<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<h1>PUC member's donation request raises questions</h1>
<div class="storysubhead"
style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51) ! important;">The
panel OK'd bonus system changes that benefit utilities that gave
$50,000 for its green-energy summit.</div>
<div class="storybyline"
style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153) ! important;">By
Jordan Rau and Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers <br>
February 20, 2008<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-puc20feb20,0,1431722.story">http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-puc20feb20,0,1431722.story</a><br>
</div>
<div class="storybody">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.<br>
<br>
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.
<hr> <b>FOR THE RECORD:</b><br>
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. —<br>
<hr> 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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
"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."<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
"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.<br>
<br>
"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."<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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."<br>
<br>
Brown did not respond to a request for comment for this article.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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."<br>
<br>
Pacific Gas & Electric did not respond to a request for comment.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Simon and Brown gave welcoming remarks at the conference, and San
Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom gave the opening address.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
<a href="mailto:jordan.rau@latimes.com">jordan.rau@latimes.com</a><br>
<br>
<a href="mailto:evan.halper@latimes.com">evan.halper@latimes.com</a><br>
<br>
Times staff writer Elizabeth Douglass in Los Angeles contributed to
this report. </div>
</body>
</html>