State Senate Passes Electric Bill Relief

With two days left before lawmakers disband for the year, the state Senate on Tuesday moved to cap San Diego Gas & Electric power rates by passing a new version of a consumer relief bill.

In a separate action, the Senate approved and sent to the Assembly a bill to create a special monitor with significant authority to oversee the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The electricity measure would set SDG&E;’s electricity rates at less than a third of the current price of wholesale electricity, which has been determined by market forces since California deregulated its electricity industry in 1998.

It also would give the state Public Utilities Commission the authority to adjust the price cap up or down for SDG&E; customers every six months. The cap would expire at the end of 2002.

The measure requires a two-thirds majority to pass each house of the Legislature, raising questions about whether the Democratic-backed bill can win sufficient Republican votes in the Assembly, its next destination.

Assemblywoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) and Sen. Dede Alpert (D-Coronado), the measure’s authors, shepherded a different rate bill through the Senate earlier this month, but reworked it after Gov. Gray Davis and Assembly Republicans made it clear they would reject it.

Their new attempt, AB 265, falls in line with a proposal by the governor. It would give San Diego and southern Orange County residents immediate relief from this summer’s soaring electricity costs, passed on to them by SDG&E.;

The initial cap--6.5 cents per kilowatt-hour--would apply retroactively to June 1, so consumers could expect to get credit for bills they’ve already paid this summer.

Recent electricity bills have been, on average, double and triple the price of last summer’s bills. The new legislation would cover all homeowners, hospitals, schools and small and medium-size businesses. The average homeowner’s bill would be roughly $68 a month.

Assembly minority leader Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach) opposed the bill, saying that if the PUC lowered the rate cap, SDG&E; would suffer.

The new bill, he said, would also “send a message to Wall Street through a megaphone: Don’t invest in California because we artificially lower our rates and you may not be able to recapture your investments.”

Baugh has proposed using $300 million of the state’s budget surplus to help consumers and SDG&E; pay for this summer’s extraordinary electricity costs.

“We told them not to send it over until they struck a deal [with Republicans]” Baugh said. “They didn’t do that.”

The legislation would create an account into which SDG&E; would deposit what it collects from customers. It also would deposit whatever profits the 1.2-million-customer utility generates by selling electricity from its share of the San Onofre nuclear power plant and through its contracts with alternative energy producers.

Another bill being drafted by Assemblywoman Denise Ducheny (D-San Diego) would create a fund of $50 million or more of state money to be drawn upon to help balance the account if necessary. Such a bill had not been introduced as of Tuesday evening.

The Davis-Alpert legislation is tied to yet another unwritten bill that lawmakers say would shorten the time it takes to build new power plants in California. Both bills must pass both houses and get Davis’ signature for either to take effect.

Several senators who refused Tuesday to vote for the Davis and Alpert bill complained that the bill to streamline the process of permitting power plants was not ready.

“I’m haunted by the procedures of the past that got us here,” Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) said, referring to August 1996, when the Legislature unanimously approved a sweeping bill to move California’s electricity market from a system of three monopolistic but regulated utilities to a competitive market.

Under that law, SDG&E; customers have become the first in the state to bear the full price of wholesale electricity. Consumer advocates believe similar price spikes will hit other customers next year.

The day included a heavy measure of silliness. Assembly members arrived to find goody bags filled with chocolate, presumably to help keep them energized; mouthwash; Kleenex, evidently for when their bills die; and wooden back scratchers--so they could scratch one another’s backs.

Members of the lower house spent the bulk of their time working on deals and giving farewell speeches to colleagues who must retire because of term limits. In the Senate, members rarely gave lengthy speeches, and when they did, President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco) cut them off.

With limited debate, the Senate swiftly approved, 27-13, the measure to create a new state monitor for the Los Angeles Unified School District. The monitor would oversee the district’s progress on improving student achievement, increasing the number of credentialed teachers, adding textbooks and improving school safety and parental involvement.

If the bill, SB 2071 by Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), becomes law, the monitor’s first evaluation would be issued in 2003, with a final evaluation in 2005. If the monitor finds that the district is still operating as it operates now, “they’ll be in real trouble,” Polanco said, adding that failure by Los Angeles Unified to improve could lead to the district’s breakup.

Polanco brushed aside opponents’ arguments that the measure would interfere with local school officials. “This is not a takeover,” he said. “There are no rights being taken away here.”

Though some Democrats opposed the bill, Polanco won support from conservatives and liberals.

“A school district described by its inspector general as organizationally dysfunctional is a school district that ought to be overseen by someone,” said Hayden, who voted for the measure.

Among other issues flaring Tuesday was a move by Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier) to persuade Davis to use tobacco litigation settlement money on health care. The governor consistently has rejected the idea.

Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) was working on the issue, too, and approached Escutia on the Senate floor, giving her a hug. “I don’t need your huggie hugs, I need straight answers,” Escutia told Hertzberg.

Hertzberg said he believes Davis may be “flexible” on the issue.

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In other action Tuesday:

* In a measure spurred by the death of Brandi Mitock, 15, the Assembly passed a bill by Hayden that would give the Department of Motor Vehicles more power to test drivers if family, police or physicians raise questions about their driving ability. Hayden introduced the bill after a 96-year-old driver struck and killed the Santa Monica teenager. Hayden had sought to require added testing of people over age 75, but pared it back after lobbyists representing older people objected. The measure, SB 335, awaits a final vote in the Senate.

* The Senate sent to Davis a bill requiring children under age 6 and under 60 pounds be properly secured in a safety belt or passenger restraint system when riding in cars. The bill, SB 567, by Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) won on a 25-9 vote. Currently, children younger than 4 who weigh less than 40 pounds must be secured by approved restraints.

* The Senate gave final approval to a measure that restricts the ability of vintners to use the words “Napa Valley” on their labels. An aide to Davis said he probably will sign the bill into law. The Napa Valley Vintners Assn. pushed for the bill, contending that Napa Valley’s reputation would be diminished by wines made from grapes grown elsewhere. Approved 27-8, the bill, SB 1293 by Wesley Chesbro (D-Arcata), would require wine with the word “Napa” on the label to contain at least 75% Napa Valley-grown grapes.

* The Senate approved 21-14 legislation requiring that retail companies that charge sales tax in their California stores also charge sales tax on sales transacted over the Internet. The bill, AB 2412 by Assemblywomen Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) and Dion Aroner (D-Berkeley), awaits a final vote in the lower house.

* The Assembly approved SB 1741, which would slow the spread of new area codes by allowing separate codes for pagers and cellular telephones. The bill by Sen. Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey) would order the PUC to ask federal regulators for permission to create “technology-specific” area codes. * The Senate passed a bill that bans the sale of classroom lectures given by professors at community colleges and within the University of California and California State University systems. It now goes to the Assembly. * The Assembly approved AB 2101 by Migden granting news reporters access to prisoners to conduct interviews. The state prison system bars most face-to-face interviews with inmates. Davis vetoed similar legislation last year.

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Times staff writers Miguel Bustillo and Dan Morain contributed to this story.