Critics Object to California Governor's Energy Agency Consolidation Plan
May 11 - The San Diego Union-Tribune
The Schwarzenegger administration yesterday proposed the creation of a new Department of Energy with a cabinet-level secretary, drawing immediate criticism from consumer groups and Democratic legislators.
"For California to move forward it needs to have a consistent and
consolidated view to speak with one voice on energy policy," said Joe
Desmond, the Energy Commission chairman and point man on administration energy
policy.
The Energy Commission, whose chairman would be the new energy secretary,
would be consolidated with the little-used Power Authority, the Electricity
Oversight Board that works with federal regulators and a Water Resources unit
that bought power for the state during the energy crisis four years ago.
Desmond said the proposal to give energy policy cabinet-level status reflects
meetings with energy stakeholder groups, who want a consolidated energy
structure that preserves the current Energy Commission process for regulation.
Consumer groups and a spokesman for Democratic legislators, who said they
were not consulted, criticized the plan that would shift power-line siting away
from the consumer-oriented Public Utilities Commission.
Sempra Energy spokeswoman Jennifer Andrews said the parent firm of San Diego
Gas & Electric could not comment because the utility had not been briefed on
the plan.
Spokesman John Nelson of Pacific Gas & Electric, the state's largest
utility, said he could not comment because PG&E analysts have not seen the
proposal.
The executive director of a group that represents companies that sell power
on the market said that shifting the siting of power lines to the agency that
currently sites power plants makes sense.
"I think it's a fairly rational approach," Jan Smutny-Jones of the
Independent Energy Producers said.
Desmond said the reorganization plan will be filed Thursday with an
independent agency, the Little Hoover Commission, triggering a review process
that could allow the plan to take effect in 90 days if the Legislature does not
object.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who vowed to "blow up the boxes" with a
sweeping overhaul of state government, withdrew a proposal earlier this year to
eliminate 88 boards and commissions after the plan drew widespread opposition.
The governor achieved a bipartisan success last month when he negotiated an
agreement with Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, to give a renamed Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation more authority to push for reforms.
Desmond said the new plan does not follow the governor's California
Performance Review, a little-used master plan for overhauling state government
that would have replaced the Energy Commission with a broad infrastructure
agency.
The main role of the Energy Commission, created by legislation signed by
former Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1974, is the siting of power plants. The commission
blocked SDG&E's proposal for a Sundesert nuclear power plant near Blythe in
the 1970s.
Michael Shames, executive director of the Utility Consumers' Action Network,
a San Diego consumer group, said the Public Utilities Commission in San
Francisco was created to protect ratepayers from unfair costs.
Shames said the PUC recently blocked an SDG&E proposal for a new power
line from San Diego to Riverside, saying it would not be cost effective. He said
shifting the siting of power lines to an administration-controlled department
may not provide the same protection for ratepayers.
"My guess is that their proposal will run into some constitutional
roadblocks," Shames said.
Bob Finkelstein of a consumer group in San Francisco, The Utility Reform
Network, said the state needs a "solid energy policy" from the
governor, not a "mini-reorganization" plan.
A spokesman for Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, whose analysts
were not briefed on the plan until yesterday afternoon, said the proposal would
not cut bureaucratic costs or generate more power.
"At first glance it looks to be a power grab of some sort taking away
power from independent commissions, including the Public Utilities
Commission," said Steve Maviglio, the speaker's deputy chief of staff.
Desmond said that the reorganization plan does not conflict with an
initiative, expected to appear on the next statewide ballot, that repeals a
flawed electricity deregulation plan that led to the energy crisis.
The initiative would allow utilities and private generators to compete for
the low-cost construction of power plants. Businesses buying cheaper power on
the market now could continue, but other businesses would have to buy from
regulated utilities.
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