SDG&E; Withdraws From Chamber of Commerce

San Diego Gas & Electric, upset by the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce’s active opposition to the utility’s proposed merger with Southern California Edison, will not renew its long-running membership in the business and civic group, SDG&E;’s chief operating officer said Wednesday.

Opposition to the merger, which SDG&E; officials believe will benefit San Diego’s business community, is “inconsistent with the chamber’s goal of supporting causes that enhance the economic well-being of this city and county,” Jack E. Thomas said. The chamber’s steadfast and highly public opposition to the merger makes it “awkward” for SDG&E; to remain in the organization.

Chamber President Lee Grissom said SDG&E; has been a “very good and supportive member of the chamber” since joining in 1913.

“While the withdrawal disappoints us, it was not a surprise,” Grissom said. “It was one of the considerations we had to (weigh) when we made the decision to take an opposing position to the Edison merger.”

Grissom described SDG&E;’s decision to leave the chamber as proof that Rosemead-based Edison has largely taken control of the local utility. Since the merger surfaced, local utility managers have “done a corporate Chernobyl,” Grissom said. “They just melted down inside.”

SDG&E;’s absence will help to strengthen the chamber’s opposition to the proposed merger, Grissom said. The chamber won’t be hurt financially by SDG&E;’s withdrawal because several chamber members have already volunteered to donate the equivalent of SDG&E;’s dues, Grissom said. SDG&E; would have been assessed $23,000 in corporate dues for 1990.

The chamber had a $2.7-million budget during 1989, Grissom said. SDG&E;’s dues were equivalent to about two weeks’ worth of the chamber’s payroll, Grissom said.

He maintained that SDG&E;’s management is out of step with the mainstream San Diego business community on the merger issue. According to results of a September poll authorized by the chamber, 56% of its members oppose the merger and 11% favor it. The remainder are undecided, according to the poll.

SDG&E;’s withdrawal from the chamber, “if anything, puts starch into our resolve,” Grissom said. “It makes us stronger than before.”

Thomas, who will leave the chamber board of directors at the end of this year, maintained that SDG&E; “doesn’t have a war with the chamber. . . . We intend to maintain a strong position in the business community with organizations that share our vision of the future.”

“While we respectfully acknowledge the stand the chamber has taken, we in good conscience cannot support it,” Thomas said in a letter Tuesday to Pat Crowell, the chamber’s chairman-elect. “The chamber should be, as it always has been, allied with SDG&E.; But it is not.”

“This is an interesting estrangement, in all honesty,” Grissom said. “It’s not a personal issue, because I have great respect for (SDG&E; Chairman) Tom Page. And we just reinvited (SDG&E; board member) Clair Burgener to be on our board. So it’s not a personal issue.”