Corona OKs Edison Takeover

Taking another step toward power independence, the Corona City Council has voted to use its eminent-domain powers to take over Southern California Edison’s electric distribution lines.

The council unanimously approved the takeover resolution late Monday, starting what could be a long legal process. Edison said that its property isn’t for sale and that it would fight to keep it.

“The citizens and businesses of Corona can save money if the city starts a municipally owned and operated system,” Mayor Darrell Talbert said. “It was the right thing to do.”

Corona officials say they can offer better service at lower rates, but an Edison study released Monday contends that the city has underestimated costs and that rates would increase under a municipally owned utility.

Corona is one of more than 200 cities and towns across the U.S. that have explored forming municipal utilities in the last year, according to the American Public Power Assn. Portland, Ore., has proposed buying Portland General Electric from Enron Corp., and the Southern Nevada Water Authority has been trying to buy Sierra Pacific Resources’ Nevada Power Co.

Talbert said Corona, a city of 138,000 in Riverside County, will begin the eminent-domain process immediately.

“We are disappointed by the action” Monday night, said Charley Wilson, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, which is owned by Edison International. “If they do file, we will review that, and will take appropriate legal steps to respond.”