Voice of San Diego Podcast

Why You Should Care About Electricity Contracts


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There's a big debate over who should buy electricity for San Diego. No other political decision on the city's horizon, in fact, will more dramatically alter public affairs than this one. San Diego Gas & Electric currently buys and supplies power for huge swaths of Southern California. But the power company's monopoly could be broken up if San Diego and other California cities decide to start buying power for their residents through a government-run agency known as a community choice aggregator, or CCA. In this week's podcast, hosts Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts explain why the conversation about electricity contracts is so important. The biggest component of San Diego's ambitious Climate Action Plan is getting all electricity from renewable resources by 2035. SDG&E currently relies heavily on burning natural gas. If the city does step up to take the lead on buying power, though, it's not as simple as just flipping a switch. There are some big issues to work through. One of those dilemmas, as Voice of San Diego's Ry Rivard explained this week, is the fact that California allows companies like SDG&E to keep making people pay for power even after they no longer use it. Another Hat in the Ring for Interim DA District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis is resigning in July to consider entering the 2018 race for the County Board of Supervisors. Dumanis has tapped Chief Deputy District Attorney Summer Stephan as her preferred interim replacement. But the Board of Supervisors has the ultimate say, so now former San Diego prosecutor Adam Gordon has thrown his hat in the ring for the interim DA gig. Keatts talks to Gordon about his reasons for wanting the job. Gordan said his main goal is to level the playing field when it comes to the 2018 election, which will determine the full-term district attorney. Gordon said if he's named the interim DA, he won't run next year because he thinks anyone who fills the role will have a huge unfair advantage. "To me, the moral principle behind this is having the voters be the people who decide," he said. "Because the incumbency is so strong." And special this week in the VOSD podcast feed is an in-depth interview with Summer Stephan. Also on the podcast, Lewis and Keatts parse the mass shooting in San Diego Sunday night and question why the San Diego Police Department was so quick to dismiss race as a motive, Keatts talks about the pending arrival of his baby boy and Lewis discusses why he makes his daughter, who's never known anything but the joys of on-demand television, suffer through watching commercials. Hero of the Week When Leeanne Ericson wasbitten by a shark while swimming at San Onofre beach, her boyfriend and others acted as quickly as possible to save her. The Union-Tribune detailed the whole harrowing ordeal and made it clear that their actions are a big part of why the 35-year-old mother is alive. Ericson and those who rescued her are legit heroes. Goat of the Week Freedom of the press is important, which is why San Diego attorney Cory Briggs gets the goat this week. Briggs sued inewsource, claiming the local nonprofit news organization has conflicts of interest stemming from its lease agreement with San Diego State University and its public media partner, KPBS. An appellate court ruled this week in favor of inewsource. A lower court has already ruled in favor of inewsource and SDSU, which argued that the lawsuit was an attempt at retribution for inewsource's investigative stories on Briggs.
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Voice of San Diego PodcastBy Voice of San Diego

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