Kurt Yeager denounces Prop 16 in Smart Grid Today
In the June 2, 2010 issue of Smart Grid Today, Kurt Yeager denounces California's Proposition 16 and PG&E's significant spending to promote the measure.
Smart Grid Today (June 2, 2010)
Galvin decries California proposal as affront to public power
PG&E counters claim, ups financial support
California's Proposition 16, set for a public vote next Tuesday, would “take a big toll” on communities' efforts to increase their renewable-energy supplies at competitive prices, Kurt Yeager, executive director of the Galvin Electricity Initiative, told us yesterday.
“PG&E is seeking to maintain its monopoly status,” Yeager said. “My objection to the proposition is substantive -- I don't think a special interest group should have that kind of influence. And it's also procedural. Amending the constitution is not something that should be done lightly.”
In opposing the proposed constitutional amendment, Yeager joined AARP, the Sierra Club, the League of Women Voters, the Utility Reform Network and a number of California state senators.
Supporting the proposition are the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Taxpayers' Assn and especially PG&E. Those groups are sponsoring a media campaign in favor of the proposition, with frequent radio spots, said Yeager, a Californian.
PG&E is spending $46 million in shareholder funds to promote the measure, Andrew Souvall, a PG&E spokesperson, told us yesterday. Less than two weeks ago, he told us PG&E contributed $37.5 million to back Prop 16 (SGT, May-26).
The ballot measure would amend the state's constitution to require that two-thirds of voters approve any public agency entering into the business of making or selling electricity in California. That would limit so-called community-choice aggregation, under which local governments can buy power from cleaner energy sources, even if they are generated locally. Community-choice aggregation lets cities pool residents' interest and buy power on their behalf, from whomever they choose, Galvin explained on its website. Aggregation is an alternative to the conventional mode of power distribution that has utilities delivering electricity directly. That leaves local governments out of the transaction and unable to pursue options tailored to their residents' needs, Galvin said.
The measure would not stop public power from moving forward, Souvall said.
“It just gives consumers the right to decide when public spending or public debt is involved,” he added.
Neither of California's other large IOUs -- Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric -- is publicly voicing support for the measure, Yeager said.
A vote in favor of the measure means local governments would generally be required to receive two-thirds voter approval before they could start up electricity services or expand power service into a new territory, according to the measure's official website entry. A vote against it means local governments generally could continue to implement proposals involving the start-up or expansion of electricity service, either through approval by a majority of voters or actions by governing boards.
Passage of the measure “would jeopardize the state's ability to cut carbon emissions, harvest local clean energy, reduce electricity costs and create green jobs in their communities,” Yeager told the press yesterday.
Independent system operators (ISOs) now manage efficient, competitive wholesale power markets in California, Yeager said, adding that communities are critically important if the state is to meet its renewable-energy requirements of 20% by 2010 and 33% by 2030. Community-choice aggregation “takes an important step toward creating a consumer-driven power system,” he said. This story has been reproduced from the June 2, 2010 issue of Smart Grid Today with the permission of the publisher, MMI Inc. To view the full story on Smart Grid Today’s website, please visit http://www.smartgridtoday.com/public/1653.cfm?sd=31.
