Edison Calls Settlement That Left Consumers On Hook For $3.3 Billion Reasonable
by Ivan Penn, Los Angeles Times
By Luke Jones from Anchorage / Creative Commons
Southern California Edison on Thursday warned that its customers could face higher costs related to the shuttered San Onofre nuclear plant if regulators overturn a settlement agreement.
In an 80-page filing with the California Public Utilities Commission, Edison argued that the agreement reached over San Onofre’s closure should stand based on past legal precedent involving other settlement agreements and the normal process of closing power plants.
The utility’s filing was its first detailed response to an order that could lead to full reconsideration of the settlement agreement, which left consumers on the hook for $3.3 billion to permanently close the nuclear plant in 2013.
Edison argued that under the agreement customers were only paying for past investments to build and maintain the nuclear plant — not the mistakes that led to its closure.
Reconsidering the settlement could increase customer payments, the utility said.
“We believe this public process will allow interested parties to review the settlement and confirm for themselves that it should stand,” Ron Nichols, Edison’s president, said in a statement.
Consumer advocates filed their own arguments Thursday in favor of reconsidering the settlement. They argue that Edison should be held responsible for the premature closure of San Onofre in June 2013 after faulty replacement steam generators were installed at the plant.
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Tags: Consumers For Auto Reliability and Safety, CPUC, San Diego Gas & Electric, San Onofre nuclear plant, Southern California Edison