County Water Authority OKs Study of Using Agency to Bid for SDG

The San Diego County Water Authority on Thursday authorized its general manager to conduct a preliminary study to determine the “legal and financial feasibility” of using the countywide agency as a “vehicle” for the acquisition of San Diego Gas & Electric Co.

According to the authority’s chairman, Dale Mason, the water authority has not decided “to acquire SDG&E;,” whose board last week accepted a $2.4-billion merger bid from Rosemead-based SCEcorp, the parent company of Southern California Edison.

“What we are about is . . . trying to determine if there is a role for us to play, if that’s the desire of the people of San Diego,” Mason said.

The preliminary feasibility study, to be prepared by General Manager Lester Snow, was authorized by the water authority board during a regular session Thursday and is due to be presented at next Wednesday’s board meeting.

San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor is “receptive to the idea” of the study, the mayor’s press secretary Paul Downey said Thursday. County Supervisor Susan Golding, who is a member of the water authority board, also backed the study, Mason said.

The water authority also received support from Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce President Lee Grissom, Mason said.

The board’s action came one day after Mayor O’Connor and several other civic leaders from around the county met to discuss options to keep SDG&E; locally based.

Mason said the study will look specifically into whether the authority has the legal and financial “wherewithal” to initiate condemnation proceedings against SDG&E;’s operations in the county.

Mason said that the water authority’s 35-member board, which includes 10 representatives from the city of San Diego, is a “cross-section” because “we represent 97% of the people of San Diego County and 90% of SDG&E;’s customers.”

An acquisition of SDG&E; by the water authority would be accomplished, Mason said, through the use of taxable bonds, not the tax-free bonds typically used to maintain and expand the water district.

Municipal or government agencies handle both water and electric-utility operations in many places in California, he said. For example, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the Imperial Valley Irrigation District and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District handle both water and electricity operations.

Merger’s effect on customers. See Business.