Judge Cites 10 Violations For Edison
by Jeff McDonald, The San Diego Union-Tribune
By Luke Jones from Anchorage / Creative Commons
Southern California Edison on Wednesday was found to have violated rules prohibiting backchannel communications at least 10 times in its dealings with regulators over the failed San Onofre nuclear plant.
A judge for the California Public Utilities Commission ordered the utility company to file retroactive disclosure notices for a series of meals, emails and meetings from 2013 through 2014 that violated the commission’s rules on such communications.
The judge gave the utility until Aug. 20 to show cause why it should not be held in contempt and sanctioned.
The ruling is the latest challenge for Edison, majority owner of the plant north of Oceanside, which closed in January 2012 amid a radiation leak. A settlement deal assigning $3.3 billion of the premature closure costs to customers — first set out in a framework at undisclosed meeting in Poland — is coming under increasing fire and may unravel.
The 49-page ruling from Administrative Law Judge Melanie Darling said testimony from Edison executives Ronald Litzinger and Stephen Pickett contained incorrect information and omitted relevant facts that should have been disclosed.
More specifically, the two Edison executives failed to disclose private meetings with Michael Peevey, the former utilities commission president who is now under criminal investigation for possibly favoring utilities over ratepayers in proceedings pending before regulators.
Continue reading on sandiegouniontribune.com, which also has a link to the judge’s ruling on Edison’s ex parte practices »
Tags: CPUC, Southern California Edison