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• Galt woman charged in death of teen was warned about drinking problem, police officer says

• Lodi auto dealerships have grand plans for relocation

• Lightning blasts palm tree, utility pole in Lodi

• City plans to sell excess dirt to help fund park

• Hit-and-run suspect pleads not guilty

• Lockeford resident pleads guilty to vehicular manslaughter, DUI

• New paramedic coordinator in Lodi has hands full, despite no program

• Lockeford MAC seeks to change focus

• Lodi volunteers thanked for helping

• San Joaquin County not named on list of state's dirty air areas

• PG&E's settlement will allow company to exit bankruptcy

November 2nd, 2009

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

November 6th, 2009

• Short sales make up nearly half of Lodi market

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi man accused of smuggling drugs, weapons for inmates at state prison

• 'I-5 Strangler' sentenced to 6 terms of life

• Jury convicts Acampo man of torture, assault of his girlfriend

• Young girl is 200,000th person to assemble AIDS, HIV care kit

• Woman in wheelchair struck by car

November 5th, 2009

• San Joaquin County considers moratorium on new Williamson Act contracts

• Speakers address Lodi Unified School District budget shortfalls, plea to keep programs

• Armed robbers still targeting Lodi shops

• Regional Roundup

• California voters have final say over $11 billion water bond

• Paul Tebbel shines spotlight on sandhill cranes

• Your complete guide to Sandhill Crane Festival

• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy

• Man wanted in Acampo homicide gives up to San Joaquin County Sheriff's detectives

• Weekend bus service to continue until Lodi City Council makes decision

• A lower Lodi Lake

• Streetside scarecrows

November 4th, 2009

• San Joaquin County sues state over prison hospital planned for Stockton

• California sends Democratic loyalist John Garamendi to Congress

• Candle fire

• Rep. Jerry McNerney sets telephone town hall for Thursday

• Jason Behrmann is unanimously named Galt's city manager

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi City Council weighs raising fares to restore some bus service

• Bicycling father raising awareness of teen suicide

• Galt City Council argues over ordinance hiring residents

• Big win for Allen Baroni in reclamation election

November 3rd, 2009

• Clarification

• Correction

• Galt considers ordinance that would require city contractors to hire locally

• Regional Roundup

• Have you seen a missing guide dog puppy in Lodi?

• Jason Behrmann is top candidate for Galt city manager

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

• 500 attend service for Kyle Coumas

• Galt man dies after weekend Highway 12 crash

November 2nd, 2009

• 27-year-old man shot to death Saturday night in front of Acampo home

• Public Meetings

• Correction

• Kyle Coumas funeral today

• Regional Roundup

• Group investigates reports of haunting

• Sandhill Cranes Festival comes to Lodi next weekend

• Lamborghini lovers gather for show, fine wine, luncheon in Woodbridge

• Lodi's 'Biggest Loser' Christy Richesin runs 5K Halloween race

• Downtown Lodi trick or treat

October 31st, 2009

• Izzy Laviola and Seth Siddle-Mitchell crowned Tokay homecoming queen and king

• Tokay High evacuation

• Finishing touches on Hill House replica

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi-area Halloween events

• Lodi a reflection of Halloween's retail emergence

• Area schools have no plans of closing due to H1N1 virus

• In remembrance of Kyle Coumas

• Gated communities in Lodi

• City of Lodi settles case of mistaken identity

October 30th, 2009

• Officials hope new Highway 12 stoplight will make road safer

• Red Ribbon Week

• Logbook

• Roundup of Lodi-area Halloween events

• Lockeford soldier Kyle Coumas' funeral set for Monday

• Lodi sales tax revenue less than expected

• Regional Roundup

• Local reaction to economic growth

• Get an early start trick-or-treating in Downtown Lodi

• When there's something strange ...

• Stockton breaks ground on Delta Water Supply Project

• Possible extention of first-time homebuyer tax credit?

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Bible is entwined with American civic life (135)
• Gated communities in Lodi (112)
• I predict: A conservative tide will rise in 2010 (99)
• The Treaty of Tripoli hoax (82)
• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy (60)
• Here's what my father knew about the assassination of JFK (55)
• Universal health care solves big problems (40)
• Words from our forefathers (26)
• With resolve and imagination, Downtown Lodi can surge once again (24)
• 27-year-old man shot to death Saturday night in front of Acampo home (18)

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PG&E's settlement will allow company to exit bankruptcy

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is reassuring customers that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

After three years, the turbulent company has a settlement agreement that would bring the utility out of bankruptcy and reduce rates for customers.

PG&E representative Emily Barnett spoke to the city's Economic Development Committee on Thursday about the company's reorganization plan and what it will mean to customers and the economy.

She said the proposed settlement includes a $350 million annual rate reduction, repayment of all creditors and no job cuts. PG&E will emerge from bankruptcy on solid financial footing that will allow it to continue to court investors.

One of the best parts of the agreement is that it preserves all of the 18,000 jobs in the state, Barnett said. PG&E has about 1,100 employees in San Joaquin County.

For many of the industrial companies in the Central Valley, energy is a major cost and concern. Uncertainties surrounding PG&E's bankruptcy have put emphasis on the latter.

The San Joaquin Partnership is working with 23 companies seriously considering moving to the area, and energy costs are right at the top of the list of concerns for many of them, CEO Mike Locke said.

One prospective business set up shop in another county because it had a municipal utility district with lower electricity cost, he said.

City economic development director, Andrew Malik said that at least one company stated it had left Tracy because of energy prices. The company moved to Southern California, where the public utility is under the Edison International umbrella and the rates are more favorable.

The lowered rates will go to all customers, Barnett said, although the exact figures have not been hashed out yet. The California Public Utilities Commission estimates that rates will start dropping by 2004 from 13.87 cents per kilowatt hour to 12.8 cents by 2008.

"It hits large industrial, agriculture, residential and small business customers," Barnett said.

PG&E shareholders are bearing the largest burden from the debt. When the company filed for bankruptcy in 2000, all stock dividends were suspended, and although the dividends will begin again when the settlement is complete, a total of $1.7 billion in dividend payments will not be recouped.

Barnett said the plan has been very well received, and the public hearings around the state are expected to go smoothly. The nearest hearing will be in Fresno on Aug. 27.

The new laws regarding aggregation that went into effect Jan. 1 allow cities to purchase power at low rates from an irrigation district or other generator and then send the cheaper power along PG&E lines.

That is a good deal for the utility, because the company doesn't make money by generating power. Most of the revenues are from owning the lines and distribution, Barnett said.

"We are like UPS: We deliver," she said During the peak of the energy crisis, when wholesale energy costs spiraled out of control and retail prices were fixed, Barnett said, the company lost about $1 million per hour.

The agreement keeps PG&E as one entity for generation, transmission and distribution and under the regulation by the California Public Utilities Commission. The company's original proposal was to break the parts of the company into separate corporations.

Barnett said the company is anxious to get out of bankruptcy and into normal operations.

"We want to get back to business," Barnett said.