We're trying to protect customers from the pain that San Diego residents experienced. Average power bills in San Diego more than doubled over the summer as ratepayers were exposed to daily price swings on the wholesale electricity market. This amount is intended to accommodate potential wholesale price spikes after an existing rate freeze ends by early 2002. That question has yet to be decided. State regulators have not ruled on who should pay the multibillion-dollar bill.
Consumer groups say the utility is obliged to swallow all costs incurred while rates are frozen.
The utility has warned that it would be prepared to take the matter to court if state regulators do not see things the same way. Instead, the announcement repeatedly stressed that the plan would be a boon to the utility's 4.6 million customers. But few observers yesterday took the utility's repeated declarations of consumer protection at face value. In a related matter, the PUC earlier yesterday called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to impose rate caps on the state's turbulent electricity market and to step up an investigation into alleged price manipulation by power companies. Rates remain excessive, and the reliability of the grid is in danger and may worsen by summer.