Utility Merger Advisory Vote Still in Limbo

SACRAMENTO —  Legislation that would force a public advisory vote on the proposed merger of San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison was left in limbo Monday after the lobbyists for the utilities raised questions about an ailing San Diego County lawmaker’s position on the bill.

The uncertainty led the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee to delay a vote on the bill until next week, when Assemblywoman Lucy Killea (D-San Diego), the bill’s author, expects to have the votes to win committee passage of the measure.

Monday’s confusion arose because Assemblyman Bill Bradley (R-San Marcos) is suffering from a bleeding ulcer and has been hospitalized in San Diego for a week.

Courtesy Move

Killea, who had six votes for her measure in the committee but needed a seventh, said Bradley supported the bill and would have voted for it if he had been present. As a courtesy to Bradley and Killea, another member of the committee who had not intended to vote for the bill agreed to cast his vote in place of Bradley’s.

But, when SDG&E; lobbyist Jim Cassie got wind of the plan, he said he thought Bradley opposed the bill. The doubts raised by Cassie were compounded when Bradley’s Capitol office staff members said they had no knowledge of the strategy to have another member cast a “courtesy vote” for Bradley.

As it turned out, the scheme had been cleared through Bradley’s district office in San Diego County, according to Killea and Bradley’s political consultant. Bradley conveyed his support for the bill in a telephone conversation with his aide, David Barber.

Non-Binding Vote

The bill would require the Public Utilities Commission to arrange an advisory vote on the merger issue in San Diego County. The commission would not be bound by the vote but would be required to consider the result before approving or rejecting the proposed merger.

Killea said she will bring the bill back for a vote May 15.

“We believe we have the votes now to move the bill out of committee,” she said. “But it’s getting tougher to hang on to that courtesy vote.”

Killea said she will probably drop a second bill that Bradley does oppose. That one would establish new standards for setting the price of a utility being acquired by a public agency. The standards would make such a public takeover much easier than under existing law.

The Senate Appropriations Committee, meanwhile, approved legislation by Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) that sets new guidelines for the PUC to use when approving mergers. The guidelines require the commission to consider any large-scale merger’s effect on ratepayers, shareholders, labor and the environment.

Rosenthal’s bill, and another by Sen. Wadie Deddeh (D-Bonita) that requires an environmental impact report be done on the proposed merger, are the only two bills other than Killea’s still moving through the legislative process. Several other measures that would have helped opponents block the merger or helped the County Water Authority acquire SDG&E; have been derailed in the face of strong opposition from SDG&E; and Edison.