[Sustain] LA Times: CPUC, Brown, Newsom, PG&E - Deep Corruption Behind The Curtain

[Eric Brooks]

  PUC member's donation request raises questions

The panel OK'd bonus system changes that benefit utilities that gave 
$50,000 for its green-energy summit.
By Jordan Rau and Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
February 20, 2008

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-puc20feb20,0,1431722.story
SACRAMENTO -- Public Utilities Commissioner Timothy A. Simon solicited 
donations from companies he regulates to help pay for a nonprofit 
conference on green energy hosted last month by one of his political 
patrons, documents and interviews show.

Two weeks after the conference, the three most generous corporate donors 
to the Willie L. Brown Jr. Institute on Politics and Public Service -- 
each of which gave at least $50,000 -- won PUC agreement to change a new 
energy-efficiency program as the companies had requested.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*FOR THE RECORD:*
Utilities: An article in Section A on Wednesday about fundraising 
efforts by Public Utilities Commissioner Timothy A. Simon stated that 
the commission regulates the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. The 
commission does not regulate municipal utilities. ---
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The program was changed to award bonuses to utility companies even if 
they fall substantially short of power-saving goals. In some 
circumstances, the change will be worth $176 million to the companies.

Simon's appointment to the commission is largely due to Willie Brown, 
the former Assembly speaker and San Francisco mayor. Brown recommended 
him to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and is said to be rallying support for 
his confirmation, which the state Senate Rules Committee is scheduled to 
consider today.

No law bars regulators from raising money from those they oversee. But 
consumer advocates said Simon's solicitations exemplified the close 
relationships between utilities and the five PUC commissioners, who set 
utility rates, adjudicate complaints and have broad power to instruct 
the utilities how to behave.

"It's a questionable practice for any commissioner to raise money 
directly from utility companies," said Mark Toney, executive director of 
TURN, a utility watchdog group in San Francisco. "I would think a 
commissioner would want to recuse himself from any decision that 
impacted them."

About the same time Simon was raising money from the utilities, Pacific 
Gas & Electric Co., Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & 
Electric Co. were petitioning the PUC to increase bonuses in an 
energy-efficiency program the commission had established a few months 
earlier.

Simon, 52, who voted with the other commissioners Jan. 31 to adopt the 
change, did not respond to requests for an interview. His office 
released a statement Tuesday that said he spearheaded the conference 
because "the utility companies reached out" to him for help in preparing 
a new generation of utility workers.

"In contacting the utilities about this opportunity, no promises were 
made, either expressly or implied, that participation in the summit 
would result in utility matters pending before the CPUC receiving 
favorable treatment," the statement said.

"Commissioner Simon's actions in organizing the summit were consistent 
with laws and CPUC rules," the statement said. "Neither he nor the CPUC 
received any private gain or advantage, nor did the participating 
companies obtain any private gain or advantage."

Simon's association with Brown dates to Brown's mayoral administration, 
in which Simon was a volunteer. In 2006, Brown recommended Simon to 
Schwarzenegger's chief of staff, Susan Kennedy, to fill a PUC vacancy.

The governor hired Simon that year as his appointments secretary, a 
senior position in his administration, and nominated him to the PUC in 
February 2007.

Commissioners are paid $128,109 a year and serve six-year terms. Brown 
told The Times last year that Simon "went to Sacramento to be a PUC 
commissioner" and that it was "highly appropriate that his wish to be 
PUC commissioner is fulfilled."

Brown did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

The Jan. 14 conference brought together investors, labor leaders, 
policymakers and industry officials with the goal of finding ways to 
expand green energy in California and create business opportunities and 
jobs, particularly for people from poor areas. Along with the PUC, the 
conference was organized by Brown's institute and other groups.

In an e-mail sent to prospective donors, Simon described the event as "a 
summit like no other" and encouraged donors to contact him directly at 
his office or call the conference organizer, a PUC employee. "I look 
forward to hearing from you soon," Simon wrote.

Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & 
Electric agreed to be "platinum sponsors," those donating $50,000 or 
more, according to conference materials.

Christy Heiser, a spokeswoman for Sempra Energy, which owns San Diego 
Gas & Electric, said Brown and Simon jointly signed a letter to the 
company asking it to take a "lead role" in sponsoring the conference.

Southern California Edison said it was recruited by other utilities. 
Spokesman Gil Alexander said the executives who decided to participate 
"have no knowledge of either individual or any CPUC commissioner 
soliciting SCE's involvement."

Pacific Gas & Electric did not respond to a request for comment.

Other utilities regulated by the PUC also gave money, conference 
materials show. AT&T, Comcast Corp. and the Sacramento Municipal Utility 
District each donated between $10,000 and $24,999.

Simon and Brown gave welcoming remarks at the conference, and San 
Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom gave the opening address.

The commission's energy-efficiency program rewards utilities for 
investing in efficient equipment and taking steps to help customers 
conserve fuel. Originally, the panel allowed utilities that met 85% or 
more of their goals to collect bonuses. In the amended rules, the 
commission lowered the threshold so those meeting more than 65% of their 
goals would qualify for financial rewards of as much as $176 million, 
according to PUC spokeswoman Terrie Prosper.

Before the change, companies achieving 65% to 85% of the goals would 
receive no bonuses. Those that do not exceed 65% of the goals will face 
penalties, as they did in the original plan, starting at $144 million.

jordan.rau at latimes.com <mailto:jordan.rau at latimes.com>

evan.halper at latimes.com <mailto:evan.halper at latimes.com>

Times staff writer Elizabeth Douglass in Los Angeles contributed to this 
report.
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