San Diego attorney Mike Aguirre today (Jan. 14) filed a motion with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in an attempt to thwart a bid for secret hearings on the San Onofre nuclear facility mishap. The facility is jointly owned by Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE). Generators failed and the facility was put out of service. Aguirre says that the secret meetings are against state law; no good cause has been shown for secrecy, and hush-hush meetings would undermine confidence in the regulatory body.

Customers of the two utilities paid $700 million to replace four faulty generators at San Onofre. The CPUC said the generators would last 18 years. "One lasted two years and one lasted one year," says Aguirre. "Did someone say, 'Profit is more important than safety?'" he asks. "The cost of reckless behavior should fall on stockholders, not ratepayers. Edison wants to recover the money in secret. The CPUC is trying to keep [Edison] profitable. SDGE is doing the same thing as [Edison]."