CONSUMER ADVOCATES PROPOSE SOLUTIONS TO RISING NATURAL GAS PRICES

Oct. 24, 2005, San Francisco -- TURN, California's leading utility consumer advocacy organization, said today that rising natural gas prices must be addressed by a comprehensive and future oriented energy policy that encourages conservation, reduces fossil fuel dependency and prevents price spikes. In the face of Governor Schwarzenegger's failure to deliver such a policy, TURN has stepped into the void with Proposition 80, a consumer-backed initiative on the November ballot.

Proposition 80 charts a course for California's future that will keep the lights and prepare California to meet its future energy needs. Prop 80 requires greater reliance on energy conservation and renewable resources. It replaces failed deregulation policies that enabled market manipulation with regulations that will prevent price spikes and rolling blackouts.

"Hurricane Katrina didn't create the need for a change in energy policy, it only highlighted it," said TURN executive director Bob Finkelstein. "Even before the recent storms," said Finkelstein, "California and the rest of the nation should have been increasing use of renewable resources and fixing failed policies that invite market manipulation and could further inflate high gas and electric prices. But the Governor has failed to provide leadership on this crucial issue."

"The Schwarzenegger administration has made clear that it favors the corporate energy agenda over the needs of workers, families and small businesses," Finkelstein said. "The correct course for the future is not more experiments in Enron-style deregulation "It is more renewable energy, more energy efficiency and an end to expensive and dangerous deregulation schemes."

Finkelstein noted that the Legislature had attempted to step into the energy policy void last year with AB 2006 (Nunez) and SB 1478 (Sher), but the Governor had vetoed both measures. "California can't afford to wait any longer," he said. "With consumers facing steep jumps in electric prices coupled with astronomical increases in their gas bills, immediate action is needed. If the Governor won't take the lead on this vital issue, the people must. Proposition 80 gives them that opportunity.