Utilities regain control of efficiency programs

Californians will have to trust Investor-Owned Utilities to promote energy efficiency, after action taken yesterday by the Public Utilities Commission:

California energy regulators voted Thursday to return control of energy efficiency programs to utility companies, ending a four-year experiment with allowing cities and independent groups to run some of the programs.

The California Public Utilities Commission voted 3-0 to make the switch, opposed by some consumer organizations.

The state spends about $400 million a year on energy efficiency programs, with 20 percent going to programs run by cities and groups independent of the utilities.

While we're at it, let's put ARCO in charge of promoting fuel efficiency!