Editorials

SAN FRANCISCO — State regulators expanded a program to help low-income residents pay their power bills on Thursday, but left unaddressed a laundry list of other issues that will determine the future of California’s electricity market. 

The state Public Utilities Commission voted 5-0 to use some of the $100 million earmarked by the Legislature for low-income energy assistance programs to create and expand such programs for customers of Mountain Utilities, Sierra Pacific Co., PacifiCorps, Southwest Gas Co. and West Coast Gas. 

The commission approved a one-time boost of $4.9 million for the utilities’ Low Income Energy Assistance Programs, $1.2 million for the California Alternate Rates for Energy program and $400,000 toward CARE’s outreach and administrative costs. 

“Although the effects of the energy crisis have somewhat abated this summer, I believe that the commission must continue to take action to protect those customers who are most vulnerable to high energy prices,” said Commissioner Carl Wood. The commission also voted to: 

• Force mobile home park landlords to share natural gas rebates and interest with their tenants in a timely manner. Residents of ten mobile home parks and The Utility Reform Network had filed complaints accusing landlords of withholding that money. 

• Allow Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to lease property to energy companies hoping to build power plants with easy access to fuel pipelines and transmission lines. This is a way of quickly increasing supplies without harm to ratepayers, commissioners said. 

• Exempt tunnels, control centers and municipal railway crossing devices in PG&E and San Diego Gas and Electric’s territory from rolling blackouts. 

The PUC has delayed until Sept. 6 votes on other long-debated issues, including the right for consumers to pick their own electricity provider. 

PUC President Loretta Lynch said the commission needed the extra time to review the high volume of comments from utilities, consumer advocacy groups, as well as trade groups from the agriculture, manufacturing and technology industries. 

Many of these groups oppose a PUC proposal to allow the Department of Water Resources, which buys electricity on behalf of three ailing utiliites, to pass along rate hikes without having to persuade the PUC the new rates are fair and necessary. 

State officials say suspending the PUC’s authority to reject the rate increases is necessary to help sell $12.5 in bonds to recoup the more than $9.5 billion spent on power thus far. California must show Wall Street it has a sufficient inflow of cash and command of the situation. 

Opponents say the department’s actions already are kept secret from the public, and that it’s unfair to California ratepayers to potentially pay more for electricity but not have regulators review and approve the details of those rates. 

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On the Net: 

http://www.cpuc.ca.gov