But I believe the higher-ups at Edison don't want to incur the cost of building more transmission lines. Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, who as California's governor in the 1970s and early '80s pushed renewable power options, has pledged to cut the city of Oakland's power consumption by 10 percent. Chronicle staff writer Bernadette Tansey and research librarian Johnny Miller contributed to this report. State, SoCal Edison in court over rates. Energy mess ignites power struggle.
Public power looks appealing to cities.
Federal law passes ordering the states to require their utilities to buy from independent generators, including producers of renewable energy. The average household uses 6,000 kilowatt hours of power in a year. The average house demands five kilowatts in the middle of a summer day when the air conditioning is on.