The bill's utility supporters don't take foil balloons lightly.
Rosemead-based Edison, which serves more than 4.8 million accounts in Central and Southern California, reports 478 outages were caused by foil balloons last year, affecting 161,000 customers. The annual cost of power outages caused by foil balloons is estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, spokeswoman Vanessa McGrady said, but she was unable to give an exact figure.
"Our job is to keep lights on for everybody," McGrady said. "Enough happens that we can't control, but keeping ahold of these metallic balloons is something we can do to help keep the lights on for everybody."
The Assembly Committee on Appropriations is set to consider the bill Wednesday. If it survives, the legislation would face a vote of the full Assembly before heading back to the state Senate.
The Balloon Council says the law would cost California almost $80 million in annual sales tax revenue. However, Scott counters with a different cost: an estimated $120 million or more in annual losses to homes, businesses and energy companies from balloon-created outages.
Scott said he believed his bill allowed ample time for balloon businesses to come up with a viable alternative to the foil balloon.
"Let's give it two years," Scott said. "Surely during that time there can be devised a balloon of some other material that can serve this purpose. The auto companies didn't want seat belts and the paint industry didn't want to take lead out of their paint. This is just another example."
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conor.sanchez@latimes.com
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
$100
The proposed fine for each helium-filled foil balloon sold or distributed in California starting in January 2011
478
How many outages Southern California Edison says were caused by metalized balloons last year in its territory
161,000
Southern California Edison customers who lost power last year during balloon-created outages
$80 million
Estimated lost sales tax revenue each year if helium-filled foil balloons are banned
$100 million
Estimated sales of foil balloons each year in California
$120 million
Estimated losses to homes, businesses and energy companies from balloon-created outages
