introduce
legislation that would require power suppliers to register with the state
before doing business here and report all wholesale electricity sales and
bids to the state.
The CalPX governing board consists of 28 members and the ISO has 29.
The senate bill, backed by Senate President Pro-Tem John Burton, seeks to
eliminate a conflict of interest that currently exists on the boards because
its members are made up of individuals from utilities and generations
companies.
Lawmakers said the companies represented by members of the boards benefit
from high wholesale electricity prices and therefore they are unable to make
objective decisions that represent the interests of California's consumers.
The energy stakeholder boards were created as a result of the state's 1996
landmark deregulation law and was seen as an entity that could counsel the
operation of the ISO and CalPX while thestate moved toward a fully
deregulated market.
The ISO manages the high-voltage transmission system and real-time power
market. The CalPX is the market where electricity is bought and sold.
The bill will go through a 30-day waiting period at the democratic-majority
senate before it is discussed in early January, but it must be passed by the
senate and state assembly before it can be signed into law by the governor.
If signed into law by the governor, the bill "would prohibit a member of the
independent governing board appointed by the governor from being affiliated
with any actual or potential participant in any market administered by the
(ISO or CalPX)," according to a copy of the Bowen Bill.
Electricity is proving to be the hottest topic of the new legislative
session, said Lawrence Lingbloom, consultant on Sen. Bowen's Energy,
Utilities and