With two of his most likely opposition party political rivals stirring up energy issues last week, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appears to have forgotten about the energy sector, but aides in his Sacramento press office disagree with that perception. They predict Schwarzenegger will divulge before summer his “energy plan.”

So far, no individual has emerged as his chief adviser in this area, and the governor’s long-expected plans to reorganize and streamline the state’s complex mix of agencies dealing with energy has never materialized.

While the state’s fiscal crisis, annual state budget, and a workers’ compensation insurance push all have Schwarzenegger’s rapt attention so far, an aide following energy issues said “he is engaged in energy and his policy, and more information will be coming out soon.” A key staff member to one of the state legislative energy committee leaders indicated the governor would wait until after the state budget is completed sometime in June to turn his attention to energy.

Insiders around the Capitol are saying off-the-record that a speech from the governor is getting close, most likely after the workers’ comp compromise legislation is passed, and it was scheduled for a vote Friday. The consensus is that Schwarzenegger will release a plan in a month or two, one insider told NGI.

In the meantime, both the California attorney general and the state treasurer issued heavily promoted statements to Congress and the state legislature on the issues of electric refunds and the future of the state power authority, which the governor in a recall election campaign pledge vowed to eliminate.

Attorney General Bill Lockyer last week gave Congress 33 recommendations for what the state and federal governments need to do to eliminate California’s continuing risk of having wholesale power markets manipulated again (see related story). The governor’s press people had no reaction to the move, although the governor has expressed support for closer scrutiny and enforcement of competitive wholesale power markets. On the survival of the California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority, which Treasurer Phil Angelides urged legislators Tuesday to preserve, Schwarzenegger’s aides managing the budget process said it was still on track for elimination.

“The governor has talked about renewables in his state-of-state address, and he is aware that California is a leader among states, and he wants to continue that, and also look at new ways to expand what we’re doing,” the aide said. Schwarzenegger and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson issued a joint statement at the Western Governors’ Association last week asking for more emphasis on the renewables.

Schwarzenegger, however, bypassed the three-day western governors’ “energy summit” in Albuquerque last week, although California had representatives attending.

In response to at least part of Lockyer’s “Energy White Paper,” Schwarzenegger’s aide said the governor still wants California to get its “fair share” of any future refunds ordered by the federal regulators. “That’s about all we’d have to say at this point.”

Although no one in Sacramento was ready to openly pour cold water on the AG’s 90-page report, they pointed out that the current version of a national energy bill already extensively debated in Congress for several years is not likely to have much more added to it.

While a FERC spokesperson called Lockyer’s submittal, which was very critical of the federal regulators, a “cheap political stunt,” the governor’s spokesperson was restrained in avoiding any suggestion of politics in California.

On the market oversight and enforcement front, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) is moving ahead with its plans and, a spokesperson for the grid operator said, it expects to be able to take a tougher stance and assess fines beginning in July. However, FERC will not relinquish full autonomy to the state grid operator until California responds to the federal quid pro quo to establish a politically independent CAISO governing board.

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