San Diego Officials Decry Rate Plans.

• Position: Electric utility rates - Brief Article

As the legislative session in California neared its August close, officials from San Diego made the trek to the state capitol in Sacramento to plead for relief from electricity bills that have cost San Diegans hundreds of millions of additional dollars this summer. San Diego residents feel as if they have been "innocent victims of a failed deregulation experiment created by the legislature." At the center of the debate is whether state funds should be used to reimburse San Diegans for the high price they already have paid or whether San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) should be forced to absorb some of those costs. On August 10, the State Senate passed a bill to roll back and freeze rates. The governor offered his own plan, which would limit SDG&E's exposure to debt by setting monthly bills for homeowners at $68 through the end of...