Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

San Diego wins one

CPUC thumbs down SDGE's attempt to get customers to pay 2007 fire costs

Quick action by irate San Diegans was almost certainly a factor in today's (Dec. 20) decision by the commissioners of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to turn down San Diego Gas & Electric's attempt to get ratepayers to cough up for uninsured costs of the 2007 fires, for which the local utility has been held responsible. On Sunday, Diane Conklin of Mussey Grade Road Alliance discovered that the CPUC has a subscription list, supposedly for minor changes in documents. She signed up. So yesterday, she learned that Commissioner Timothy Alan Simon, the day before the hearing had made a huge but cleverly concealed change in his proposal that permitted SDGE to get customers to pay for the uninsured 2007 costs. She quickly complained; Mike Aguirre, who was also fighting the proposal, stated last night, as reported on this blog, that this action was a blatant violation of the Brown Act, which mandates open meetings. All hell broke loose in San Diego media today (Dec. 20), following the Reader's coverage last night and a press conference today by Utility Consumers' Action Network and Aguirre. Many media covered the story and the CPUC was besieged with telephone calls, at Conklin's urging.

At today's meeting, Simon was forced to withdraw his altered motion because of Brown Act violations. Then the commissioners voted unanimously to turn down SDGE's bid, and stated that for the utility to recover its funds under the so-called Z factor -- a procedure to handle unanticipated events -- San Diego Gas would have to show it had no responsibility for the fires. But a division of the CPUC has already ruled that SDGE was responsible for those fires.

SDGE's parent, Sempra Energy, has been telling shareholders that it expected ratepayers would be forced to pick up the tab for the uninsured costs.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024

Quick action by irate San Diegans was almost certainly a factor in today's (Dec. 20) decision by the commissioners of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to turn down San Diego Gas & Electric's attempt to get ratepayers to cough up for uninsured costs of the 2007 fires, for which the local utility has been held responsible. On Sunday, Diane Conklin of Mussey Grade Road Alliance discovered that the CPUC has a subscription list, supposedly for minor changes in documents. She signed up. So yesterday, she learned that Commissioner Timothy Alan Simon, the day before the hearing had made a huge but cleverly concealed change in his proposal that permitted SDGE to get customers to pay for the uninsured 2007 costs. She quickly complained; Mike Aguirre, who was also fighting the proposal, stated last night, as reported on this blog, that this action was a blatant violation of the Brown Act, which mandates open meetings. All hell broke loose in San Diego media today (Dec. 20), following the Reader's coverage last night and a press conference today by Utility Consumers' Action Network and Aguirre. Many media covered the story and the CPUC was besieged with telephone calls, at Conklin's urging.

At today's meeting, Simon was forced to withdraw his altered motion because of Brown Act violations. Then the commissioners voted unanimously to turn down SDGE's bid, and stated that for the utility to recover its funds under the so-called Z factor -- a procedure to handle unanticipated events -- San Diego Gas would have to show it had no responsibility for the fires. But a division of the CPUC has already ruled that SDGE was responsible for those fires.

SDGE's parent, Sempra Energy, has been telling shareholders that it expected ratepayers would be forced to pick up the tab for the uninsured costs.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.