Davis and state legislators were working on separate tracks to keep the lights on and keep the utilities out of bankruptcy court. Davis said the emergency proclamation authorizes him, under Section 8625 of the California Government Code, to use money already appropriated to the California Department of Water Resources to buy power. The idea is to keep lights on for a few weeks, while buying time for utilities to work out their credit problems. PUC Chairwoman Loretta Lynch reacted positively to the plan. It keeps the lights on.
Companies choose to reorganize all the time.
But another consumer activist called the governor's action a necessary step. They were given a final nod by the Assembly and sent to the governor for signing. One measurewould recompose the board of the Independent System Operator, the nonprofit agency created under deregulation to oversee the flow of power, to make it smaller and more responsive to consumer interests. Democrats supported the bill as an incremental step toward restoring order in California's dysfunctional energy market. Republicans criticized it as meaningless, noting that Davis already controls appointments to the majority of the boards.