PG&E facing big fine for judge-shopping in rate case

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. could face millions of dollars in fines for the lobbying campaign it waged with state regulators to assign its preferred judge to a rate-setting case stemming from the deadly San Bruno explosion, under a proposed order that the California Public Utilities Commission issued Wednesday.

The commission - which acquiesced to PG&E's request and appointed the company's choice to decide the $1 billion-plus rate case - will now decide whether PG&E broke rules barring such lobbying.

An administrative law judge with the state agency, Hallie Yacknin, ordered PG&E executives late Wednesday to appear before her next month to explain why the company should not be held in contempt for bombarding regulators with e-mails in January urging the appointment of one judge to the rate case and labeling two others as problems.

Three PG&E executives were fired Monday and a top aide to utilities commission President Michael Peevey resigned under pressure over what the state agency called the "inappropriate" back-channel communications between the company and regulators.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/PG-amp-E-facing-big-fine-for-judge-shopping-in-5763244.php

[C Moon]

1. That is scary! This must go on all the time! Wow!

[onecaliberal]

2. Hmmm, I guess that's part of the

Reason they continue to raise our rates. The PUC is a joke. They allow PG&E to do whatever they want.

[BrotherIvan]

3. Yes

It's funny how gas costs more to deliver to homes in the winter. Like those brutal California winters are just ruining all the pipes.

[onecaliberal]

9. We're paying for all of the damages

From the nor cal explosion and to line pockets of the top executives.

[BrotherIvan]

10. It's so gross how they can get away with a monopoly + price gouging

Maybe Jerry Brown will get pissed at them one day and do something. Our bill keeps going up up up up!

[onecaliberal]

12. Ours too. They've raised the rates

For three years in a row.

[Triana]

4. I know some decent working folks who may lose their jobs over this shit.

PG & E are not allowed to pay what they've been fined for the deaths resulting from that explosion out of their profits. They cannot do anything that will cause their stock to lose value (ie: anything that would affect profits). This means they will lay off people to pay these fines. Outsource or whatever.

These people I know had nothing to do with this goddamned dirty crooked business the executives are involved in. They're worker bees. But it is them who will be made to pay for it - by losing their jobs. Because of the psychopath executives and their goddamned cutting corners and unmitigated GREED, these people will lose their jobs.

And now, the executives have been found to have been up to even more dirty business surrounding this case - making it more likely that even more regular working people will lose jobs to pay for more fines due to executive greed and dirty deeds that those working people had nothing to do with.

Evil f*cking psychopath execs - they KNOW this isn't going to cost THEM anything. It will come out of the hides of the workers.

[whereisjustice]

5. you know - because self-regulation blah blah blah

[Jack Rabbit]

6. Ah, Pacific Greed and Extortion

Once again proving to be the poster child for why public utilities should be owned by the public.

[hedgehog]

7. Why aren't the Commision members who went along with PG&E facing

some sort of penalty?

[BrotherIvan]

11. Or criminal charges?

Because if you or I did it, we would go straight to jail. And I thought corporations were people!!!

[sendero]

8. Anyone think this sort of thing..

... "inappropriate back-channel communications between the company and regulators" doesn't happen all the time? I'm betting it does.