Bill to Rescue Edison Is Set for Review

A bill to rescue Edison International’s utility from bankruptcy is set to be considered Tuesday by a California Assembly fiscal committee, which postponed its review of the plan late last week.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee adjourned for the three-day weekend without voting on the bill because of confusion over 11 amendments being considered. The committee members didn’t receive analysis of some amendments before the start of the hearing.

Southern California Edison, the state’s second-largest electric utility, needs the measure to help pay off $3.5 billion in debt accumulated under the state deregulation law, which froze consumer power rates while allowing wholesale costs to rise.

Under the bill, the utility would be allowed to sell as much as $2.9 billion in bonds backed by utility fees paid by an estimated 180,000 business customers.

The state would have a five-year option to buy the utility’s transmission lines at twice book value, or about $2.4 billion.

The appropriations committee has to vote before the full Assembly can consider the plan. If approved by the Assembly, the plan must be merged with a separate bill passed by the state Senate last month.