California to Float Power Grid Purchase
LOS ANGELES -- -
LOS ANGELES -- (UPI) -- California Gov. Gray Davis has announced a long-awaited proposal in which the state would purchase the high-voltage transmission grid owned by the state's two largest utility companies. The deal, which could cost the state billions of dollars, would give taxpayers something in return for a major bond issuance and provide Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric with a needed financial shot in the arm. The proposal is aimed at keeping PG&E and Edison solvent while sparing consumers from the major rate hikes that are prohibited by the 1996 state law that deregulated the state's power markets. The proceeds from the sale would allow the companies to privately refinance their current mountain of debt, estimated at some $13 billion. Published reports Friday said that Davis' proposal would include a surcharge on consumer utility bills that would help pay off the bonds used to buy the 32,000 miles of power lines. The estimated purchase price for the lines has been estimated as high as $9 billion.
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Opponent of Site C dam sharing concerns with northerners
VANCOUVER - One of the leading opponents of the Site C dam in northeastern B.C. is sharing her concerns with northerners this week.
Proponents of the Site C dam say it will be a cost-effective source of clean electricity that will be able to produce enough energy to power the equivalent of 450,000 homes per year in B.C. But a number of Indigenous groups and environmentalists are against the project.
Wendy Holm is an economist and agronomist who did an environmental assessment of the dam focusing on its potential impacts on agriculture.
On Tuesday she spoke at a town hall presentation in Fort…
