San Diego

County supervisors will decide next week whether to call for an advisory vote on the proposed utility merger of San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Edison Corp.

Supervisors instructed the county legal staff Tuesday to create language for a ballot measure that would allow citizens to vote for or against the merger and also to vote on certain rules that the utility companies should follow if the merger takes place. That language will be submitted for the board’s approval at a meeting next week.

The decision on whether or not to approve the merger ultimately rests with the state Public Utilities Commission. However, Supervisor Susan Golding requested that the board consider holding an advisory vote on the matter Nov. 6 in order to demonstrate to the PUC that a majority of San Diego County’s citizens oppose the project.

The board had already formally declared its opposition to the merger at an earlier meeting.

But, after the merger’s proponents and opponents told the supervisors that such a vote would be unnecessary and a waste of the $30,000 it would cost to add the measure to the fall ballot, the board backed away from the idea--at least temporarily.

Supervisors agreed to draft a letter to the PUC requesting that the merger occur only if certain conditions were met, and deferred a decision on the advisory vote.