---------------------- Forwarded by Carla Hoffman/PDX/ECT on 08/23/2000 02:02 
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	From:  "Pergher, Gunther" <Gunther.Pergher@dowjones.com>                      
     08/23/2000 12:26 PM
	

To: "Leopold, Jason" <Jason.Leopold@dowjones.com>
cc:  (bcc: Carla Hoffman/PDX/ECT)
Subject: DJ Calif Assembly Delays SDG&E Rate Roll-Back Vote To Thu 



18:43 GMT  23 August 2000
 *DJ Calif Assembly Delays SDG&E Rate Roll-Back Vote To Thu

 Question About Who Will Pay Elec Bills

 NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The California State Assembly has postponed until
Thursday
 a vote on restoring electricity rates for customers of San Diego Gas &
Electric Co. to
 pre-deregulation levels, according to a spokesman for Assemblywoman Susan
Davis
 (D-San Diego), who is sponsoring the bill.

 The bill was sent to the assembly's appropriations committee because some
 representatives are concerned about who - if not SDG&E customers - will pay
for
 electricity in the city this summer and past spring. The difference between
what SDG&E
 customers would pay under the legislation and what SDG&E is paying for
supplies in
 the skyrocketing electricity markets has been estimated at $1.5 billion.

 Assembly Passage Of Measure Uncertain

 The legislation would roll back electricity rates to June 1, 1999, levels
for customers of
 SDG&E, a unit of Sempra Energy (SRE). This spring and summer, the utility's
 customers have received electricity bills that are nearly triple what they
were last year.

 Electricity rates for the state's other utilities haven't been deregulated
yet, so their
 customers are receiving fixed prices per kilowatt-hour of power used.

 Prospects for passage of the bill, AB 2290, are unclear in the Assembly.
The California
 State Senate passed the bill unanimously last week. But it would need 54
votes to pass
 through the 80-member Assembly before Gov. Gray Davis could consider
signing it into
 law.

 If all 47 Democrats approve the measure, it would need at least seven
Republican votes
 to pass. But, as reported Tuesday, only three Republican lawmakers said
they would
 support the bill.

 The rollback would provide some economic relief to SDG&E's 1.1 million
customers,
 who have been paying market-based rates for electricity since June. If the
rollback is
 approved, utility bills for residential customers would be about $55 to $60
a month,
 according to SDG&E.

 Steve Maviglio, press secretary to Davis, said the governor hasn't decided
whether he
 would sign the bill into law if approved.

 Monday, the state's Public Utilities Commission rejected a proposal to roll
back rates,
 instead approving a stabilization rate plan that would reduce the cost of
electricity to
 about $68 a month for residential customers who conserve usage.

 -By Mark Golden, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4604;
mark.golden@dowjones.com
 Copyright (c) 2000, Dow Jones & Company Inc

G_nther A. Pergher
Senior Analyst
Dow Jones & Company Inc.
Tel.  609.520.7067
Fax. 609.452.3531

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