Duke Energy late Wednesday confirmed that it has proposed a “good faith” preliminary global settlement designed to help solve California’s ongoing energy crisis and urged Gov. Gray Davis to take a hard look at the initiatives the company has put forward. Key elements of Duke’s proposed settlement include a willingness by the company to build new supply in the state without taxpayers having to foot the bill and resolution of all pending lawsuits and investigations into Duke’s pricing activities.

“We delivered documents in April to the governor outlining the elements for a comprehensive California three-year energy plan, along with a framework for a global settlement,” said Jim Donnell, president and chief operating officer of Duke Energy North America. Duke’s energy plan sets out specific action steps for new generation, conservation programs, electric and gas infrastructure improvements, regional transmission frameworks and environmental goals.

“We hope the governor will take a hard look at the initiatives we offer in the comprehensive plan and be willing to sit down will all stakeholders to immediately begin implementing solutions that will assure California consumers adequate, reasonably priced electricity,” Donnell said.

Duke said that its global settlement included the following elements:

“The three-year plan and global settlement proposals are more examples of initiatives by Duke Energy to help solve California’s energy crisis,” Donnell said. “We remain committed to working with all stakeholders to take the bold steps necessary to solve this crisis,” he added.

The documents, “Elements of a Comprehensive California Three-Year Energy Plan” and the “Preliminary Global Settlement Template,” as well as other documents related to actions Duke has taken during the California energy crisis, are available on the company’s California Web site at https://duke-energy.com/california.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-MO) is tossing his hat into the California power fray. Gephardt and Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) will hold a rally Friday outside of Duke’s South Bay power plant to demand federal action on California’s energy crisis. Prior to the rally, Gephardt, Filner, other local officials and energy experts will hold an energy summit.

Filner has played an active role on Capitol Hill in trying to solve the state’s power-related woes. Filner has asked the San Diego district attorney’s office to bring criminal fraud, larceny, extortion and antitrust violation charges against a “cartel” of seven out-of-state wholesale generators, including Duke, for allegedly bilking the state out of billions of dollars over the past year by overcharging on electricity (see NGI, March 7). More recently, Filner took aim at FERC’s strategy to mitigate prices on real-time transactions in California during emergencies, saying the plan “is a joke, but I’m not laughing and neither are the millions of Californians who will continue to suffer” (see NGI, April 30).

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has directed Duke Energy, along with several other California power suppliers, to justify wholesale electricity transactions in January and February that run into the millions of dollars (see NGI, March 19).

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