How does Prop 9 stop the bailout?
A. The initiative prohibits the utilities from forcing consumers to bail out $7.5 billion worth of utility company bad investments in nuclear power plants. Nuclear plants constitute roughly 40% of the bailout. Under Prop. 9, charges for inefficient non-nuclear power plants — about 20% of the bailout — cannot be passed through to ratepayers until state regulators hold public hearings on each plant and decide whether pass-through is justified. Finally, “qualifying facilities” contracts that the utility companies were forced to purchase by state or federal laws may be passed through to ratepayers. These contracts are worth approximately $11.2 billion.
