Edison Is Denied Bite Into SDG&E; Territory

When it comes to San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison has been unable to divide or conquer the smaller, San Diego-based utility.

The state Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday denied an Orange County developer’s request that would have turned over to Edison half of a planned residential subdivision--and 4,000 potential SDG&E; customers.

The PUC ruling came just two weeks after SDG&E;’s board of directors turned down a $2.16-billion merger bid by SCEcorp, Edison’s parent company.

Commissioners on Wednesday refused to modify an electrical-service boundary line that traverses the 4,929-acre Coto de Caza subdivision in an unincorporated part of southeastern Orange County. Consequently, each utility will retain franchise rights for half the proposed development in the Coto de Caza Valley.

Requested by Developer

Coto de Caza Development Co. requested that the boundary be changed because Rosemead-based Edison’s residential electrical rates are lower than those charged by SDG&E.; But commissioners refused to again tinker with the territory line, which has been moved six times since the 1950s.

The PUC instead ruled that “turf wars between two utilities will not be permitted based solely on the strength of a potential customer’s wishes,” according to PUC spokeswoman Carol Kretzer. However, commissioners will consider boundary switches that are requested “by the intruding utility or by both utilities,” she said.

Edison will file its own application for a boundary change soon, said spokesman Lewis Phelps.

Unless the boundary line is changed, Coto de Caza “would be split between two utilities, which doesn’t make good sense,” Phelps said. “Edison already serves the (existing) developments in the Coto de Caza Valley . . . while SDG&E; would have to bring in a transmission line at great expense.”

The boundary dispute is part of what SDG&E; Chairman Thomas Page has described as a “turf war” between Edison and SDG&E; in southern Orange County. Edison serves 739,100 customers in Orange County, whereas SDG&E; has about 70,000 electrical customers there.

‘Result Would Be Chaos’

“If customers or developers were allowed to switch back and forth between neighboring utilities for economic or other reasons, the result would be chaos,” said SDG&E; governmental affairs director Karen Hutchens, who applauded Wednesday’s decision.

SDG&E; has downplayed the significance of Edison’s lower rates. “The rate issue will be moot on Jan. 1, 1989” because SDG&E; has requested rate decreases while Edison has been seeking rate rises, Hutchens said. “Our rates will be very close to Edison’s in just three short months,” Hutchens said.

In a related action Wednesday, the PUC granted Edison the authority to increase its electrical rates by $265 million, or 4.7%. Last May, Edison received PUC approval to raise rates another $200 million.

Edison, which left its merger offer for SDG&E; open indefinitely, recently paid for newspaper advertisements urging SDG&E; shareholders and customers to challenge the SDG&E; board’s decision. The outright rejection of SCEcorp’s bid was “not in your best interests,” according to the advertisements.

SDG&E; spokesman Dave Smith on Wednesday declined to comment on shareholder reaction to the board’s vote. Edison has received “a handful of calls and letters from SDG&E; shareholders supporting our offer,” according to Phelps.