Court Refuses to Rein in CPUC; Governor Must Act

San Francisco--The California Supreme Court today embraced actions by the California Public Utilities Commission that deleted consumer protections in California's deregulation law. "This is a sad day," said TURN's executive director, Nettie Hoge. "The last official action has been taken to ensure that customers pay for every penny of deregulation's failure."

TURN called on Governor Davis to rein in the renegade California Public Utilities Commission before it does more damage to consumers. "Edison's financial situation could have and should have been solved at less cost to utility consumers," said Hoge. "The CPUC's deal with PG&E is also too rich."

While acknowledging that the primary blame for the energy crisis goes to Pete Wilson, now an advisor to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hoge said Governor Davis needs to go to bat for consumers, who have borne the brunt of deregulation's failure.

The CPUC has proposed a bailout for PG&E that is even more expensive than the Edison debacle. "Before the CPUC is permitted to hand PG&E $9 billion, Governor Davis can insist that the CPUC take advantage of the expertise of TURN and others who have proposed plans to keep the utilities in business far more cheaply than the CPUC has done," said Hoge.

"The court's majority opinion is not only unfair to ratepayers, it also lays out a blueprint for future backroom deals at their expense,," said Hoge. As the dissenting opinion points out, the majority opinion sets out a future for regulation by lawsuit in which renegade state officials are able to collaborate with special interests to violate state law.

"The Court's interpretation is that the Legislature intended to protect everyone but consumers," Hoge said. "We disagree and will continue to seek out ways to undo the damage done by the CPUC and prevent further damage from being done."