New Merger Opposition Surfaces : Utilities: Ventura County officials fear takeover of SDG&E; by Edison could increase pollution from power plants there.

Ventura County officials expressed strong concerns Wednesday over air-pollution problems that could result from a merger of two Southern California power conglomerates.

At one of two public hearings held in Ventura, Ventura County Supervisor Susan K. Lacey demanded that Southern California Edison provide offsetting reductions in pollutants for every additional ton of emissions the merger with San Diego Gas & Electric would bring to the her county.

The state Public Utilities Commission holds final authority to approve and impose restrictions on the proposed merger of Edison with the smaller SDG&E.; But Ventura County’s Air Pollution Control District must have the power to enforce the rules that the PUC imposes, Lacey said.

Edison says the merger would save the company $1.7 billion over 10 years. But the merger could also shift some power production from San Diego to Ventura County, adding an average of 200 tons of pollutants to the county’s air annually over an 18-year period.

“The residents of Ventura County deserve the assurance that a merger of these utilities would not be achieved at the expense of the public health and well-being,” Lacey told the public and members of the commission at the hearing.

Air Pollution Control District officials are now negotiating with Edison, seeking to reach an agreement with the company on how to offset the additional nitrogen oxide, which forms ozone pollution when they mix with other gases in sunlight, that Edison’s merger would bring.

If the county is successful either in its negotiations with Edison or in a petition to the PUC, Edison may be required to provide free electric motors to replace fuel-burning engines for other segments of industry in the county unrelated to power production.

Rock crushers in the county’s quarries, for instance, which now use diesel engines that produce nitrogen oxide pollution, could be converted at Edison’s expense to electric power to reduce pollution, officials said.

Edison proposes to join forces with the San Diego utility, making it the largest public utility in the country. Pacific Gas & Electric, based in Northern California, is now the largest in the country.

Because the San Diego system is made up of largely antiquated power-producing equipment, Edison proposes to reduce production at SDG&E;’s older and inefficient plants. That power production would be shifted to Edison’s more modern facilities at Ormond Beach and Mandalay Bay in Oxnard, as well as other newer Edison plants elsewhere in Southern California.

According to Edison executives, that shift and the reduction through attrition of more than 1,000 employees would save the merged company $1.7 billion over 10 years. Edison promises to pass the savings on to its customers, although no percentages of savings or classes of customers to receive them have been specified.

The extra 200 tons of nitrogen oxide represents a fraction of a percent of the estimated 25,700 tons of nitrogen oxides produced every year in the county, said Richard Baldwin, Ventura County air pollution control officer.

Edison argued that the increase in emissions is insignificant. The Air Pollution Control District should look instead for emission reductions in automobiles, which are the top source of air pollution in Ventura County, amounting to more than half of the nitrogen oxide emissions, said Michael Hertel, manager of environmental affairs for Edison.

“I think the ‘polluter pays’ principle is the right way to go about it,” he said. “But it’s not fair to penalize one source disproportionately beyond what they are contributing to the problem.”

Baldwin, Lacey and others disagreed. Ventura County already fails both state and federal health standards for ozone pollution, they said, and any more emissions are cause for concern.

“Nitrogen oxides cause ozone, and we have a very significant ozone problem in Ventura County,” Baldwin said. The county is already working on rules to reduce automobile emissions, he said.

“Because Ventura County has such a serious air quality problem, we are focusing on everything from a single car up to power plants,” Baldwin said.