Fallout from PG&E Emails Continues
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Last
week, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Chief Administrative Law
Judge (CALJ) Timothy Sullivan granted a motion by TURN and ORA to suspend the
procedural schedule in the Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) Gas Rate
Case. In addition, ALJ Wong was removed from the proceeding and the CALJ
has reassigned himself as the acting judge pending his appointing another judge
to take over the proceeding.
The
Joint Motion requested that the procedural schedule in this proceeding be
suspended, and that a prehearing conference (PHC) be convened to discuss a
revised schedule. Additionally, all ex parte communications with the
Commissioners regarding this proceeding are prohibited except for all-party
meetings arranged by a Commissioner.
All
of this is arising out of the allegations resulting from discovery of the
emails between PG&E and CPUC Commissioners’ offices.
Allegations are the emails show evidence of "judge shopping." Allegedly,
the emails show CPUC President Michael Peevey’s Chief of Staff Carol Brown and
PUC Commissioner Mike Florio working with PG&E to steer the GTS Rate Case
to a judge of the utility's choosing.
Initial
indications are that PG&E is willing to accept penalties over its emails
to CPUC commissioners and their staff—communications in which the utility tried
to influence the judge assigned to its gas transmission rate case at the CPUC.
The commission will hold a hearing next month in which they accuse PG&E of
breaking ex parte rules that prohibit communications on the assignment of judges.
As
a direct result of this, Commission President Michael Peevey has recused
himself from voting on that case and another big case involving PG&E’s
penalty related to the fatal San Bruno gas-pipeline explosion of 2010.
CPUC
rules prohibit ex parte communications regarding the assignment—or reassignment—of a
proceeding to a particular judge and ex parte violations of this nature, related to "inappropriate communications," that it
appears that PG&E managers had with CPUC members and staff in a
gas-transmission rate case, total $1,000 per violation. A September 17 ruling from CPUC
Administrative Law Judge Hallie Yacknin ordered PG&E to show why it should
not be held in contempt and punished for breaking CPUC rules.
San
Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane, Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) and Assemblyman Kevin
Mullin (D-San Mateo) want the state AG’s office to investigate. In addition,
both the Sierra Club and California Environmental Justice Alliance also called
for an investigation urging a review "of an agency where decisions are often
based on private conversations and political influence rather than evidence and
impartial decision-making."
PG&E
conducted a review of about 65,000 emails following the City of San Bruno’s discovery
of exchanges among the utility, Commission President Peevey and his Chief
of Staff Carol Brown on issues related to ongoing cases at the commission regarding
the rupture of a PG&E gas transmission line in San Bruno.
Noting
the emails released this week, PG&E’s press release said it "believes it
violated the CPUC’s rules governing communications with the state regulator" in
the pending gas-transmission case. As a
result, PG&E fired three people involved in those communications—PG&E
Vice President of Regulatory Relations Brian Cherry; Tom Bottorff, Senior Vice President
of Regulatory Affairs; and Trina Horner, Vice President of Regulatory Proceedings
and Rates.
Carol
Brown has resigned as Peevey’s chief of staff following a request by Peevey; however,
Brown remains a "civil service employee on leave."
Peevey
has taken a further step by asking CPUC Executive Director Paul Clanon to get
an outside expert to review internal procedures "to guard against future ex parte violations by parties, and
inappropriate contact by CPUC employees with parties." The commission will
continue to review the San Bruno-related emails but has not issued an order to
show cause on those communications as it did with the gas rate case emails.
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