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SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The Independent Energy
Producers Association (IEP) today filed a formal protest with the state's
Public Utility Commission over PG&E's "self-serving" application for
fast-track approval of its proposed Tesla Generating Station outside the
competitive process.
According to the protest, PG&E's application shows a "flagrant disregard"
for the commission's approval process and "confirms that PG&E is intent on
re-monopolizing the generation sector of the electric industry."
"If ratepayers are to reap the benefits that competition can offer -- more
efficient generation, technological innovation, improved reliability, lower
costs, and transparency -- the Commission must forcefully reject PG&E's
self-serving proposal," reads the protest.
"IEP suspects that PG&E's real motivation for proposing the Tesla project
is to expand its ratebase," says the protest, noting that PG&E's economic
motivations "should not be allowed to supersede the commission's 'competitive
market first' policy, which is designed to bring long-term benefits to
ratepayers."
The protest also disputes PG&E's claim that reliability would be
threatened if the Tesla project had to go through the competitive process, and
said PG&E's request that ratepayers be liable for "pre-approval" costs even if
the plant is rejected "should be firmly rejected."
"Once again, PG&E is exploiting the Commission's commitment to reliability
to force the Commission to... abandon the model of fair, open, transparent,
and competitive procurement that it has repeatedly endorsed," asserts the
protest. "There can be no fairness or competition if one 'competitor' is
insured against risk by ratepayers while all others must bear the same risk
alone."
IEP concludes its formal protest by saying the commission's decision "will
determine whether the California energy market will evolve into a vigorous,
open, and fair competitive market or revert to the vertically integrated
monopoly model of the past."
SOURCE Independent Energy Producers Association
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