Schwarzenegger says Businesses Better Shop Around

Taking on active consumer interests and the Edison lobby, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has stated that his administration will only accept an energy deal which includes direct access for business customers:

"The only element necessary for legislative action is direct access, and this bill no longer addresses that," said Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Ashley Snee.

Nuñez did not address the specific recommendations, but said, "Obviously, we have some disagreements with his approach."

The governor's approach angers consumer advocates.

"It's like faith-based deregulation," said Mindy Spatt, spokeswoman for The Utility Reform Network. "We've seen that deregulation didn't lower prices -- it raised prices -- but that was the belief behind it. And the belief apparently still exists."

With Schwarzenegger taking a stand on the Nuñez bill so late in the legislative session, some question whether the bill will die, taking with it the chance to revamp California's electricity market this year.

Speaker Nunez only has himself to blame for the energy debate coming so late in the session. Shwarzenegger repeatedly stated that, after the budget is passed, his next priority is fixing the energy markets. Guess what? Nunez refused to allow a vote on Schwarzenegger's budget and stonewalled that process by at least six weeks.