ANAHEIM : No Customer Impact Seen in Utility Case

Anaheim utility customers won’t be seeing any changes in their utility bills--such as rebate credits or lower rates--as a result of a landmark $10-million settlement between the city and Southern California Edison Co., officials said Wednesday.

While previous similar settlements have brought customers such benefits, city officials say Anaheim’s utility department paid Edison’s overpriced power rates knowing that a settlement was forthcoming.

Now that the money is in, it’s simply going back to the utility department.

“It’s money we’ve already paid, and they’re going to give it back to us,” said Ray Merchant, a spokesman for the utility department. “The effect on the consumer is basically no impact.”

But the city stands to save $4 million in annual power costs because of new sales agreements between it and Edison. And those savings may be passed down to customers by offsetting future utility price increases.

“That’s $40 million (over 10 years) less . . . that we won’t be charging our customers,” Merchant said.

The $10-million settlement approved earlier this week is an estimate of how much Edison overcharged the city for power since November, 1988, when the city disputed the rates. Edison sells Anaheim 2% to 3% of its total annual power needs.

A spokeswoman for Edison said that such settlements are common between the company and its customers, but she declined to comment on details of the Anaheim case pending final approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.