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California Proposition 9, Prohibition of Utility Taxes, Bond Payments, or Surcharges for Nuclear Power Assets Initiative (1998)

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California Proposition 9

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Election date

November 3, 1998

Topic
Nuclear energy and Utility policy
Status

DefeatedDefeated

Type
Initiated state statute
Origin

Citizens


California Proposition 9 was on the ballot as an initiated state statute in California on November 3, 1998. It was defeated.

A "yes" vote supported:

  • prohibiting private utility companies from charging customers utility taxes, bond payments, or surcharges to cover the cost of nuclear power assets and rate reductions 
  • increasing the required rate reduction rate from 10% to 20%.

A "no" vote opposed this initiative which would have made changes to the state's electricity industry.


Election results

California Proposition 9

Result Votes Percentage
Yes 2,065,674 26.56%

Defeated No

5,711,888 73.44%
Results are officially certified.
Source

Measure design

Proposition 9 would have prohibited private electric utilities from charging customers for the transition costs for nuclear power plants. It would also have prohibited the assessment of taxes, bonds, surcharges to pay costs of nuclear power plants, limited recovery by electric companies for the costs of non-nuclear power plants, and prohibited the issuance of rate reduction bonds. It would have also required increasing the required rate reduction from 10% to 20%.[1]

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Proposition 9 was as follows:

Electric Utilities. Assessments. Bonds. Initiative Statute.

Ballot summary

The ballot summary for this measure was:

  • Prohibits assessment of utility tax, bond payments or surcharges for payment of costs of nuclear power plants/related assets.
  • Limits authority of electric companies to recover costs for non-nuclear generation plants.
  • Prohibits issuance of rate reduction bonds and assessments on customers for payment of bond principal, interest, and related costs.
  • Provides judicial review of Public Utilities Commission decisions relating to electric restructuring and financing costs by writ of mandate.
  • May provide up to 20% electricity rate reduction for residential and small commercial customers of investor-owned utilities by January 1, 1999.
  • Restricts customer information dissemination.

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.


Proposition 9.PNG

Fiscal impact

The California Legislative Analyst's Office provided the following estimate of net state and local government fiscal impact for Proposition 9:[1]

  • State government net revenue reductions potentially in the high tens of millions of dollars annually through 2001-02.
  • Local government net revenue reductions potentially in the tens of millions of dollars annually through 2001-02.
  • State and local government savings in utility costs, potentially in the tens of millions of dollars annually through 2001-02.[2]

Support

Supporters

  • Harvey Rosenfield, co-chair of Californians Against Utility Taxes[1]
  • Nettie Hoge, executive director of The Utility Reform Network[1]
  • Harry M. Snyder, senior advocate of Consumers Union, Publisher of Consumer Reports[1]

Official arguments

The official arguments in support of Proposition 9 can be found here.

Opposition

Opponents

  • Larry McCarthy, president of California Taxpayers Association[1]
  • Jerry Meral, executive director of the Planning and Conservation League[1]
  • Allan Zaremberg, president of California Chamber of Commerce[1]

Official arguments

The official arguments in opposition to Proposition 9 can be found here.

Path to the ballot

In California, the number of signatures required for an initiated state statute is equal to 5 percent of the votes cast at the preceding gubernatorial election. For initiated statutes filed in 1998, at least 433,269 valid signatures were required.


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 University of California, "Voter Guide," accessed May 11, 2021
  2. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.