Although its agenda has had few major energy items, the extreme delays that seem to surround many issues before the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) in recent months have caused a new informal alliance of old and new members from different political parties. The newest and most controversial CPUC member, Michael Peevey, an economist, former utility senior executive and energy services multi-millionaire entrepreneur, has been unequivocal in chiding CPUC President Loretta Lynch for holding items too long for ostensible legal reasons or incomplete facts.

The five CPUC commissioners traded comments last week about the commission’s perceived slowness in acting under the last two years of leadership by Lynch, who Gov. Gray Davis named to the president’s position in 2000. (Four of the five commissioners are Democrats appointed by Davis.)

“I have been on this commission seven weeks now, and I was thoroughly briefed on this issue (a telephone case) the first afternoon I was here, and this is a matter of very significant consequences for the telecom industry in California so I don’t understand with all of the discussion that has gone on regarding this item (over 16 weeks) why at the very last second the item is held. It is a matter of significant consequence to all of the players in California,” Peevey said. “Time equals money, and delay is not in anyone’s interest; instead we’ll have a delay and a revised order.

“It bothers me about the process here that something that has been so widely discussed and so lobbied by so many interests so many times is then pulled from the agenda at the very last second.”

In response, Lynch said the item in question had “changed substantially within the last week,” was so complex, that she wanted to write an alternate. Another commissioner, Geoffrey Brown, called the matter “one of enormous importance” and asked for an interim, special rate-setting meeting before the CPUC’s next scheduled business meeting to address the issue, hence, putting the CPUC president in a weakened spot. Lynch promised “no further delays” past the next meeting (May 16).

When the regulators got around to approving new baselines for San Diego Gas & Electric’s customer rate structures, Peevey made a point of praising Commissioner Brown for getting the matter decided within a matter of two weeks since the utility made the request of the commission April 19. “I want to express my appreciation to Commissioner Brown’s office for its expeditious action and I hope this sets an example for the commission to act just as quickly on other items,” Peevey said. The new baselines, or monthly power allotments, should save SDG&E customers $2-$3 a month starting in June.

On another SDG&E item regarding research funding for renewable energy, Lynch was left as the lone dissenter because she felt the CPUC “was going to get sued” for its actions since there is no legal basis for it. The issue was whether since the San Diego utility three years ago stopped collecting so-called “competitive transition charges” (CTC) from its retail customers it was still obligated under the state’s 1996 electric industry restructuring law to pay the public goods charges to the energy commission? The four commissioners thought it was an equity — not a legal — issue and voted to order SDG&E to pay the charge as had the two other major private sector electric utilities in the state.

“I’m troubled by these items,” Lynch said. “It is yet another time that we have to grapple with the ill-conceived AB 1890 (electricity law). We’re an administrative agency and we have to follow the law, so I don’t see how we can do any of these things. Once again we are confounded and constrained by another piece of 1890.”

Finally, in a act of unanimity, the CPUC responded to a more recent law (SBXX2) calling for the establishment of a seven-member oversight board for low-income electric and gas customer issues being aired by the CPUC. The new board will include one of the CPUC commissioners.

©Copyright 2002 Intelligence Press Inc. Allrights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republishedor redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without priorwritten consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.