Utilities in Laguna Beach

A Laguna Beach address draws on several companies and public agencies, and which ones depend on where the home sits. Look up each provider before you call anyone.

Who serves your address

The city’s utility page gives this split:

Service	Central and North Laguna	South Laguna
Electricity	Southern California Edison (SCE)	San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E)
Natural gas	SoCalGas	SoCalGas
Water	Laguna Beach County Water District	South Coast Water District
Sewer	City of Laguna Beach	South Coast Water District

The same page names Cox Communications for cable and internet and Frontier Communications for telephone, without splitting them by area. It gives no street-level boundaries. Each water district posts a service area map, so check the district’s map or ask the district if your address sits near the line. Emerald Bay lies outside city limits, and the Laguna Beach County Water District says it serves that community.

Water

Laguna Beach County Water District

The district has served the area since 1925. By its own description it serves portions of the city, part of Crystal Cove State Park and Emerald Bay, about 25,000 people in all. The office is at 306 3rd Street, open Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The number is 949-494-1041, and after hours it reaches an emergency answering service.

To start service, call. The district’s steps:

1. Give proof of identity. The district asks for it when you open or change an account.
2. Pay a one-time account administration fee of $22.00 as of October 2026. It shows on your first bill and is not a deposit.
3. Show credit: 12 consecutive months of service from a previous water provider, in your name, without a cutoff for nonpayment. If you cannot, the district asks for a deposit.
4. If you rent, ask the owner to authorize the account. The owner stays responsible for unpaid charges.

Bills come every two months. The district sets a water budget for each property and charges tiered rates against it. For a single-family home, the budget combines a set indoor allowance with outdoor water for the landscaped area, based on weather and irrigation data. The district says about half of typical use goes to irrigation, so budgets allow more water in summer. When you move out, call for a final bill.

South Coast Water District

The South Coast Water District serves South Laguna Beach along with Dana Point and parts of San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano. It provides water, recycled water and wastewater service. Customer service, billing and start or stop requests all go to 949.342.1140. The office is at 31592 West Street, and the district lists business hours of 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Thursday. For a water or sewer emergency after hours, call 949.499.4555 and press extension 0.

Rebates and the waterwise garden

The Laguna Beach County Water District lists a turf replacement rebate of $2 per square foot, offered with the Municipal Water District of Orange County, and $100 per tree, up to five. Indoor rebates, such as $85 for a washer, go through SoCal Water$mart. The district’s Bruce Scherer Waterwise and Fire-safe Demonstration Garden, planted in 2003, sits at its office on Third Street and holds more than 50 kinds of plants chosen for low water use and fire resistance. Its LaguNatives program promotes California and Laguna Beach native plants.

In South Laguna, the South Coast Water District offers up to $3 per square foot for turf removal, capped at 10,000 square feet. You need district pre-approval before any turf comes out; call (949) 499-4555, ext. 3126. The district says rebates run first-come, first-served until funding runs out. The sustainability guide covers watering rules and the state turf law.

Sewer

Outside South Laguna, the city’s Wastewater Division runs the sewer system, and the charge is collected through your county property tax bill. In South Laguna, the South Coast Water District handles sewer service.

The pipe from your house to the public sewer is your responsibility. The city says owners must inspect and maintain the whole private lateral, up to and including the connection to the public line, and that fines can follow if an owner does not keep it working. Before a plumber cleans or flushes a lateral, the plumber should call the city’s Plumber’s Hotline at (949) 464-6616. The city also offers an incentive toward repairs for owners of homes with up to three units in its sewer service area north of Cardinal Drive.

Two habits the city recommends: flush only toilet paper, and put grease in the green cart instead of the drain, as the trash and recycling guide explains.

Electricity and gas

For SCE, open its online Move Center, choose Residential and then Start Service. Have a driver’s license or ID and your Social Security number ready. In South Laguna, SDG&E takes start, transfer and stop requests online or in its mobile app. It says you may have to verify your identity in person at an authorized payment location.

SoCalGas serves the whole city. Its help center says a start-service request may need identity verification and a Credit Department review, and the department should contact you within three business days. If you have heard nothing by the end of the third business day, call 1-800-427-1167 and choose option 0. The department’s hours are 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. If you smell gas, SoCalGas says to leave the area right away and call it at 1-800-427-2200 from a safe place, or 911 if the leak may endanger people or property.

Internet and phone

The city’s utility page names Cox Communications for cable and internet and Frontier Communications for telephone. It does not list plans, speeds or coverage by street, so confirm what reaches your address with the provider before you sign a lease or close on a home.

Start-service order

1. Find your provider for each service in the table above.
2. Call your water district. Both take start-service requests by phone.
3. Request electricity and gas online with your ID and Social Security number ready.
4. Contact your internet provider for an install date.
5. Keep the first bills for the rest of your address changes. The first 30 days guide lists what comes next, and the moving checklist places each task in the weeks around the move.