Date: Wed, 6 Sep 1995 13:11:38 -0400 (EDT) From: Competitive Enterprise Institute To: Recipients of the CEI List Subject: CEI List: Letter to Gov. Wilson Released: August 17,1995 Contact: Greg Smith or Wayne Crews (202) 331-1010 FREE MARKET EXPERTS URGE GOVERNOR WILSON TO SUPPORT CONSUMER CHOICE IN ELECTRICITY WASHINGTON, DC--In a letter to California Governor Pete Wilson today, several free market experts and consumer group leaders expressed concern that efforts to give California consumers choice among electric power suppliers "has gotten badly off track." The signatories, which included Fred Smith of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, William Niskanen of the Cato Institute, and Robert Poole of the Reason Foundation, urged Gov. Wilson to endorse a customer-choice model for electricity deregulation over a managed competition model that prolongs the dominance of the state's utility monopolies. "Any pooling arrangements must be completely voluntary to bring real competition to California's electricity industry," they wrote. The letter was sponsored by the Coalition for Choice in Electricity (CCE). Under the California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC) original consumer-friendly proposal, industrial, commercial, and residential ratepayers would be allowed to choose their own power companies, transporting that power over inter-utility transmission grids that link consumers with power companies throughout the state. While the CPUC argued last year that "[c]onsumer choice through direct access...represents the cornerstone of our vision for the electric services industry," it has rejected that vision for a model that delays customer choice. The CPUC will make its final decision this fall. "It is ironic that a regulatory-driven, managed competition model that has failed in innumerable economic contexts around the world has captured the imagination of the majority of California's public utility commissioners," the writers stated, adding that "while [w]e recognize that there have been recent negotiations by major stakeholders to resolve this issue...no proposed resolution should be without non-punitive direct consumer access." "With your help," the letter closed, "we can turn around this debate to ensure that California's electric future is efficient, sustainable, depoliticized, and a model for the rest of the nation." In addition to the above, signatories were Paul Beckner (Citizens for a Sound Economy), Larry P. Arnn (Claremont Institute), Sally Pipes (Pacific Research Institute), Frances Smith (Consumer Alert), Robert Bradley (Institute for Energy Research), and Tom Schatz (Citizens Against Government Waste), Karen Kerrigan (Small Business Survival Committee), Merrick Carey (Alexis de Tocqueville Institution). Affiliations are for identification purposes only. CCE is an ad-hoc coalition bound by the principle that the public interest properly includes considerations of market choice and competition. For more information contact Greg Smith or Wayne Crews at (202) 331-1010. _______ ________ __________ / | | | |_______ | | | | \ _______ |_______ __________ COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE 1001 Connecticut Ave. NW #1250 Washington, DC 20036 202-331-1010, fax 202-331-0640 Permission to reprint must be obtained from the publishing journal listed above. Permission to copy granted as long as these lines are left intact. To subscribe to the cei list, send a message to CEI@digex.com. "The Virtual Hand: CEI's free-market guide to the information superhighway" is available for $5. CEI's monthly newsletter, "CEI UpDate," is free to contributors of $25.