Clean energy fund tax eliminated

Monday, September 12, 2011

by Christina Villacorte, Daily News

A surcharge paid by customers of Southern California Edison and other investor-owned utilities will be eliminated next year, cutting off some $400 million annually for clean-energy projects statewide.

"It's an incredible shame," said Martin Schlageter, campaign director with the Coalition for Clean Air. "I think extending this tax was basically a no-brainer."

Although Gov. Jerry Brown considered the issue a priority, the Legislature failed by Friday's deadline to muster the two-thirds vote needed to extend the so-called public goods charge beyond Dec. 31.

The surcharge adds $1 to $2 a month to the average residential electric bill, but amounts to about $400 million annually for programs and research that led to the development of energy-efficient products such as LED light fixtures, wireless lighting controls and improved water heaters and thermostats.

Investor-owned utilities have been mandated to collect the surcharge since 1997. It appears as a line item in the electricity bills issued by SoCal Edison, whose service area includes the city of San Fernando, the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys, and parts of Ventura County.

Jim Metropulos, senior advocate with the Sierra Club, said some renewable energy and efficiency programs and research will fall by the wayside if the private sector does not fill the void in funding.

"Because funding is not guaranteed after this year, agencies will probably start winding down their projects," he warned.

But Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, considered the surcharge "anti-consumer" and "unnecessary."

"If green energy is efficient, then companies will pursue it on their own, because it's in their own best interests," he said.

"For them to be forced to collect this surcharge from the customers, to generate revenue that is divvied up by government to certain favored industries or, dare I say, campaign contributors, is not in the public interest," he added.

Metropulos said he hopes the governor will make another attempt to restore the surcharge when the Legislature reconvenes.