PUC will hold hearings before selecting a plan. The PUC not only must assess a welter of competing proposals that sometimes clash head-on. One battle shaping up is over whether residential customers alone should pay for the increased cost of delivering power to those conserving enough to be exempted from the rate hikes. Gov. Gray Davis and others say rates should be tiered to reward energy savers and punish heavy users. We can't say we'll do a double shift at night.
Some crops have to be irrigated around the clock.