California Gov. Gray Davis over the weekend signed into law and vetoed separate measures addressing parts of the state’s ongoing electricity crisis. Davis acted on a half dozen initiatives as the deadline for enacting new state laws expired Saturday. Among the new laws are ones that will accelerate power plant siting and extend ratepayer-supported energy efficiency programs.

Using the occasion to goad federal regulators into establishing wholesale price caps, Gov. Davis killed a proposed bill that would have provided $150 million in relief to San Diego Gas and Electric Co. through 2003 to help make the utility whole for under-collections of its wholesale power costs because of a legislatively imposed cap on what it can charge retail customers. The governor noted that the bill would put “undue burdens and pressures” on public spending.

“I am fully committed to protecting the residents and businesses of San Diego from unconscionable prices they faced earlier this summer for electric service,” Gov. Davis said in a prepared announcement, calling the legislation (AB 1156) “premature” and potentially encouraging merchant generators and energy trades “to continue to act unreasonably.”

Among the energy bills signed into law were:

SB 1388 that “expedites the permitting of new power plants that will bring on-line new power for next summer, as well as examines the use of (so-called “smart”) energy metering to gauge consumer response to electricity use.”

SB 1194/AB995 to continue the ongoing electricity consumer’s surcharge that provides at least $300 million annually for development of energy efficiency and up to 500 MW of electricity from environmentally benign renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, etc.

SB 918 to encourage the development of more renewable energy and distributed generation “to reduce the strain on the state’s electricity system.”

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