Utilities

General Motors Corp. has joined with more than 30 utility companies across the U.S. to help work out electricity issues that will crop up when it rolls out new electric vehicles in a little more than two years. The Detroit automaker said the partnership, which includes large utilities such as Southern California Edison, would deal with issues from tax incentives for the vehicles to where and when they can be plugged in for recharging. GM is working to bring the Chevrolet Volt rechargeable car to showrooms in late 2010.

SACRAMENTO - Legislation that opponents fear will strip the state Public Utilities Commission of its power to regulate Internet phone services in California put the commission on the spot, and it punted. For the second consecutive meeting, the commission Thursday postponed taking a stance on the proposal that would prohibit the PUC and other state agencies from regulating phone service using Internet connections. The commission, meeting in Fresno, had been expected to oppose a Senate bill written by state Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima)

Legislation to Restructure Electric Industry Unveiled: Congress gave its first indication that it plans to play a major role in electric utilities' shift from an industry dominated by monopolies toward more open competition. Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-Colo.) unveiled legislation restructuring the industry, calling for consumers to be given the right to buy electricity at the lowest cost available.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Angels held a lengthy players-only meeting before Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays, hardly a surprise considering the friction and frustration in the clubhouse after Wednesday night's 3-2 loss. "We talked about some stuff; I think it helped, but it's hard to say," utility player Mark Trumbo said after Thursday's 4-3 walk-off loss. "One of the things that's kind of going through our head is that, going back to spring training, everyone on the opposing teams said, 'You guys are stacked.' "We put up some good numbers and were hitting well [in Arizona]

Your editorial "Making Amends" (June 10) perpetuates misinformation regarding excess deferred tax reserves for utilities. Your readers have been led to believe that $19 billion in excess reserves are still outstanding and that utilities will keep this money for as long as 30 years. The misleading 30-year reference applies only to an average depreciation period for certain items of utility equipment, not to the total outstanding reserve. The fact is, utilities are returning this money now and have been since 1986.

"Part of Utilities' Windfall Went to Dividends, Parent Firms" (Jan. 24) mentions, in passing, that the ratepayer has paid for the construction of most power facilities in the state. This helps to explain why we Californians paid twice the national rate for power. Most ratepayers are unaware that they have subsidized the utilities and, by extension, their shareholders. As these power plants were sold off between 1998 and now, why has no one demanded that the utilities reimburse the ratepayers (us)

Re "Shedding light on all those blackouts," Current, Aug. 20 The point of Steven Erie's Op-Ed article -- power blackouts during the July heat wave demonstrated "chronic neglect" of the state's transmission grid by utilities -- is inaccurate. In 1998, Southern California Edison launched a major infrastructure replacement and expansion program, recognizing that power demands were growing and that many components in our system would soon near the end of their service. With the exception of the energy-crisis period, investments in our lower-voltage distribution system have grown annually, from nearly $700 million in 1999 to more than $1 billion this year.

Stephen C. Lee ["Power Supply Timeline," Letters, Nov. 12] argues that government's involvement in deregulation is responsible for current power price spikes and increases. Lee is confused. What the government was responsible for, before the existing deregulation, was producing an environment of stable prices with reasonable profits to utilities. That was known as "regulation." Contrary to Lee's claim that "the voters pass[ed] an initiative to regulate the power industry," that deed was, in fact, accomplished by AB 1890, which was passed by the Legislature in the hurried waning moments before its August 1996 recess.

Now that the plug has been pulled on the ill-fated concept of energy deregulation, a funny thing is starting to happen among the nation's electric companies: They are emphasizing predictability of power supplies and stability of dividends for investors, just the way the industry used to do some 20 years ago. You can see this back-to-the-future approach in the Midwest, for example, where Cinergy Corp. and Ameren Corp.

Let's say you're one of the more than 600,000 Southern Californians hit with power outages amid the heat wave that's turned this region into a little slice of Hades. What can you do if all the food in your fridge has gone bad or some crucial bit of data has vanished from your computer? Turns out that power companies statewide have programs for compensating customers for losses. But don't think that it'll be easy filing a claim, or that a refund will come your way any time soon, if at all.

SACRAMENTO — Members of the California Public Utilities Commission are criticizing a bill that would strip their agency of authority to regulate basic telephone services. Meeting Thursday in San Francisco, the five-member board expressed doubts about proposed legislation backed by AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. The measure, SB 1161, would ensure that state agencies have "no regulatory jurisdiction or control" over telephone calls that involve sending voice signals over the Internet.

Here is a roundup of alleged cons, frauds and schemes to watch out for. Beauty queen — Prosecutors in Santa Clara County have accused a former Mrs. Pakistan World of enticing desperate homeowners to pay her tens of thousands of dollars in a loan-modification scam. The Santa Clara County district attorney's office charged Saman Hasnain and her husband, Jawad, with 17 counts of grand theft, accusing them of bilking 17 homeowners, the San Jose Mercury News reported. In the scheme, prosecutors allege, Hasnain and her husband told homeowners that for an advance fee of at least $4,500, they would negotiate with banks to reduce the homeowners' mortgages and forgive overdue payments.

Flame-bearing Prometheus may have visited humans earlier than we thought. An analysis of charred bones and plant ash in sediment from a South African cave suggests that Homo erectus was wielding fire a million years ago — and perhaps even cooking with it, according to a study released Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings present the earliest clear evidence of such use of fire, experts said. The ability to control fire marks an evolutionary turning point: It would have kept our ancient relatives warm in unforgiving climes and allowed them to cook their food, releasing trapped nutrients and getting more caloric bang per bite.

Honda Motor Co. said it will recall about 554,000 model-year 2002 to 2004 CR-V and model-year 2003 Pilot vehicles in the United States to inspect and replace components of the headlight wiring system. The automaker said there is a potential failure with the wiring of the headlight switch, which may cause the low-beam headlights to not work, something that might increase the risk of a crash. However, Honda said there have been no crashes or injuries reported because of the safety defect.

Scottsdale, Ariz. -- Alexi Amarista continued to build his case for a utility job Tuesday, breaking  a tie with a three-run double to right field in the top of the ninth inning to lead the Angels to a 5-3 exhibition victory over the San Francisco Giants in Scottsdale Stadium. Amarista's versatility and speed make him an attractive bench option, as he can play all three outfield positions and three infield positions. His hit off Giants reliever Javier Lopez improved his spring average to .349 and moved him into a tie for the team lead with 13 runs batted in. "He's had an incredible spring," Manager Mike Scioscia said.

TEMPE, Ariz. — This was not the career trajectory or the route into Tempe Diablo Stadium that Brandon Wood and the Angels had in mind a few years ago. A first-round pick in 2003, rated by Baseball America as the game's third-best prospect in 2006, Wood was handed the Angels' third base job coming out of spring training in 2010 and fumbled it away amid a flurry of strikeouts, popups and weak grounders. Wood was released last April, claimed by Pittsburgh and released after hitting .220 in 99 games for the Pirates.

Tens of thousands of Mexicans took to the streets Thursday in a massive protest against President Ernesto Zedillo's proposal to privatize the electricity industry. The protesters, mostly workers from the Mexican Electricians Union, marched down the capital's main boulevard in heavy rain. Officials say Mexico was forced to act by the certainty that its current electricity supplies would be inadequate to power growth beyond the next couple of years.

A Van Nuys lawmaker is pushing a bill that would authorize regulators to hit the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and other municipal utilities with millions of dollars in charges if they fail to meet energy efficiency targets.

Green energy may be losing momentum inside the Beltway. But officials in the heart of Silicon Valley are betting on the sun. This week, the Palo Alto City Council approved a plan to buy clean power from local utility customers who install solar panels on their roofs. That's right. The power company will pay them, not the other way around. The arrangement - known by the clunky name “feed-in tariff” - is still a rarity in the United States. But Palo Alto officials want to help pioneer the effort.