California utility customers will foot the bill for a $600-million global-warming think tank under a Public Utilities Commission program that critics say is a costly and questionable departure from the agency's mission to make sure ratepayers get affordable and reliable power.
The California Institute for Climate Solutions, approved Thursday, was pushed by commission President Michael Peevey, and the concept behind it -- accelerating research into ways to quickly cut harmful greenhouse gas emissions -- enjoyed broad support.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised the commission for creating the institute, which "will bring together the state's preeminent colleges, universities and laboratories to fight climate change."
The project also won backing from several environmental groups as well as a long list of research institutions that hope to be awarded some of the institute's money.
"California, with all its resources, can afford to be bold," Peevey said in an interview after the vote. But, he added, "I realize that it's not a universal view."
Peevey, whose term ends in December, faced fervent opposition from lawmakers and consumer groups who called the project too expensive and the funding an unfair tax on customers of Southern California Edison, Southern California Gas Co., Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric.
"Consumers are already paying their fair share for renewable energy and conservation programs," said Mark Toney, executive director of the Utility Reform Network. "Forcing them to pay more for an expensive academic exercise that may or may not provide benefits in the end is simply going too far."
Don Kempf, 82, is one of the ratepayers who will begin paying for the new institute in a few months. Edison expects the surcharge to add 12 cents a month to residential bills, but Peevey said it would add 25 to 30 cents a month. Kempf believes global warming is a threat, but he objects to being singled out to fund research that would benefit all of the state's residents.
"It really disturbs me," said Kempf, who lives in Orange and gets his power from Edison. Of the utilities commissioners, he said: "Are they consumer advocates? I just wonder."
John Bohn and other commissioners had misgivings about the plan, but Peevey won unanimous commission support by making several last-minute changes. To tie the institute's work more closely to the needs of ratepayers, Peevey added a requirement that projects be judged using a "ratepayer benefits index" that would gauge each project's cost-effectiveness and emissions reductions and whether the results could be applied in the energy industry.
