Global Warming Institute Draws Heat
Taxation Without RepresentationWed. May 21, 2008, San Francisco-Establishment of a controversial "California Institute for Climate Solutions" should be immediately halted, according to The Utility Reform Network. TURN today demanded a stay of the California Public Utilities Commission decision that authorized $600 million in new surcharges on energy bills to fund the institute, and also requested a rehearing of the issue. TURN believes that absent a stay, customers of PG&E, SDG&E, SoCal Gas and So Cal Edison will be irrevocably harmed, since they will be forced to pay higher bills to fund the institute while customers of public utilities will not.
The state Legislative Counsel has already issued an opinion that the surcharges imposed on consumers by the CPUC to fund the institute are illegal. "We have not found either a constitutional or a statutory basis that authorizes the commission to establish the CICS," Legislative Counsel Diane Boyer-Vine wrote in her opinion. "We think that a court would hold that the establishment of the CICS by the commission is outside the commission's general constitutional authority…..."
According to TURN executive director Mark Toney, "The CPUC simply does not have the right to reach into the pockets of utility customers pay for its own pet projects, no matter how well-meaning those projects are." Toney said that even Commissioner John Bohn, who voted in favor of the surcharges, called the institute an "audacious leap" that "pushes the boundaries of our duty and our jurisdiction almost to the breaking point." "In addition", Toney said, "in two different legislative hearings, lawmakers have complained that the CPUC overstepped, and should have sought legislative approval for the scheme."
Toney said, "Californians are concerned about climate change, but they are also concerned about justice. If there is a legislative determination that the institute is a worthwhile use of money, the legislature should fund it through taxes. If not, it should be funded privately." Toney said California's energy bills already reflect the billions consumers are paying for programs to encourage renewable energy and conservation. "Enough is enough," he said. "An institute that not directly related to the provision of electric and gas service should not be driving those bills even higher."
California's other major consumer groups, the CPUC's Division of Ratepayer Advocates, the Utility Consumers' Action Network and the Consumer Federation of California, all support TURN's demands that the decision be stayed and reversed.
