The utility had not made payments on the contracts and the exchange, a clearinghouse for wholesale electricity purchases, was threatening to sell them. Similarly, Davis commandeered Southern California Edison's low-cost contracts Friday. Cogdill's resolution, if passed by the Legislature, has no binding authority. It calls for the administration to detail any environmental rules that limit power plant expansion and hydroelectric projects and to explain how to remove those restrictions. The governor also should exempt from environmental siting requirements efforts to expand the San Joaquin Valley's Path 15 transmission corridor.
Officials say the corridor is a bottleneck that limits electricity distribution.
Also, the California Energy Commission should authorize the construction of more power plants, even if it means overruling local governments, Cogdill said. He cited the proposed Metcalf Energy Center, a 600-megawatt plant blocked by the San Jose City Council. A similar situation recently arose in Oakdale, in Cogdill's district. Calpine dropped the proposal after neighbors objected. Cogdill said he did not support the plant's construction.