EDITORIAL

It is a clear case of a company wanting to have its cake and eat it

too.

After agreeing to a contract with Southern California Edison that gave

it a 15% discount in exchange for cutting back during power shortages,

Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc. has rung up $3 million in fines

this month for not reducing its energy consumption.

The reason? Company spokeswoman Lisa Briggs said Conexant doesn’t

“have the type of business that can just be stopped.”

This raises a question so large it has to be asked: Why did Conexant

agree to this contract if it couldn’t abide by it?

The company took the money from the 15% discount, so it needs to keep

its end of the bargain.

And we have another question:

Isn’t an energy crisis, as we are now experiencing, the reason for the

contract in the first place?

So far, the company hasn’t offered any answers.

But before rolling blackouts hit Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, it

should. Because while Conexant isn’t to blame for the lights going out,

it certainly hasn’t done its part to keep them on.