Although not without a degree of dissension that has become the norm, the California Public Utilities Commission Thursday agreed to grant an additional $67 million in public goods charge monies for energy efficiency programs this year and next, and to give Southern California Gas Co. a $6.3 million reward for its recent natural gas procurement program under an incentive rate mechanism in place for the past nine years.

Although Commissioner Loretta Lynch preferred a $71 million energy efficiency allocation, including $4.4 million of un-used monies at Pacific Gas and Electric Co., she eventually went along with her colleagues to make it a rare unanimous 5-0 action on the award. With this action, the CPUC agreed it would look at the “broader policy issues” surrounding the state’s energy efficiency programs as opposed to individual grants and dollar amounts over the rest of this year and next.

The $67 million is in addition to earlier awards totaling more than $750 million for the 2004-05 period.

Lynch, however, refused to go along with her colleagues in granting SoCalGas its gas-buying reward to shareholders, subject to refund depending on the outcome of an ongoing investigation of the Sempra Energy utility’s role in the California-Arizona border gas price spike in 2000-2001. Lynch wanted to hold the granting of the incentive ratemaking reward until the ongoing investigation is completed.

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