Uber Seeks To Head Off Lawsuits With New Binding Driver Agreement
by Carolyn Said, San Francisco Chronicle
One East Bay driver, who asked not to be identified because he fears retaliation from Uber, said he had not immediately understood that he could opt out of the [binding arbitration] provision. “That wasn’t obvious to me,” said that driver, who graduated from UC Berkeley and worked in a professional job for many years. … Retaliation by Uber against drivers for opting out of the arbitration clause or for pursuing First Amendment rights to criticize the company would be illegal, but numerous drivers commenting on social media seemed unaware of this. Read More ›
PG&E Looking To Raise Fee On Green Energy
by Lizzie Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
Early last month, the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. quietly filed an application to as much as double its exit fee for customers transferring to local green energy programs like CleanPowerSF. … It is ultimately up to the California Public Utilities Commission, which is scheduled to vote on the increase Thursday. If approved, it would take effect Jan. 1. … “It feels like an attack on local green energy programs,” [said Barbara Hale, assistant general manager for power for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission]. …“Did it knock us to the floor? No. Did we stagger? Yes. It’s up to the California PUC now.” Read More ›
Best Cell Phone Carriers: Small Providers Top The Big Four In New Consumer Reports Survey
by Mike Gikas, Consumer Reports
Many of the most satisfied respondents are those who use smaller cell phone providers such as Consumer Cellular, Cricket, Page Plus Cellular, Republic Wireless, and Ting Wireless. Exceptional scores for value helped propel these cellphone providers to the top for overall customer satisfaction. These companies offer lower costs and responsive, knowledgeable staff members. And some of them compensate subscribers who use less service than they’ve planned for. Read More ›
Consumer Federation Of California Releases 2015 Scorecard For State Lawmakers
The Consumer Federation of California (CFC) has released its 2015 Scorecard for State Legislators, which rates lawmakers on the votes they cast on key issues, including privacy, automobile safety, household toxics, truth in advertising, living wages, reform of the California Public Utilities Commission, and other consumer protection … Read More ›
Uber Drivers Get Big Boost In Lawsuit Against Company
by Carolyn Said, San Francisco Chronicle
U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ruled that even drivers who accepted mandatory arbitration in their Uber contract should be included in the [class-action suit], saying that clause was unenforceable. That means the majority of the 160,000 people who have ever driven for Uber in California are now part of the class. … If the drivers win, [their lawyer] has said she’ll next seek a nationwide class-action. … The Uber class-action is the furthest along of a bevy of lawsuits against companies such as Lyft, Postmates, Instacart, Caviar and Handy in which gig workers are seeking the protections and rights of employees. Read More ›
2015 In Review: Recap Of State Consumer Legislation
In the 2015 legislative session, Consumer Federation of California (CFC) advocated for a range of consumer and privacy rights, including restrictions on unfair lending practices, protections against elder abuse, workers’ rights and the minimum wage, and reform of the California Public Utilities Commission. CFC also helped to … Read More ›
Consumer Federation Of California Releases 2015 Scorecard For State Lawmakers
SACRAMENTO – The Consumer Federation of California (CFC) has released its 2015 Scorecard for State Legislators, which rates lawmakers on the votes they cast on key issues, including privacy, automobile safety, household toxics, truth in advertising, living wages, reform of the California Public Utilities Commission, and other … Read More ›
Edison Fined $16.7 Million For ‘Secret’ San Onofre Chats
by Teri Sforza, Orange County Register
“The CPUC could have thrown the book at Edison, with maximum penalties of $41.75 million, which would have sent a much stronger message than a paltry $16.74 million,” said Mindy Spatt, spokeswoman for The Utility Reform Network, a consumer group that has pulled out of the San Onofre settlement agreement. “Edison may be left with the impression that the CPUC doesn’t take their violations of the ex-parte rules all that seriously. This money will go to the state general fund, not customers, who would be best served by the commission reopening the case and returning more money to customers,” Spatt said. Read More ›
From Warsaw To SF, The Roots Of Edison’s Historic Fine
by Chuck McFadden, Capitol Weekly
[The CPUC] levied the unprecedented fine as punishment for failing to disclose a series of meetings and emails, and for providing misleading testimony pertaining to the costs of shutting down the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Southern California Edison owns 70 percent of the station. … Left hanging was the question of whether the commission would revisit a previously approved settlement deal that has ratepayers coughing up to 70 percent of the $4.7 billion cost of shutting down San Onofre. … The $16.7 million fine is the largest ever imposed on a utility for these specific violations. Read More ›
San Bruno Says PG&E Too Cozy With CPUC’s Mike Florio
by Jaxon Van Derbeken, San Francisco Chronicle
Newly released documents show that PG&E executives had meetings, e-mail exchanges and other communications with utilities commission member Mike Florio that were conducted without public notice. … Florio was a key player in several regulatory proceedings that grew out of the San Bruno [natural gas explosion]. … Florio also oversaw the process that determined how much PG&E customers would have to pay to bolster pipeline safety following the disaster. In December 2012, the commission voted to have customers cover more than half the $2.2 billion in pipeline safety upgrades. Read More ›
Judge: Regulator Should Release Brown E-Mails On Nuclear Shutdown
by Jaxon Van Derbeken, San Francisco Chronicle
The 65 e-mails that [Gov. Jerry Brown and CPUC officials] either sent or received date from 2013 and 2014. “It appears from the record that CPUC and officials from the governor’s office, including the governor himself, were involved in the discussions at the CPUC regarding the San Onofre” [nuclear plant shutdown, attorney Maria Severson told San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith]. “The interest of public disclosure as to who and what was behind the decision to make utility customers pay over $3.3 billion for the errors of Edison is of vital importance.” Read More ›
PG&E Could Face Steep Fines For Banned Exchanges With Regulators
by Rebecca Bowe, KQED
[One case concerned a CPUC] decision to award millions to PG&E as a reward for satisfying energy-efficiency goals, even though consumer advocates argued that the company hadn’t successfully hit the targets. … PG&E started to face major public scrutiny for its cozy ties to utility regulators after a trove of emails were released in court proceedings initiated by the city of San Bruno in the wake of the deadly 2010 pipeline explosion. … “We’ve said again and again that the rules are much too lax,” [said Mindy Spatt, a spokeswoman for The Utility Reform Network (TURN)]. “We and our allies will be pushing for the maximum penalty.” Read More ›
Is Your Thanksgiving Turkey On Drugs?
by Chris Morran, Consumerist
Only two of the large turkey companies — Tyson (Hillshire Farm), and Hain Pure Protein (Plainville Farms brand) — avoid the use of all antibiotics and ractopamine. All of the others at least use antibiotics for disease prevention, though biggies like Cargill and Foster Farms claim to not use the drugs for growth-promotion. … Foster Farms — the poultry giant behind a massive outbreak of salmonella in 2013 — announced this past summer that it will eventually eliminate all medically important antibiotics from its birds, but was criticized for not providing a more specific timeline to reach that goal. Read More ›