By Megan Ma
Four years after California’s energy crisis, dealing with bureaucratic red tape remains a major obstacle to overhauling the state’s energy infrastructure.
All five panelists at a Dec. 3 League of Women voters-sponsored conference agreed: the state’s energy policies must change and must change fast. Past Mountain View-Los Altos League president Jane Turnbull facilitated the forum held at Los Altos High School.
While soaring energy prices were certainly an issue, the debate focused primarily on whether to restructure state planning and how to dole out that responsibility.
“The blackouts need to stop,” said Bill Ahern, former director of the California Public Utilities Commission. The governor must appoint bright people who have the public interest at heart, he said.
Los Altos Hills resident Ed Cazalet, a California Independent System Operator director, offered a business perspective. Major electrical companies must have long-term contracts to protect against price volatility, he said.
Even in the new hybrid market, which introduces the competitive market into what was previously a regulated monopoly system, consumers still suffer from the effects of high prices.
Lee Guiliasi, an industry representative and policy expert, said long-term contracts would stabilize pricing, but that more significant changes were needed.
John Gessman, a state energy commissioner, agreed. There needs to be a better way to make decisions, he said, than the current exchange between “technical and industry insiders in smoke-filled rooms.”
It would be difficult, however, consumer advocate attorney Dana Appling said, to change the state’s legal-based decision-making process effectively. She called for a “meaningful participation of the public.”
In closing remarks, the panelists suggested ways state government should prioritize in the future.
Guiliasi urged a clear definition of the new hybrid system and better ways to resolve issues.
Appling highlighted another concern - how to keep prices down and make government accountable for it. The governor and top legislators, the panel agreed, would be pivotal to spearhead major changes.
According to Gessman, agencies should consolidate their power. He was skeptical that anything would get done without “a real bipartisan attempt to move forward and continual support of a real constituency for good government.”
The conference is part of the LWV’s plan to educate its members on energy policy and develop a consensus.
Industry and government experts have been invited to contribute to the forum in hopes of formulating a common state policy.
