Makeup of PUC May Shift Before Vote on Merger

The announcement that the state Public Utilities Commission won’t complete its review of Southern California Edison’s proposed merger with San Diego Gas & Electric until early next year is raising questions about which PUC members will be around to write the controversial decision.

Commissioners had hoped to stick to a self-imposed schedule that called for a final merger decision by the end of 1990.

That schedule irritated some merger opponents, who argued that the PUC was moving too quickly on the merger that would create the nation’s largest electric utility. But utility executives, who proposed the merger in late 1988, have maintained that the year-end deadline gave opponents ample time to voice concerns.

PUC President G. Mitchell Wilk’s acknowledgement on Tuesday that the review will be extended into 1991 prompted merger opponents to begin speculation on what Gov. George Deukmejian and Gov.-elect Pete Wilson intend to do with positions that will become vacant Dec. 31, when commissioners Stanley W. Hulett and Frederick R. Duda are scheduled to leave office. Both have asked to be reappointed.

Although all five commissioners have followed merger developments, following PUC practice, Hulett and Wilk were assigned early to pay special attention to the complex merger review. Some utility industry observers have questioned the wisdom of adding two new commissioners who would have to wade through thousands of pages of testimony to get up to speed on the complex merger review. But others believe that the merger is so important that a final vote should be delayed until after two new commissioners are appointed.

If Hulett and Duda depart, and successors are not quickly named, the merger vote could be taken with just Wilk and Patricia M. Eckert and John B. Ohanion on the commission. Wilk said Wednesday that a recently written report from the PUC’s chief legal counsel gives the three remaining commissioners an “absolute” right to conduct a merger vote.

But Michael Shames, executive director of Utility Consumers Action Network, a San Diego-based consumer group, argues that the PUC has an “obligation” to Californians to wait until the commission is at full strength before voting on the monumental merger that would create an electric and gas utility with 4.5 million customers in Southern California.

Shames and San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor soon will ask Deukmejian and Wilson to appoint two new commissioners to the PUC, including one San Diegan and, possibly, another Southern Californian. Now, Eckert, from Los Angeles, is the only Southern Californian on the PUC. Shames maintains that the two new appointees should have as few ties as possible to the utility industry.

Wilk said Wednesday that Hulett and Duda both have told Deukmejian and Wilson of their desire to be reappointed to the PUC for full terms, or, at the least, until the merger vote occurs.

But Deukmejian, who is busy dealing with a growing state budget deficit, said Wednesday that he hasn’t “made a decision on (PUC appointments) yet. Honestly, it’s not on my desk yet.” Wilson was not available for comment Wednesday.

O’Connor said Tuesday that Wilson should appoint two new commissioners, including one from San Diego, since a San Diegan has not sat on the commission in at least 30 years. O’Connor also questioned whether Hulett and Duda have already made up their minds to support Edison and SDG&E; when the final vote is taken.

But O’Connor spokesman Paul Downey said Wednesday that the mayor has not yet formally asked Wilson or Deukmejian to appoint new commissioners. “She’s spoken to the governor-elect and congratulated him, but she’s not had an opportunity to discuss issues,” Downey said. “But I think it would be her hope that he would make two new appointments.”

Spokesmen for SDG&E; and Edison on Wednesday declined to comment on the question of how Deukmejian and Wilson should handle the PUC appointments. “We have a very significant merger case pending before the commission, and it would not be appropriate for us to comment on the makeup of the commission,” said Edison spokesman Lewis Phelps. “Whatever we say might be misconstrued.”

“I don’t think we would have a preference,” said Bill Reed, SDG&E;’s director of regulatory affairs. “That would be talking about how the commission conducts its business, and that would be at the discretion” of Wilk, the PUC president.

Hulett, who was appointed to the PUC in 1986, said Wednesday that he hadn’t heard one way or the other from Deukmejian or Wilson. “But Gov.-elect Wilson has 1,000 appointments to make, so obviously he’s (busy),” Hulett said. “Neither of them has told me to go away and stay away, though.”

Times staff writer Ralph Frammolino in Sacramento contributed to this story.