Legislator Attacks Gov. Davis.

As the state's energy crisis drags on, the strain and frustration are beginning to show, even within the Democratic Party. Take for instance a local appearance on March 9 by state Assemblyman Rod Wright, D-Los Angeles. Wright chairs the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee and has had the unenviable task of playing gatekeeper for much of die legislation to fix the mess left by the state's failed deregulation scheme.

Wright has for months advocated raising electricity rates so that Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric could recoup some of the cost of buying wholesale. power, which has increased nearly 10-fold over he past year.

But Gov. Gray Davis has steadfastly opposed this, fearful that he will be tagged as the governor who saddled consumers with higher electricity bills. Such talk could scotch any hopes of him running for President.

In response to a question on Davis' role at the March 9 forum, Wright blasted Davis and his administration for not considering single-digit rate increases for customers of Edison and PG&E in the early stages of the crisis last July and August. That was shortly after the electricity market was deregulated in San Diego and people there saw their bills triple. It's also when Edison and PG&E were starting to rack up debts at a rate of $1 billion a month each.

"If we had addressed this in July, when Edison and PG&E still had cash in the bank, we would not have been faced with the magnitude of crisis we see now," Wright said. "If we had bought contracts in July, at between 4.5 and 6.5 cents a kilowatt-hour, yes, that would have necessitated a slight rate increase, but it would have enabled us to have supply on hand."

Wright went on: "The Governor should have said, 'Whoa, look at what's happening in San Diego as their power bills go through the roof. I need to do something before what happens there rolls over to the other utilities.'

"I actually said to the Governor and the Public Utilities Commission (who are all Davis appointees), 'You need to take steps today to avert this.' But they were concerned about getting into long-term contracts that would be too high," he continued.

"If there had been adults around the Governor's office and the PUC, they would have looked at this and gone ahead and secured that power," Wright said. "Instead, now they're signing long-term contracts at much higher prices."