Edison’s Excess Plants ‘Inefficient,’ Report Says

Southern California Edison’s excess electric generating plants--which would be returned to service after a proposed merger with San Diego Gas & Electric--are described as old, inefficient and undependable in an August, 1988, SDG&E; document released Thursday by order of the state Public Utilities Commission.

According to the document, an unidentified SDG&E; electrical generation expert viewed Edison’s “mothballed” power plants, which can generate an estimated 900 megawatts of electricity, as “old units, with poor heat rates/operating records, which do not make the cut on economics compared to adding new generation. They may also not meet air quality standards.”

Utility officials have said that some of the proposed merger’s savings would be created by returning Edison’s excess power plants to service. That move supposedly would cut electric rates by delaying construction of costly new power plants in SDG&E;’s service territory.

“This is really is an astounding document,” said Michael Shames, executive director of Utility Consumers Action Network, a San Diego-based consumer group. “When it comes to the deferral of plant generation, they’re saying (cost savings) really aren’t there.”

But SDG&E; vice president Ed Guiles downplayed the importance of the document.

“We probably didn’t have a clear, detailed, knowledgeable vision” of Edison’s power plant plans when the document was prepared, Guiles said. The document was apparently prepared just days after Edison surprised SDG&E; with an uninvited merger bid in August, 1988.

“At the time, it was probably questionable (to the staff person preparing the document) whether it was reasonable for (Edison’s) excess capacity to fill our needs,” Guiles said. Edison has since drafted a “reasonable plan” that includes capital expenditures that would bolster the plants’ efficiency and address environmental concerns, he said.