Why UCAN does not support Proposition 16

[bananas]

http://www.ucan.org/blog/energy/electricity/why_ucan_does_not_support_proposition_16

Why UCAN does not support Proposition 16
Posted April 8th, 2010 by mikeslo

If Proposition 16 is approved by voters, it will take a two-thirds vote of the electorate before a public agency could enter the retail power business.

Proposition 16 is anti-competitive. If it succeeds it will require a yes vote from of two-thirds of the voters who live in the area of the proposed local municipal utility. Because getting a two-thirds vote is almost impossible, a vote for Proposition 16 means that no city or county in California will ever be able to generate its own power. The legacy of Proposition 16 is that its main funder, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) will be the sole utility in most municipalities.

The Pacific Gas & Electric monopoly is the primary financial sponsor of the initiative, having contributed $28.5 million through March 26, 2010. However, Prop 16's opponents have only raised $40,000 through late March.

The initiative reduces the ability of people to choose between private and public utility companies. Also, holding local elections where people vote on whether to have a private or public utility company is expensive.

A consortium of public utilities filed a lawsuit on March 18 to remove Proposition 16 from the ballot.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the Merced Irrigation District, Modesto Irrigation District, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, the San Joaquin Valley Power Authority, and The City and County of San Francisco.

The legal grounds asserted in the lawsuit claims that Proposition 16's language is misleading and, thus, needs to be removed. Court-ordered removal of a ballot measure because of misleading language is rare but not unprecedented.

You can read more on the Prop 16 lawsuit.

You can read more on the California Public Utilities Commission hearing on Proposition 16.

[Duke Newcombe]

1. The corporate backers of this prop are depending on the stupidity of the Teabagger set...

complete with the whole rightwing frame of "government takeover". The sheep on the right will suck it up, even though municipal power is pound for pound cheaper for them than power from our utility overlords (who are financing this campaign).

[xxqqqzme]

2. All I had to know was PG&E was behind this.

that sealed it for me. If they're pushing it, it can't be good.