Clairemont, San Diego · Equity, ADUs and rental income

The SDG&E separate meter rule adds a real cost to a San Diego ADU, and it belongs in the loan amount, not a surprise at the end.

Forum reports describe SDG&E requiring its own meter on new ADU construction since 2023. Whether or not that is the case for every project, a separate utility connection is a cost line worth planning for up front.

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The answer

The direct answer

Owner and contractor forums describe SDG&E requiring a separate meter on new ADU construction since 2023, unlike some other utilities in the state. That is a real cost line, not a small one, and the owners who run into trouble are usually the ones who did not fold it into the original loan amount.

What changes the answer

Does San Diego really require a separate meter for a new ADU?
How much does a separate utility meter add to an ADU build?
What should I confirm before starting an ADU build in Clairemont or Bay Park?

Each one is answered further down this page, and any one can move the outcome on a specific file.

The local number: Adam King’s Corcoran Icon Properties listing at 4674 Boxwood Dr, on a 9,100 square foot R-1 lot, is the live proof asset for what a San Diego ADU-eligible property looks like on the ground.
Rule and source: Adam King, Corcoran Icon Properties, listing record
Last verified: September 1, 2026

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Answered by Nick Nagy · 23 years · NMLS 314880 · CA DRE 01444600 · Mortgage financing through Loan Factory, 237 lenders · Run this answer against my numbers →

Part of the California Mortgage Answer Desk, and of the Clairemont questions.

How it works

What the forum reports actually describe

Discussion among San Diego ADU builders describes SDG&E requiring a separate meter on new ADU construction since 2023, and contrasts it with PG&E’s territory further north, described as less categorical about the requirement. This is a forum-reported pattern from people who have gone through the process, not a copy of the utility’s own published tariff, so a specific project should confirm current requirements directly with SDG&E before finalizing a budget.

What is consistent across these accounts is the practical effect: a separate meter means a separate utility connection, which is its own line item in permitting and construction cost, on top of the structure itself.

The detail that matters

Why this line item gets missed in early budgets

Most first-time ADU budgets start with the building itself, framing, roofing, plumbing, electrical inside the unit, and treat utility connections as an afterthought. A separate meter requirement turns that afterthought into a real permitting and trenching cost that shows up mid-project if it was not planned for.

This is the same pattern as the plot plans and permits in a full San Diego ADU cost breakdown, where the soft costs and connection costs added real money on top of construction itself. The separate meter question belongs in that same early conversation, not a change order later.

How it works

Folding it into the construction loan from the start

The fix is straightforward: when a construction-to-permanent loan or HELOC draw schedule is being set up, the utility connection cost, separate meter included if it applies to your project, should be in the initial scope, confirmed with your contractor and with SDG&E directly, not added later as a change order that has to be funded out of pocket.

An owner who lines this up before the loan amount is finalized avoids the most common version of an ADU budget running short: a real, necessary cost that nobody priced in at the start.

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Where this question came from

Someone asked this in public

In San Diego, SDG&E has required a separate meter on new ADU construction since 2023.
Reddit r/AccessoryDwellings, captured 2026-08-10 (LH1 demand sweep)

If nobody gave a straight answer in that thread, that is not the person missing something. The answer depends on a specific file and a specific address.

Who answers

Nick Nagy

23 years in California lending · NMLS 314880 · CA DRE 01444600 · Loan Factory, Inc.

Dual licensed, so the loan side and the real estate side of a move get looked at as one problem instead of two. Most of what goes wrong in a move is a timing problem wearing a financing costume, and it is cheaper to catch it before you write an offer than after.

Financing is placed through Loan Factory, Inc. Real estate work is under CA DRE 01444600. More about Nick.

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The desk behind the file

One file, 237 lenders competing for it, and a broker who has done this for 23 years.

Loan Factory, Inc. is the brokerage. These are its published figures.

20,907+Loan Factory Google reviews

5.0Loan Factory average rating

237Lenders available through Loan Factory

48States Loan Factory is licensed in

A retail bank has one guideline book. A broker shops the same file across the shelf and finds the lender whose box it already fits.

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Straight answers

Questions people here actually ask

The follow-on questions, answered in the order they get asked.

Does San Diego really require a separate meter for a new ADU?

Forum reports from San Diego ADU builders describe SDG&E requiring a separate meter on new construction since 2023, in contrast to a less categorical policy described for PG&E territory further north. That is a pattern reported by people who have gone through the process, so confirm current requirements directly with SDG&E for your specific project before finalizing a budget.

How much does a separate utility meter add to an ADU build?

It is not a fixed public number, it depends on the site and the trenching involved, but owners who did not budget for it upfront report it as a real, unplanned cost that showed up mid-project. Folding it into the original construction loan scope avoids that.

What should I confirm before starting an ADU build in Clairemont or Bay Park?

Confirm current SDG&E metering requirements for your specific lot, get plot plans and permit costs quoted up front, and size the construction loan or HELOC to include utility connection costs rather than treating them as a later change order.

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