Rejection of Merger Is 2nd Blow for Edison : Environment: A supervisor says the state and county decisions will help improve air quality.

One of Ventura County’s biggest air polluters has suffered two setbacks, as county and state officials made decisions that could greatly reduce pollutants from Southern California Edison’s power plants near Oxnard.

In San Francisco on Wednesday, the California Public Utilities Commission denied Edison’s request to merge with a San Diego utility. The merger would have added hundreds of tons of pollutants to the county’s dirty air because of increased production at the two power plants near Oxnard.

And in Ventura on Tuesday, a majority of the County Board of Supervisors decided to press forward with a new anti-pollution rule that could require Edison to reduce pollutants by 90% from its power plants at Ormond Beach and Mandalay Bay.

“I think the air will get a whole lot cleaner because of these developments,” Supervisor Susan K. Lacey said.

Environmentalists and government officials said they were surprised and relieved to learn that the PUC turned down Edison’s request to consolidate with San Diego Gas & Electric.

“I don’t believe it. They fooled me,” said Richard H. Baldwin, manager of the county’s Air Pollution Control District. “It’s a tremendous relief.”

If the merger had been approved, Edison planned to increase production of electricity at its Ormond Beach and Mandalay Bay power plants because plants in San Diego are older and less efficient.

The extra electrical load would have added hundreds of tons of pollutants every year to the county’s air, which already fails on some summer days to meet clean air standards set by the state and federal governments.

Without the increase, Edison’s plants are the largest stationary source of nitrogen oxides in the county, contributing 18% of the total tonnage a year. Car exhaust, the biggest source, emits 54% of all nitrogen oxides, which react in sunlight with another gas to create ozone, a major component of smog.

In exchange for the county’s blessing on the merger, Edison had promised to compensate for the extra tonnage coming from its smokestacks by subsidizing the conversion of polluting diesel engines in the county’s oil fields to clean electric motors.

But environmentalists have been skeptical that oil companies would be willing to switch to electric motors. And county officials have grown wary of the intentions of Edison’s corporate officials to keep their promise.

During meetings in recent months, Lacey said, Edison officials from Los Angeles seemed to be pulling back from previous promises. “They were starting to slip a little bit,” Lacey said. “It made me very nervous.”

However, Edison officials said they had already begun an effort to offset any anticipated increases in pollution in Ventura County.

Nader Mansour, Edison’s manager of environmental regulation, said the company had lined up all the engines it needed to purchase to offset its own increased emissions.

“We proceeded to convert some of these engines,” Mansour said. He suggested that Edison may seek to get credits from the county for its good deeds in exchange for expanding electrical production, and pollutants, in the future.

Mansour said Edison also plans to challenge the county’s proposal to strengthen a rule that would require a 90% cut in pollutants at its Ormond Beach plant within three years and at Mandalay Bay plant within five years. The showdown is scheduled for June 4.

Edison officials say they should be allowed to cut emissions without heavy government restrictions.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors rejected a suggestion from Supervisor John K. Flynn to postpone the decision and “form a consensus group . . . to address the disputes involved.”

Flynn’s colleagues said the rule has already gone through enough scrutiny and debate. “It seems to me consensus has happened,” Lacey said.

The two setbacks for Edison were applauded by environmentalists and some government officials. “We are thankful that Edison won’t be increasing our smog,” said Pat Baggerly of the Environmental Coalition of Ventura County.

Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton said he was delighted that the merger died so it would not increase smog trapped in his city by surrounding mountains. “We do have quite a bit of smog, and our studies show that much of that stuff comes from Oxnard.”

Supervisor Vicky Howard, who also represents Simi Valley, said events are lining up for significant reductions in the area’s pollution. “We’re just moving forward to reduce emissions in every way we can.”

Times staff writer Hugo Martin contributed to this report.