State’s Power Lines

The bill introduced by state Sen. John Burton (“Bill Proposes Power Line Purchase,” Feb. 7) is nothing short of expropriation of the utilities’ transmission assets to help pay for the energy the consumers of California have used and will continue to use in the future.

The senator’s statement, “If [utilities] expect to get money from the ratepayers, the ratepayers have to get something from them. I give you a dollar, you give me a hot dog” is good populist rhetoric, but it misses the point. It is certainly the American way to pay for what you buy but unfortunately the ratepayers have already gotten their hot dogs and continue to get more without having to pay for them.

ISHTIAQ A. CHISTI

Long Beach

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I have been a stockholder in Pacific Gas & Electric for 53 years, and I also own stock in Edison International and the parent company of Southern California Gas. After careful consideration I have concluded that the utilities no longer can service the needs of their customers or their stockholders.

Private utility companies shouldn’t be going to the state or federal governments for help in procuring energy to be sold to their customers; neither should the firms have been induced to sell their plants for producing energy.

Legislators should be induced to establish a statewide agency that would operate as does the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power--without brownouts and with lower rates to consumers. Stockholders could be compensated for the fair value of their stock.

Private utility companies, at least in California, are archaic.

SPENCER CRUMP

Corona del Mar