State Panel Rejects Giving Weight to Citizens’ Vote on SDG

SACRAMENTO —  A Senate committee Tuesday rejected legislation that would have required the California Public Utilities Commission to weigh the results of an advisory vote of San Diegans before acting on the proposed merger of San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison.

At the same time, the committee approved two other measures designed to ensure that San Diegans and their environment are not harmed by the merger, which, if approved by the PUC, would create the largest electric utility in the United States.

Sen. Larry Stirling (R-San Diego), author of the advisory-vote measure, blamed his bill’s defeat on the considerable clout Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric wield in the Legislature. The vote was the first test of strength on an issue that will probably dominate San Diego politics for most of 1989.

‘Very Good at It’

“These are non-competitive monopolies,” Stirling said of the utilities, which annually spend hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying the Legislature and the PUC. “They make their money not by providing a competitively priced product but by manipulating the government. I think you’ve seen a strong indication today that they are very good at it.”

Stirling said he hopes San Diego County will still call for a vote on the issue, even if the utilities commission is not be required to consider the result as part of its deliberations. He also proposed that all San Diegans write the words “No Merger” on the outside of their envelopes before mailing monthly payments to SDG&E.;

“Elected officials in Sacramento are not able to deliver the votes to do anything about Edison through the legislative process,” Stirling said. “So it’s up to every San Diegan to stand up and be counted.”

Stirling’s bill, as it was introduced, would have given San Diego voters veto power over the merger. But the lawmaker, in the face of the utilities’ opposition and a legislative counsel opinion suggesting that the measure would be unconstitutional, amended the bill to allow only an advisory vote, which the PUC would have had to consider.

Edison and SDG&E; still argued against the measure, contending it was an unnecessary intrusion into the PUC’s regulation of utilities.

“The bill would just confuse the issue,” said Mary Wood, assistant general counsel for SDG&E.; “Present law gives (utility customers) the protection that they need.”

The bill received only two votes from the nine-member Energy and Public Utilities Committee. The measure needed five votes for passage.

The opposition to the two bills the committee approved was not as strong.

One of the bills, by Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) establishes 10 standards for the PUC to use when weighing a proposed merger. Four of the 10 would be mandatory: The merger would be required to benefit customers, to be “fair and reasonable” to employees, to be fair to stockholders and to not “adversely affect” competition. The six other standards, involving utility service, management and the local economies, would have to be met “on balance” in the judgment of the commission.

Rosenthal said the bill is needed to ensure that the utilities are forced to keep the promises they are making as they argue in support of the proposed merger.

“The PUC has absolutely no statutory criteria for determining what conditions must be met before a utility merger is approved,” Rosenthal said. “The whole process is unpredictable.”

Edison opposed the measure, but a lawyer for the company said he believed the utility could “live with it.” The bill passed on a vote of 8 to 1 and was sent to the Appropriations Committee.

Would Require Study

The third bill, by Sen. Wadie Deddeh (D-Bonita) would require the preparation of an environmental impact study before the PUC could approve the merger. The bill, which would apply only to the Edison-SDG&E; merger, was approved 8-1 and forwarded to the Appropriations Committee.

San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor, who left the Capitol to return to San Diego before the vote on Stirling’s bill, said she was encouraged by the committee’s approval of Rosenthal’s measure.

“Up to this point, the only players have been the PUC and Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric,” O’Connor said. “Now you’re seeing a big push here to make sure that the ratepayers get some kind of a voice.”

Stirling, whose bill might be reconsidered by the committee in May, also said he was encouraged by the success of Rosenthal’s bill, although that measure still gives the PUC great leeway in deciding whether to allow the merger to go forward.

“All of the bills are a step in the right direction,” Stirling said. “The PUC process has not worked for the people of San Diego. We had the highest rates. When they started down again, the guys with the highest rates come in and take us over. It’s not a working system.”