Oversight of California power grid may be shared
— Other Western states would share oversight of California’s power grid under a plan introduced by a state lawmaker that supporters say would save as much as $1.5 billion a year and run the system more efficiently.
Critics have said the proposal by Democratic Assemblyman Chris Holden would surrender California’s control over its own electricity system.
Lawmakers are reviewing a series of amendments Holden introduced late last week to alter the structure of the governing body that oversees the California Independent System Operator, which runs the electric grid for much of the state.
California currently operates with a glut of power plants and is at times forced to pay other states to take its excess solar and wind power, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
“This is going to be good for the ratepayers of California,” Holden, of Pasadena, said of the amendments, which revive a concept long pushed by Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat.
Holden’s proposal came just days before the legislative session concludes Friday. That outraged critics who said such a dramatic change to control of the electricity transmission system should not happen without thorough public vetting in scheduled hearings.
Opponents also contend that the assumptions suggesting substantial savings from a regional operation are faulty and that California ratepayers would face cost increases on electric bills that are already high.