Energy Bills Wait for Governor?s Final Say

A little less than two weeks remain for Arnold Schwarzenegger to put his hand to this year?s crop of bills, and so far this month, the governor has signed more measures focused on milk products and the disposition of human remains than on electricity and energy in general. The hotly debated AB 2006 remains in limbo, and two minor bills related to energy?one about self-generation incentives and the other dealing with environmental reviews?were vetoed by Schwarzenegger this week. Capitol insiders insist that the administration is putting together its own energy policy as an alternative to AB 2006, which the governor has all but guaranteed he will veto. But sources also say that the governor?s office appears to be split on the issue: some favor steps toward utility planning and investment, but others subscribe to the ?free market? philosophy. The Utility Reform Network senior lobbyist Lenny Goldberg says the administration leans in only one direction. ?They all believe in the market, from what we?ve heard,? he said. ?The governor is getting a very narrow view of electricity policy.? Goldberg added that supporters of AB 2006 have been trying to schedule a meeting with the governor to discuss the bill, ?but they?re not talking with us,? he said. ?We?re frustrated at this point.? Resources Agency deputy secretary of energy Joe Desmond, who could not be reached for comment on the fate of AB 2006, countered that the administration is pushing for an energy policy that puts restraints on the market and avoids new stranded costs and cost shifting. ?Freedom requires eternal vigilance. You can?t leave the marketplace to the hand of Adam Smith,? he said during a September 16 energy conference sponsored by Law Seminars International. The administration is giving priority to energy efficiency, transmission expansion, dynamic pricing, and renewables, according to Desmond. Goldberg criticized an administration plan in which capacity for power reserves purchased by utilities could be traded in a new market. ?We all know electricity trading can work with a surplus of power,? he said. But the market won?t work unless it can also function during times of shortage, he said?otherwise, ?we?ll get into trouble.? Absent AB 2006 becoming law, the lack of a defined energy policy could become more problematic at the beginning of next year, when Schwarzenegger must choose two new CPUC members. In addition to AB 2006, a bill by Senator Byron Sher (D-Palo Alto) that would clarify the state?s renewable power goals has yet to gain the governor?s signature. SB 1478 made it to Schwarzenegger?s desk on September 3, having passed the Senate with amendments on a 22-10 vote. Earlier this week, the governor vetoed AB 2593 by Assemblymember Thomas Calderon (D-Montebello). The bill would have directed state regulators to suspend collecting money for the state?s self-generation incentive program in a given year if cash levels for that year appear to be sufficient. ?This is not necessary,? Schwarzenegger wrote, arguing that the CPUC already is empowered to adjust the program as it sees fit. The governor noted that bill sponsor Southern California Edison is the only investor-owned utility whose self-generation program is overfunded. Also rejected was AB 568, another Sher bill. The measure would have required scientists charged with conducting a peer review of California Environmental Protection Agency rules to have no financial interest in whatever issue or project is examined under that review. Schwarzenegger said the bill would inappropriately place scientists under conflict-of-interest standards developed for policy makers, rather than rules more tailored to academic professionals. The governor signed AB 502 by Assemblymember Joe Canciamilla (D-Pittsburg) September 10, allowing the state to act more swiftly in permitting natural gas projects. AB 2830 by Assemblymember Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), which settles rules by which the state may declare certain oil and gas wells abandoned, also became law this week. Schwarzenegger has until September 30 to sign or veto bills. Any bills not signed or vetoed by that time will automatically become law.

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Energy Bills Wait for Governor?s Final Say

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