.
I asked Wagner what their options are.
What exactly are you doing?
For those customers who can't
afford their January bills,
there's multiple tools available.
I'll start with the ones
that are income qualified.
So care customers can receive as
much as 30% discount on their bill.
There's also state programs as well as
nonprofits SG is working with who may
be able to provide direct bill relief.
We get that customers are frustrated
customers that are struggling to
pay their bill reach out to us.
We'll partner with you in a
tailored solution and you don't
have to get through this alone.
If you'd like more information on those
programs that may be able to help,
just log on to cbs8.com and click
on this story working for you.
Shannon Handy for CBS 8 Shannon,
thank you. There is more
relief for SDG and E customers.
Customers are getting $100 dollars
total in their credits on their February
and March bills thanks to a state
program aimed at reducing pollution.
If you were thinking about buying an
electric vehicle, hit the brakes.
We are working for your wallet.
To help you understand all of the
complicated tax breaks for EV's,
the Deputy Secretary of energy
made a trip to San Diego and we
asked him about it face to face,
CBS8's Abby Black is working for
you to find out how you qualify and
how much money you can get back.
Under President Biden's
Inflation Reduction Act,
there are new requirements for the
electric vehicle tax incentives,
and it can be difficult to navigate.
We're working for you.
The Deputy Secretary of
energy stopped in San Diego,
and I asked him to help us
sort through the provisions.
Deputy Secretary of Energy David
Turk stopped at San Diego's South
of eight technologies to announce
that they and another local company,
along with ten other nationwide projects,
are being awarded $42 million in
grants to develop affordable and
efficient electric vehicle batteries.
You're kind of vision is what is
going to bring these technologies
to scale across our country,
be a leader throughout the world.
I asked the deputy secretary about
President Biden's $739 billion
inflation reduction act that includes
tax incentives for electric vehicles.
It is a little complicated in terms of
this provision goes here, this piece here.
I read the fine print
and there's a lot of it.
It can be confusing to
figure out what EV's qualify.
It depends on when the EV was delivered,
what model year cost and
if it was assembled.
North America,
when you go down to your dealer,
the dealer will have the information
and say you can get the tax credit
for this model but not this model and
make it as easy as it possibly can.
But we want to help you go into the
dealer armed with as much information,
information and also not miss
out on any tax breaks when you
file. These have a huge
range of tax incentives.
I went to the IRS website and
found that you can qualify up to
a $7500 tax credit and now there's
a $4000 credit for used EV's.
That is a big deal and that.
It will help make it more equitable.
And as we get more EV's into
the marketplace sold new,
we'll have more used DVD's.
And then we'll have that
secondary marketplace,
which I also found that more EV models
are being added to the tax incentive list.
But as of now, it's only those that
are assembled in North America.
We also found on the California Air Resource
Board that if you type in your ZIP code,
it lists all the EV tax incentives
that may qualify for credit.
There'll be more guidance coming
out there for how consumers can
take advantage of these credits.
These credits are a small piece
to the large effort to make.
Evies accessible for all,
which we hope to have a market and hope to
make sure that we have EV's for everyone.
Before you file your taxes or go
out and buy an electric vehicle,
go to cbs8.com. There we posted all
the resources that we use for this
story for you to navigate as well.
The city of San Diego has
its sights set on Convoy St.
in Kearny Mesa for its next round of
bike lanes, but with that comes the
loss of nearly 300 parking spaces,
drawing mixed reaction from people
living and working in the area.
CBS 8's Brian White hopped on his
bike as he looked into the plan.
I've got admit, biking here along
Convoy St. doesn't
exactly feel safe without any real
bike lanes to protect you from
passing cars. But
soon the city
plans to change that.
You really can't go on the street
here with the way traffic is.
Potholes and cracked pavement make biking
a treacherous venture here on Convoy St.
It's bumpy. I mean,
these these roads are they probably need
a a fresh coat of pavement or something.
That's what the city tells me it's
planning to do over the next few months.
And while they're repaving convoy,
they'll be adding bike lanes too.
They showed me this rendering of
what the layout will look like.
You might be trying to widen the sidewalks
a little bit more for more walkability.
And then.
We're going to have basically a bike lane,
a protected bike lane which
eliminates the parking.
The bike lanes would eliminate nearly
300 parking spaces along convoy which
currently are in high demand and some
people around here gave me an earful.
I can't believe they would
even put bike lanes
in here. I mean who can
give here from a bicycle?
A number of businesses here along the
convoy Asian Cultural District are
concerned about the loss of parking.
As a local and and small business owner,
that's definitely.
A little punch to the gut.
Christian Liang is owner of a restaurant,
common theory, and he says even
with an off street parking lot,
customers still complain.
Taking away parking spaces
along the street and adding bike
lanes is going to definitely
exacerbating that problem even more.
Lauren Garces is with the
Convoy District partnership.
She tells me they're working with
the city on possible solutions,
like replacing some of the parallel
parking on side streets with angled
parking so they can fit in more spaces.
We're identifying roads with the city.
To know OK if if we can add more
angled parking to this area to mitigate
that impact less than that impact
of the parking spaces being lost.
Right now the combo area is a really
difficult place to get around as
someone walking or someone riding a bike
will radigan with.
The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition
says giving people more options
to move around convoy other than
cars will really transform the area
by putting in bike lanes by by
improving the sidewalks, improving Rd.
safety, you're going to give
people an option to actually.
Treat the convoy district
as a destination
in Kearny Mesa.
I'm working for
you. Brian White, CSA.
And Brian, thank you.
Remember, we wanna work for you too.
If there's something that you
would like us to look into,
just e-mail us at working
for you at cbsla.com.
Thank you so much for joining us.
We'll see you next time.