By Jim Shilander
The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday voted unanimously to investigate Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric with regard to the rates and operations at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
According to the PUC’s draft order, the investigation will consider, “the causes of the outages, the utilities’ responses, the future of the SONGS units and the resulting effects on the provision of safe and reliable electric service at just and reasonable rates.”
By ordering the investigation, the Commission is also requiring Edison and SDG&E to track costs related to SONGS incurred after January 1. Expenditures for replacement energy related to the SONGS outages will also be tracked.
The schedule adopted by the PUC requires the utilities to respond within 30 days.
Commissioner Timothy Simon said he hoped that ordering the investigation would provide clarity to the situation at SONGS, both for ratepayers and other stakeholders.
A statement released by Edison stated that the utility was reviewing the order and would comply with the accounting.
