Prop. 16 would put up a roadblock to innovation

State propositions often fall into a pattern. Proponents say, here's a great idea: Let's vote on whether cities should go into the electricity business. Opponents see a conspiracy behind every rock — who is behind this? What's the real motivation? What are the unintended consequences?

Voters are left to divine the truth.

Such is the case with Proposition 16, which poses that simple question. If you watch television, you've seen the ads. The natural response is, of course we should vote on that. Our tax dollars are being put at risk.

However, you don't have to dig deep to discover that the company bankrolling this $40 million ad campaign is Pacific Gas & Electric Co., the Northern California counterpart to Southern California Edison — giant utilities that stand to lose if public power companies get into their business.

The eastern half of the Coachella Valley is served by one of those public companies, the Imperial Irrigation District (IID).

The irrigation district was formed in 1911. In 1936, it got into the electricity business when it took over a private company, the Southern Sierra Power Co. About 60 percent of the 144,000 households that get power from IID are in the Coachella Valley. The rest are in Imperial County.

According to IID spokesman Kevin Kelley, rates are about one-third less than Edison's rates. It is on track to providing the lowest energy rates in Southern California, he said. That alone sounds like a good reason to vote against Proposition 16.

IID would not be affected by Proposition 16 unless it decides to expand. It has no plans to do so, but the IID's board of directors officially opposes the measure.

IID gets about 8 percent of its power from hydroelectric plants along the All-American Canal. It hopes to grow that number to 20 percent by 2013 with a geothermal project in the Salton Sea Resource Area. Geothermal projects now generate about 550 megawatts of power. Another 2,000 megawatts are untapped — enough to provide power for 288,000 households.

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