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CPUC slaps Uber with big fine

To play in California, Uber must pay. “The California Public Utilities Commission agreed last Thursday with a judge’s recommendation to fine Uber $7.6 million for failing to meet data reporting requirements in 2014,” the Los Angeles Times reported. “Uber will appeal the

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CA solar plans snarled by controversy

In the California desert and in solar-paneled neighborhoods around the state, a new conflict over alternative energy has broken out. Pitting lawmakers, regulators, customers and the solar power industry against one another, the dispute centered around how much solar users ought

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CA’s nuclear power in doubt

Despite calls for a resurgence in nuclear power, California could soon shutter its effort to keep the alternative energy going. PG&E’s Diablo Canyon plant, the state’s last, has wound up in the crosshairs. As the Associated Press reported, “the company

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CA utilities commission plays dangerous game with power grid security

The latest tit-for-tat between lawmakers and the California Public Utilities Commission has brought back bad memories of an in-state — and unsolved — national security threat. The tiff began when the CPUC “hired outside lawyers as federal and state investigators

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Ruling adds to case against San Onofre settlement

A judicial ruling last week slamming Southern California Edison adds to pressure on the California Public Utilities Commission to abandon a $4.7 billion deal it cut last year with Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric over the cost of

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Brown may seek new tax increases on 2016 ballot

California lawmakers have left Gov. Jerry Brown in the lurch. That was Brown’s judgment of the Legislature’s performance, which has left his administration with substantial unfinished business heading into the election year. The consequence may be a fresh round of

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Bill increases CPUC transparency, restricts private meetings

A measure that will be heard this summer in committee at the statehouse aims to tighten the reins on private communications between utilities and the commissioners who regulate them at the California Public Utilities Commission. But even if SB 660 is passed,

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PUC board dissident has dubious history with PG&E

A member of the California Public Utilities Commission board who has attempted to establish himself as a critic of the PUC status quo by criticizing the scandal-ridden agency’s push for a much flatter electricity-pricing tier system could have a tough

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Bill simplifies tiered utility rates

Now that the $42 billion bill for the 2001 California Energy Crisis has been paid off, California’s current four price tiers for electricity will be flattened to two tiers over the next four years. Environmentalists who advocated for cleaning up

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High-speed rail Legislative Report lists some, but not all controversies

Risk, time and money remain the major problems for the construction of California’s high-speed rail project. That’s seen in the biannual Legislative Report of the California High-Speed Rail Authority released this month, as required by law. The report is a serious

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