This just in from the Bill Hedrick campaign in CA-44 (www.hedrickforcongress.com). This is an important issue on the minds of many South County residents. See below for all the details.
Bill Hedrick Supports Delay in Southern California Edison Rate Increases
Residents of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station evacuation area near Capistrano Bay are extremely concerned about Southern California Edison’s motives for a proposed rate increase. Edison has applied for a permit for an incremental three-year-cumulative rate increase totaling more than four billion dollars.
Lyn Harris Hicks, a San Clemente resident and member of the Coalition for Responsible and Ethical Environmental Decisions (CREED) stated, “California Edison is mired in a veiled attempt to rebuild San Onofre. For five years, the California Energy Commission and California Public Utilities Commission have developed and approved California’s bi-annual California Energy Action Plan’s energy acquisition priorities: first, energy efficiency programs and second, renewable energies. They do not recommend nuclear energy.†The California Public Utilities Commission has agreed to hold a Public Hearing on June 19 at 7 P.M. at San Clemente City Hall.
Moreover, Edison plans to use $15 million from the rate increase for an in-house study of license renewal for the plant which expires in 2022. In 2006, the California Legislature mandated that the Energy Commission (CEC) conduct a full cost, benefit and risk analysis of California’s continued reliance on aging nuclear reactors. Until the state’s analysis is completed and recommendations are made in November 2008, there is no reason for the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to require ratepayers to fund California Edison’s in-house study.
Bill Hedrick, candidate for 44th Congressional District which includes the northern portion of the evacuation area stated, “There are still no completely convincing solutions for the disposal of nuclear waste, especially when you consider the location of this plant on our coast’s environmentally sensitive coast line. This is yet another example of our nation’s need to invest in alternative and renewable energy source. We need a commitment to clean, renewable energy revolution now, and it is important that ratepayers take this opportunity to speak out before a multi-billion dollar rate increase is approved.â€ÂÂÂ
Bill Hedrick is the Democratic nominee for Congress in the California 44th. Bill, 56, and his wife, Beth, have five children; Adam, Jesse, Sarah, Zach, and Rebekkah; a daughter-in-law, Evelyn; and a granddaughter, Erica. Bill is currently serving his 19th year on the Corona-Norco School Board. Bill has been an educator for thirty-three years, and was just re-elected to his tenth term as President of the Rialto Education Association.