California governor urges energy-refund deal
By John Woolfolk, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. -- June 30
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged federal regulators and power companies this week to move toward a settlement that will finally refund California for overcharges during the energy crisis.
"California still has not recovered the vast majority of overcharges
incurred during the crisis," Schwarzenegger wrote. "I want to make
clear to the Commission that I strongly support refunds for unjust and
unreasonable prices." Amount questioned State officials say California has
received only a fraction of the $8.9 billion in refunds from claimed
overcharges.
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer's office and an energy industry
official praised the governor's letter. But consumer advocates were skeptical,
noting it never cited the $8.9 billion refund figure state officials had
demanded under former Gov. Gray Davis.
"It's anybody's guess how much in refunds he thinks we're entitled
to," said Mindy Spatt, a spokeswoman for consumer group The Utility Reform
Network.
But Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar said Schwarzenegger's letter was
encouraging.
"We view this as strong support for our efforts to obtain an appropriate
amount of refunds and justice for the state of California," Dresslar said.
Jan Smutny-Jones, executive director of the Independent Energy Producers
Association, said power generators also are eager to resolve the refund claims.
'Get ball rolling' "This thing should have been settled a long time ago,
and the settlement conference is a way for FERC to get that ball rolling,"
Smutny-Jones said.
But he noted that at least publicly, the state and power companies remain far
apart on a refund figure, and said the $8.9 billion number doesn't "have
any bearing on reality." A spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger said the governor
has not committed to a refund figure but has nonetheless insisted that
California be repaid any overcharges.
"He wants a fair share," said spokeswoman Ashley Snee.
The state already has settled refund claims with a few companies, including
El Paso Corp. for $1.6 billion, Williams Energy Marketing & Trading for $417
million, Dynegy for $281.5 million, and Calpine and Constellation for a total of
$8.5 million.
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