The San Bruno gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people in 2010 didn’t do it.
The radioactive leak at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station forcing the plant’s closure didn’t do it.
Nor did a criminal investigation.
But consumer advocates hope a recent state auditor report finally triggers reform at the California Public Utilities Commission.
The auditor dinged the PUC for “not effectively” guarding against the appearance of improper influence in its public decision-making. The PUC has also failed to fully disclose key communications with outside parties, according to the auditor.
The report cited former PUC President Michael Peevey’s secret meeting in Poland with a Southern California Edison executive in 2013 as an example. That meeting set the terms for consumers to pay $3.4 billion for San Onofre’s closure following a radioactive leak.
Consumer lawyer Mike Aguirre said the report reveals a systemic pattern at the PUC of regulators and utility heads meeting in private to make crucial decisions affecting ratepayers.
“They put on this charade of public decision-making but really it’s all behind closed doors,” he said.
Consumers end up paying ever larger bills, Aguirre said.
“We pay the highest rates some years in the country and we consume per capital almost the least amount of electricity,” Aguirre said.
He believes a ballot initiative is the only way to spark change at the PUC after a reform package for the regulator died in the state legislature last month.
A PUC representative said the commission has made progress over the last year in conforming its practices with state requirements.
“We take the audit report of our practices covering 2010-2015 very seriously,” wrote PUC spokeswoman Terrie Prosper. “We have a plan in place to comply with the recommendations.”
