Green Groups Order San Diego Utility to Meet Energy Standards by 2010

Two conservation groups have asked the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to require San Diego Gas & Electric to get 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2010, according to news from the Center for Biological Diversity.

California law requires all utilities in the state to be 20-percent renewable-powered by 2010, and 33 percent renewable-powered by 2020. However, officials with San Diego Gas & Electric have said publicly they don't expect to meet the 2010 requirements in time. In response, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club have both filed a motion with the CPUC asking the commission to require San Diego Gas & Electric to revise its energy plan.

"First SDG&E wants to blame everyone else for their own lack of support for renewable energy," said Micah Mitrosky, the Sierra Club's campaign organizer for Smart Energy Solutions. "Then the company wants to add insult to injury by dodging penalties. California regulators should send them packing."

The Center for Biological Diversity said a CPUC ruling on San Diego Gas & Electric's energy plan would send a strong message to utility companies across the state: meet the state's renewable-energy requirements by the deadlines, or face penalties for not doing so.

San Diego Gas & Electric stated in its 2008 "Draft Renewable Procurement Plan" that it was "highly unlikely" the company would meet the 2010 energy requirements. The utility's parent company, Sempra Energy, made a similar statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission this past August.

"Those deadlines are intended to reduce California's greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, but the corporation doesn't seem to be taking them seriously," said David Hogan, conservation manager with the Center for Biological Diversity.

The Center for Biological Diversity said San Diego Gas & Electric has delivered only one-third as much renewable-energy sales as Southern California Edison, and less than half as much as Pacific Gas & Electric. The San Diego utility also lobbied hard against the state's renewable standard before it was adopted. Sempra president Donald Felsinger has also expressed public doubts about the reality of global warming.

California established its renewable-energy standards in a bid to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and help curb the impact of climate change. The state's Global Warming Solutions Act calls for emissions to drop to 1990 levels by 2020, and to one-fifth of 1990 levels by 2050.

Center for Biological Diversity, "Conservation Groups Ask California Utilities Commission to Enforce Renewable Energy Targets." URL: (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/press/renewable-energy-10-05-2007.html)