February 12, 2001
ROSEMEAD, Calif., Feb. 12, 2001-Southern California Edison (SCE) released the following statement in response to today's decision by the U.S. District Court regarding SCE's lawsuit against the California Public Utilities Commission.
U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Lew today made further orders in Southern California Edison's case against the California Public Utilities Commission. Judge Lew granted SCE's request for a ruling that the CPUC had stated that SCE's electricity purchases from the California Power Exchange and the California Independent System Operator are "deemed reasonable."
Judge Lew denied the remainder of the motion and a request for an injunction to raise rates immediately. Instead, he accelerated a scheduling hearing to March 5, invited other summary judgment motions, and indicated that, if necessary, an early trial date would be set.
We are encouraged that the court recognizes the importance and urgency of this case and is dealing with it expeditiously.
SCE filed the lawsuit on Nov. 13, asking the federal court to overturn rulings by the CPUC that illegally prevent it from the reasonable recovery of its operating costs. The complaint alleges that the members of the CPUC violated federal law when-after requiring SCE to procure wholesale power for its customers from the state's newly deregulated wholesale market, and to sell it without markup-the CPUC blocked SCE from recovering the full cost of doing so.
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An Edison International company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation's largest electric utilities, serving a population of more than 11 million via 4.3 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within central, coastal and Southern California.