PUC Draft Would Deny SDG&E; Rate Freeze

California Public Utilities Commissioner Henry Duque issued a draft decision denying a request by a consumer advocacy group to freeze the electricity rates of San Diego Gas & Electric, whose customers have seen sharply higher bills this summer. In his draft, Duque said a temporary freeze would lead to higher winter bills. Instead, he proposed allotting $100 million toward credits on SDG&E; customers’ bills. The full commission will consider the proposal at its Aug. 3 meeting. Consumer advocates immediately attacked the proposal, saying it does not protect consumers. San Diego electricity users are the first to experience the volatility in bills in an unregulated commodity market. The utility was the first under California’s sweeping restructuring of its electricity industry, which began in 1998, to pay off its transitional debts and to win an end to frozen electricity rates. Rates for customers of Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric remain frozen.