JUDGE ORDERS CPUC PRESIDENT TO REVEAL SECRET DOCUMENTS

Ballot initiative proposed to break up CPUC

East County News Service

February 12, 2016 (San Diego)--A San Francisco Superior Court Judge has ruled that secret e-mails between Michael Picker, the President of the California Public Utilities Commission, the Governor's Office and Southern California Edison must be made public.(Read the order.)

In the last year, CPUC has spent millions on criminal defense attorneys to stonewall investigations into CPUC employees who have allegedly engaged in criminal activities related to the $3.3 Billion ratepayer-funded bailout of the failed nuclear generators at San Onofre.

In a sternly worded ruling, Judge Ernest Goldsmith wrote, "To consider this merely an ordinary rate-setting regulatory matter would do violence to the right of citizens ..."

According to utility fraud attorney Michael Aguirre in San Diego, "This ruling is a bombshell."  

Aguirre's partner Maria Severson says "This is a major breakthrough for the people of

California. The doors to the trial court have been  burst open to hear the people’s concerns about  those who decide in secret what they must pay in rates."

Estimates of the average cost per meter of the San Onofre bailout range from $2,300 to almost $3,000. San Onofre is just one of several major scandals involving the CPUC recently. Others include the San Bruno pipeline explosion and the San Aliso natural gas leak.

Assemblyman Mike Gatto has proposed a ballot initiative that if approved by voters, would break up the CPUC and transfer its regulatory duties to other state agencies.