Fwd: Energy rate relief bill gets OK ,
 The governor thinks the state can require wholesale rebates
-- Forwarded Message --

>Energy rate relief bill gets 
>OK
>State Senate passes 
>rollback; legislation to go to 
>Assembly
>By Ed Mendel 
>STAFF WRITER 
>August 11, 2000 
>
>SACRAMENTO -- The state 
>Senate approved legislation 
>yesterday that would cut 
>San Diego's soaring electric 
>bills by half and could credit 
>consumers for excess rates 
>paid since June 1. 
>The measure, if passed by 
>the Assembly and signed by 
>the governor, would reduce 
>bills to the level San Diego 
>Gas & Electric Co. customers 
>were paying in July 1999. 
>While customer payments 
>would be cut in half, 
>however, SDG&E ratepayers 
>could be liable in several 
>years for the balance. 
>The credit to consumers 
>would hinge on a finding of 
>improper overcharges by 
>power companies. 
>The 
>rollback-and-reimbursement 
>measure -- carried by two 
>San Diego Democrats, Sen. 
>Dede Alpert and 
>Assemblywoman Susan Davis 
>-- sailed out of the Senate 
>with support from 24 
>Democrats and four 
>Republicans. 
>All three of the Republicans 
>who represent parts of San 
>Diego County voted for the 
>bill. The 27th vote needed 
>for two-thirds approval of 
>the urgency measure came 
>from Sen. Bill Morrow, 
>R-Oceanside. 
>"We have a dysfunctional 
>market that is not working 
>and has been just so 
>incredibly painful for the 
>people I represent," Alpert 
>told the Senate. "We need 
>your help. We need it now." 
>San Diego is the first area of 
>the state fully affected by 
>deregulation legislation 
>enacted four years ago. But 
>other areas will be 
>deregulated within two 
>years, and legislators do not 
>want soaring rates in their 
>districts. 
>A vote on the Alpert-Davis 
>bill in the Assembly was 
>delayed for at least a week 
>because of potential 
>opposition from Republicans. 
>Gov. Gray Davis, who is 
>proposing a similar reduction 
>that would not be 
>retroactive to June 1, has 
>taken no position on the bill. 
>"It's important to keep this 
>bill moving along," said 
>Morrow, who said he 
>struggled with the vote 
>because the bill does nothing 
>to speed up the construction 
>of new power plants. 
>The bill, AB 2290, would cut 
>rates to the July 1, 1999, 
>level and make the reduction 
>retroactive to June 1 of this 
>year. State and federal 
>regulatory agencies would 
>be asked to determine if San 
>Diego ratepayers have been 
>improperly overcharged. 
>In the years ahead, San 
>Diego ratepayers could be 
>reimbursed for high rates 
>paid this summer through a 
>credit that would lower their 
>monthly bills -- but only if 
>the investigation finds an 
>improper overcharge and 
>that repayment can be 
>collected from those 
>responsible. 
>Alpert said the cost of the 
>credit could be born by 
>energy generators for 
>overcharging, SDG&E for 
>failing to make cheaper 
>energy purchases, and the 
>state and federal 
>government for not 
>protecting ratepayers. 
>"I don't think anybody 
>believes anybody is going to 
>be 100 percent responsible 
>for this," Alpert said. 
>The governor Wednesday 
>asked the Public Utilities 
>Commission to meet Aug. 21 
>and reduce rates for SDG&E 
>customers by half, dropping 
>a typical residential bill from 
>the current level of $120 a 
>month to $65. 
>The governor's plan is similar 
>to the Alpert-Davis bill, but 
>it's not retroactive to June 1 
>and would take effect this 
>month. Critics of the 
>governor's plan doubt that 
>an investigation will result in 
>the recovery of an 
>overcharge from 
>generators, marketers or 
>SDG&E. 
>Nettie Hoge, executive 
>director of The Utility 
>Reform Network, said that 
>what Davis has proposed is 
>likely to be not a true rate 
>reduction, but simply a plan 
>to spread the payment of 
>high rates over several 
>years. 
>"San Diegans can't afford a 
>pay now and pay later 
>scheme," Hoge said. "They 
>are in the midst of an 
>economic and public health 
>crisis." 
>The Alpert-Davis bill needs 
>at least six Republican votes 
>for approval in the 
>Assembly. Alpert said two 
>Assembly Re
hollis.alpert@ferc.fed.us