One of the criticisms raised last fall by those who questioned the sincerity of Sen. Tony Strickland's claim to be a born-again advocate of renewable energy was that Strickland, as a member of the Assembly, had voted against a celebrated California law that requires utility companies to purchase at least 20 percent of their electrical power from renewable sources by 2020.

This year, Strickland has changed his view. He has signed on as the only Republican co-sponsor of a high-profile bill that would raise that requirement over time to 33 percent.

Even though he is a co-sponsor, however, Strickland abstained last week when the bill came before the Energy and Utilities Committee, of which he is a member. The bill, by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, passed out of committee without Strickland's vote.

Strickland told me this week that he still very much supports the general concept of the bill, but believes there were too many unresolved issues to move it along so quickly.

Specifically, Strickland is concerned how the bill might affect a small municipal utility in his district -- the city of Lompoc in Santa Barbara County. The existing law with the 20 percent renewable portfolio mandate applies only to investor-owned utilities such as Edison. Potential effects of Simitian's bill on government-owned utilities such as Lompoc's are unclear.

Simitian assured Strickland he would work on the issue and resolve Lompoc's concerns before the bill clears the Assembly and returns to the Senate for concurrence.

"I don't think that's the right way to do it," Strickland told me. "I would have preferred that the bill stay in the Senate committee. I did not want to punt in the hope the issue would be resolved later."