Tag "CPUC"
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Public Utilities Commission crashes into Uber, Lyft
This week was supposed to be a Kumbaya moment for state legislators and ridesharing services. On Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed it into law compromise legislation allowing the firms to continue to flourish, while requiring them to increase their insurance coverage. But just before
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Water shortage could bring electricity grid failure
California’s Big Three energy regulating agencies just warned in a joint letter to the California Water Resources Control Board that planned water curtailments for 2014 would present a danger to grid reliability and create “substantial potential for serious public health and
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State auditor dings CPUC on passenger carriers
The California Public Utilities Commission is supposed to look out for consumers. But the California Auditor just found they have done a bad job regulating “passenger carriers” — such as limousines. The CPUC does this through its Transformation Enforcement Branch.
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CA Lifeline program cost could triple under AB 1407
It’s been trendy for a couple of years now for people to dump their phone landlines and go only with their mobile phones, saving money and hassles. The government is going in the opposite direction, setting up both land
Read MoreCalifornia Solar Initiative: overhyped and underperforming
Now that the $2.167 billion California Solar Initiative is winding down, electricity ratepayers might ask: What was it and what did it accomplish? Was it: 1.) A cutting edge solar energy project to bring about a “self-sustaining” solar power industry,
Read MoreLawmakers text while discussing lack of broadband for poor
March 12, 2013 By Katy Grimes Click-click-click went lawmakers’ smart phones as they texted Monday while seeming to listen to four hours of hearings on expanding broadband Internet services to poor people. At the same hearing, representatives from AT&T, Verizon, and
Read MorePG&E misleads on rate increases
Editor’s Note: This is Part 2 of two. Part 1 is here. Nov. 27, 2012 By Katy Grimes PG&E has openly misled about rate increases. In February 2011, PG&E announced the utility expected its electric rate to remain steady into
Read MoreLax CPUC oversight lets PG&E gouge ratepayers
Editor’s note: This is Part 1 of two. Part 2 is here. Nov. 26, 2012 By Katy Grimes As the price of natural gas has fallen to a decade low, utility ratepayers wouldn’t know it. Utility costs continue to explode.
Read MoreState promotes renewable energy at all costs
June 15, 2012 By Joseph Perkins The California Public Utilities Commission routinely rubber stamps renewable energy projects without discussion. But that was not the case this past Thursday, when Commissioner Michael Florio objected to a solar project that came before
Read More$2 Billion Solar Rebates Program Broke
APRIL 6, 2011 By KATY GRIMES California legislators are pushing a bill through the system for a bankrupt solar subsidy program, despite a $200 million shortfall. And while the large shortfall would make most subsidy beneficiaries go belly-up, California legislators
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