Schwarzenegger Skiddish on Edison Energy Reforms

While State Legislators argued over who was more of a "girlie man", lobbyists for Southern California Edison worked with Assembly Speaker Devin Nunez to quietly sneak legislation through the corridors of Sacramento which would change the State's energy markets to benefit the incumbent Utility. But the OC Register's Jim Hinch reports, Governor Schwarzenegger isn't buying it:

Today, Schwarzenegger's resources secretary, Mike Chrisman, will issue a letter opposing a major energy bill backed by Southern California Edison that would enable Edison and other utilities to build their own power plants.

The letter also will lay out Schwarzenegger's own energy priorities, which include beefed-up electricity reserves, more renewable energy sources and a partial deregulation plan that would give large electricity consumers direct access to power sold by private generators.

..."The governor is concerned about blackouts," said Public Utilities Commissioner Jeff Brown, who met with Schwarzenegger last week to discuss energy policy. But he and his staff favor "more competition. ... They're approaching (the Edison-backed bill) with caution. ... They're looking at this like Reagan used to look at Gorbachev's proposals for missile reductions."

"Trust, but verify," would seem a generous approach to dealing with an energy proposal bankrolled by one company which stands to profit from the outcome of the debate.