Campbell introduces relief bill for power users

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT-MESA -- Vowing to cement relief granted to large-scale power

users by the state’s Public Utilities Commission, Assemblyman John

Campbell (R-Irvine) introduced a bill Monday that would freeze penalties

charged to companies like Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc.

The commission on Friday forgave penalties run up by companies that

joined Southern California Edison’s so-called interruptible rate program

-- which allows companies to take a 15% discount on their monthly bill in

exchange for a promise to cut back operations when supply is tight.

Many businesses have incurred hefty fines after refusing to honor

requests from Edison to go dark. Semiconductor-maker Conexant has run up

$5 million in penalties since October. Huntington Beach, the only Orange

County city to enroll in the plan, was hit with $1 million in charges.

Campbell’s bill, known as AB21X and introduced in the Legislature’s

special energy session, seeks to preserve the commission’s Friday

decision to nullify the penalties.

That decision reversed the commission’s own order that prevented

companies from exiting the so-called I-6 plan.

While he lauded the decision, Campbell criticized the commission for

failing to address the situation earlier and freeing the companies from

the monetary bind.

“They have certainly contributed to this problem,” Campbell said.

“It’ll certainly be good to see them do something to help us get out of

it.”

Conexant spokeswoman Lisa Briggs praised the commission action and

Campbell’s efforts. Giddy about its freedom from charges, Conexant will

probably drop out of the plan.

“I don’t think we’re going to participate” in the plan, Briggs said.

“It was a strong plan for us when there was a dependable source of

power.”

On Monday, in the midst of the never-ending power crisis, Costa Mesa

and Newport Beach city officials breathed a sigh of relief that they

chose not to jump into the plan. Costa Mesa City Manager Allan Roeder

said it wouldn’t have been practical.

“The savings for the program did not appear to us to merit going into

that program,” Roeder said. “And we’ve just not looked at shutting down

public facilities as an option.”

Edison officials were ambivalent about the commission’s action. Edison

spokeswoman Kim Scheer said the utility can’t force Conexant and others

to hit the light switch, but it can call the big users an unlimited

number of times to request shut-offs. If too many big companies refuse to

shut down, residential users will suffer.

“We’re asking customers to be good corporate and governmental

citizens, keeping the rest of us from going into larger outages,” Scheer

said. “That’s our concern. They’ve been the buffer.”

While supporting the PUC action, Campbell and others said the 11-page

ruling was ambiguous, a problem the newly elected legislator hopes to

correct with his bill. While the plan’s members won’t be penalized from

Friday on, the commission must still decide how to handle charges already

levied. And there are other questions, Orange County Business Council

spokeswoman Julie Puentes said.

“Where has the money gone that has been paid?” Puentes asked. “What

could a revamped program look like?”

The community must address those issues in the coming months, Puentes

said.