CALIFORNIA : SOUTHLAND FOCUS : Long Beach OKs Preliminary Pact With Edison

The Long Beach City Council unanimously approved a “conceptual agreement” under which Southern California Edison will continue to provide electricity transmission service to Long Beach, and the city will receive a “substantial economic package” from the Rosemead-based utility. Long Beach, the largest city served by Edison with 175,000 customers, had been considering contracting with another company to operate the electricity grid in the city as a way to increase revenue. Under the new proposal, the franchise fee paid to Long Beach will not change. But Edison will give Long Beach $5 million in cash, a 10-story office building valued at $9 million and expanded account management services that will save Long Beach at least $4 million because the city won’t need to buy a new computer system, the two sides said. Edison also plans to locate a material supply company in Long Beach, which will bring in new sales tax revenue. Long Beach and Edison still must negotiate a formal contract, which the two sides said will take several weeks.