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.

Southern California Edison Co. agreed Monday to pay $37 million to resolve concerns about three overloaded utility poles that sparked the 2007 Malibu Canyon fire, a settlement that would bring the total for the destructive fire to more than $60 million. Under the agreement, the utility giant would admit that it violated the law by not taking prompt action to prevent a telecommunications company from attaching fiber-optic cable to jointly owned poles in Malibu Canyon. Edison also would acknowledge that a letter it sent to the Public Utilities Commission after the fire did not identify pole overloading and termite damage as possible contributing factors in the pole failures.

After a year of strong sales and profits, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is coming under new scrutiny, with the city's top money manager charging that the utility has made a habit of waste and profligacy. City Controller Laura Chick has launched a full-scale audit of the city agency, repeatedly accusing DWP officials of wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars on lavish parties, community events and staff perks. Making matters worse, state Atty. Gen.

Average employee pay at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power rose 15% over the last five years, despite an economic slump that ravaged the city's budget, records released Tuesday show. DWP workers received significantly more generous pay increases than other city workers, who received an average raise of 9% over the same period. The median household income for Los Angeles residents - the public utility's customers - fell over roughly the same period, from $48,882 in 2008 to $46,148 in 2011, the latest year for which U.S. census numbers are available.

The nation's third-largest utility said Monday it is paying $6.44 billion to create a giant power company serving 11 Midwestern and Southern states. The announcement came as two other big utility deals were falling apart. The failures, however, will not slow the wave of electric and gas company mergers as more states move to loosen regulations and let customers choose their own power providers, as California is scheduled to do starting Jan. 1. "Ultimately, they're all going to come along.

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.

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.

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.

"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)

Weeks after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa celebrated his plan to move the city off of coal-fired energy, a city watchdog has attached a giant price tag to the initiative. Fred Pickel, the ratepayer advocate at the Department of Water and Power, said Monday that eliminating coal from the utility's power mix ahead of a state-mandated deadline is projected to cost more than $600 million. What that could mean for ratepayers' electricity bills is unclear, he said. Pickel said he would urge city officials to look for ways to lower the costs Wednesday at a meeting of the City Council's Energy and Environment Committee.

Parents aren't supposed to pick favorites, but it's clear Hyundai has a soft spot for its Santa Fe. To hear the Korean automaker tell it, the crossover played a key role in Hyundai's transformation from maker of meek little econoboxes with shoddy reliability to a brand that rivals the best from Honda and Toyota. The third generation of the Santa Fe, rolling into dealerships now, demonstrates how far the company has come. This handsomely redesigned crossover is packed with utility and comes in two sizes: a five-passenger version and a seven-passenger model.

Southern California Edison, majority owner of the closed San Onofre nuclear plant, submitted to federal regulators a draft request for a license amendment that would allow the plant to be fired up again before summer. The plant's fate has been a subject of contention since it closed more than a year ago due to excessive wear on steam generator tubes that carry radioactive water. Edison has proposed to restart one of the plant's two units, the one in which the damage was less severe, and run it at 70% power for five months before taking it offline again for inspections.

After a year in the Burbank Animal Shelter, the Labrador-pit bull mix that taught utility workers how not to get bitten has finally found a new home. Hazel was given up by her owner last March after the dog reportedly didn't allow utility workers in her backyard. But officials said her friendly nature made her the perfect participant for bite prevention training sessions with Burbank Water and Power workers, helping to educate them about how to approach dogs while in the field.

WASHINGTON - If you buy or own an energy-efficient house, does this make you less likely to default on your mortgage? Is there a connection between the monthly savings on utility costs and the probability that you'll pay your loan on time? A new study by the University of North Carolina suggests that the answer to both questions is a resounding yes. Using a sample of 71,000 home loans from across the country that were originated between 2002 and 2012, researchers found that mortgages on homes with Energy Star certifications were on average 32% less likely to default compared with loans on homes with no energy-efficiency improvements.

TEMPE, Ariz. - Bill Hall, a leading candidate for a utility spot until he was sidelined by the first of two leg injuries on Feb. 27, was released by the Angels on Friday, though it's possible he could sign another minor league deal to remain in the organization. The Angels faced a Tuesday deadline to either add Hall to the 40-man roster - virtually assuring him a spot on the big-league club - or pay him a $100,000 bonus to remain in the organization. By releasing him before Tuesday, the Angels won't have to pay Hall the $100,000 bonus.

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.

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.

Los Angeles officials are speeding up plans to end the city's reliance on coal-powered energy, a move that could help Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's drive to burnish his legacy as an environmental leader. On Tuesday, commissioners at the Department of Water and Power moved forward with plans to dump the utility's interest in a coal-burning plant in Arizona and convert another one in Utah to natural gas. The plants provide nearly 40% of the city's energy. The changes, coupled with new commitments to renewable power, would make the city coal-free by 2025, utility officials said.

One of the two reactors at the darkened San Onofre nuclear plant could be restarted at full power and operate safely for almost a year, Southern California Edison officials said Monday. The utility said its analysis confirms that it would be safe to fire up one of the reactors, but that out of an abundance of caution, Edison is proposing running the unit at only 70%. The plant has been shut down since a steam generator tube in the plant's Unit 3 sprung a small leak on Jan. 31, 2012, releasing a small amount of radioactive steam.