CPUC GETS AN EARFUL FROM IRATE RATEPAYERS AT EL CAJON HEARING ON SDG&E RATE HIKE PROPOSAL

“I urge the Commission to treat SDG&E’s proposal the same way SDG&E has treated East County in recent years: Ignore it. Reject it. Trash it.” – Supervisor Dianne Jacob

By Miriam Raftery
 

October 13, 2011 (El Cajon)—East County residents didn’t mince words in voicing nearly unanimous opposition to a 17% rate hike proposed by SDG&E over the next three years. At a hearing held by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) at El Cajon’s City Council Chamber last night, dozens of residents urged administrative law judge John Wong to recommend that the CPUC deny SDG&E’s proposed $1.5 billion hike--or take advice of two watchdog groups that recommendeda rate decrease after their audits found SG&E inflated its costs.
 

Supervisor Dianne Jacob, speaking first, got a rousing ovation from the crowd. She voiced outrage over the rate hike and accused SDG&E of poor fiscal policy, a pattern of deception, and exorbitant bonuses paid to executives after the company was found responsible for wildfires that scorched our region.  View Supervisor Jacob's letter to the CPUC.  

“SDG&E’s residential electric rates already exceed rates of the other utilities in the state,” she said, noting that area ratepayers area already paying 13% more than Southern California Edison and 15% more than PG&E customers. SDG&E rates have increased nearly four times faster than the consumer price index in the midst of a recession, she noted.
 

SDG&E has contended that one reason it needs to hike rates is to cover rising business costs. Among its rising costs of business are increased fire insurance costs after the 2007 wildfires in which the CPUC found three major firestorms were caused by SDG&E power lines. “If SDG&E can’t afford fire insurance, why did SDG&E managers and executives receive more than $607 million in bonus and incentive pay since 2008…AFTER the fires?” Jacob asked. “Please do not give a rate increase to a company that gave bonuses to the people responsible for the fire. Talk about getting burned!”
 

Further, the company has “barreled forward with economically foolish projects,” Jacob accused, citing $8 million spent on SDG&E’s new Energy Innovation Center as an example. “The region already has a center that serves this exact function,” said Jacob,. “It’s called the California Center for Sustainable Energy.”
 

Further, the Supervisor said, “SDG&E’s business ethics and safety record are so utterly abysmal that the company’s numbers can’t be trusted.” She cited massive fines paid by the utility including $2 million for false statements during the 2001 energy crisis, $14 million for interfering with the 2007 wildfire investigation, and $1 million for false statements about Sunrise Powerlink. Jacob also noted major safety violations involving SDG&E helicopters, as well as failures to report some serious incidents.

At last night’s 7 p.m. hearing, only one speaker, Santee businessman John Olsen, spoke in favor of the rate hike. He praised the utility and said he supports the increase “to make sure power will be reliable and safe, and that SDG&E employees will keep their jobs.”
 

An audience member shouted, “How much did SDG&E pay you?” Olsen smiled and walked out.

SDG&E did not make a presentation at last night’s hearing. The company’s arguments are presented here: http://www.sdge.com/regulatory/A10-12-005.shtml.

At an earlier 2 p.m. hearing, 26 people spoke against the rate hike and “a couple of Chamber people” spoke in favor, according to a CPUC spokeperson. Don Parent, SDG&E public affairs spokesman, is vice president of business/advocacy for the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce.  At prior hearings in San Diego, more supporters gave testimony, including community groups that have received funding from the utility giant. 
 

At last night’s hearing, however, dozens of residents and business owners turned out to voice strong opposition to the rate hike --and register other complaints about the utility company.
 

“I am a poverty-stricken pensioner on a fixed income,” Kathleen Evans Calderwood of City Heights testified, who used a walker to assist her as she stepped slowly to the podium. “Definitely I am at the mercy of these rate hikes.”
 

Malcolm Carmichael spoke on behalf of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), representing 3 million Californians and 30,000 San Diego members. “We are all in line with Supervisor Jacob,” he said, then added. “Where is the Tea Party? This is a tax increase. They should all be here.”
 

Milton Cyphert, co-founder of the East County Community Action Coalition representing 79,000 people opposed to SDG&E’s Sunrise Powerlink, said he has solar panels on his home and notes that by SDG&E’s own admission, San Diegans are using less power. “As we’re using less and less power, we should be paying less money. Instead of asking us for more money, SDG&E should be cutting back.”
 

Cyphert charged that if SDG&E wants to save $1.5 billion, it could do so now by stopping construction on Powerlink, which would save on construction and maintenance costs as well as legal bills to defend against multiple lawsuits. He called the rate hike “another bail out.”
 

A woman who lives in El Monte Valley asked Judge Wong to look behind him at a scenic mural painted on the wall depicting El Cajon (El Capitan) Mountain. “It means a lot to our community,” she said, breaking down into tears as she explained that Powerlink towers will be built across the face of the mountain. “I live on a ranch at the base of my mountain –it’s been in my family for 100 years.”

She described cutbacks she’s facing as a school teacher, having to “do more with less” while an SDG&E representative she met wore diamonds. The teacher was one of many to suggest that SDG&E needs to solve its budget issues by making cutbacks, not asking ratepayers to pay more.
 

Billie Jo Swanson of Lakeside said SDG&E is raising rates to pay for Sunrise Powerlink. She also objected to smart meters that the utility placed on her home and said she’s developed hearing problems including tinnitus (ringing in the ears).
 

Susan Brinchman, a La Mesa resident who has led the battle to oppose smart meters, objected to “pulsed microwave technology used in weaponry” being forced on consumers. “Thousands have become ill after smart meters were installed on their homes, some instantly,” she said, citing heart arrhythmias as an example. She urged to CPUC to expedite issuing an order to give SDG&E consumers the option to opt out of smart meters at their homes. She also spoke against the rate increase and time of use billing procedures.
 

Denis Traficante of Santa Ysabel, who also owns a business in Poway, was one of several homeowners with solar panels who complained that even though he’s producing more power than he uses, “now SG&E wants to charge me for hooking up to power lines to send more money out to the grid. SDG&E greed will prevent people from adding solar.”
 

He said SDG&E has exhibited “arrogance” in building Powerlink even though the U.S. Bureau of Land Management made clear that the utility is building at its own risk pending outcome of litigation. “I believe that we will win our case, and then we’ll be paying to take those towers down,” he said. He noted that SDG&E has also been negligent in three fires, including one that caused two deaths in Poway. “They are asking you for more money to cover their negligence,” he said. “It’s ridiculous.”

Donna Tisdale, chair of Boulevard Planning Group and a plaintiff in several lawsuits, read off a list of more than a dozen large-scale wind and solar projects built or slated to be built in her small community, where Powerlink towers are also being erected. She called for a strategy of smaller scale, point-of-use energy projects instead of massive energy projects that she believes are destroying rural lifestyles. Tisdale said residents in her area are fearful of having fire insurance costs on their homes raised or losing fire insurance entirely.
 

“I’ve witnessed blatant, bald-faced lies by SDG&E in documents and in public hearings,”Tisdale added, accusing the utility of a “dangerous distortion of truth” that she called “a form of corruption that should be punished, not rewarded.” She suggested prosecution under RICO racketeering laws may be in order. “We feel we’re being extorted and it must stop.” She also faulted SDG&E for “stealing” public and private lands through eminent domain. She further wants to see SDG&E shareholders, not ratepayers, foot the bill for its costs due to the wildfires.
 

Catherine Gorka of Lakeside said she hasn’t even been able to afford to water her plants in 100 degree heat and can’t afford higher rates. “Why can’t SDG&E tighten their belts?”

Laura Cyphert, an accountant and co-founder of the East County Community Action Coalition, thanked the CPUC for “coming to San Diego, the place with the highest utility rates in the country.” She said her solar panels have already saved her money after just a few years and said there’s something “significantly wrong” with SDG&E’s business model.
 

Also a Cedar Fire survivor who lost her home in the 2003 firestorm, Cyphert expressed fears that the Powerlink increases fire danger. “In an area with the highest risk of firestorms in the country, because of SDG&E we will pay even more.”
 

Jim Meyers testified that the rate hike is the highest in 100 years and called it a “one sided deal” at a time when he has yet to see a penny for producing more power with his solar panels than he uses.
 

Sheryll Batts, owner of the VIP Storage facility in El Cajon, complained that SDG&E raised her rates from commercial to residential after learning she’s been living on site for 12 years, also coming on her property without permission while she was on vacation to install a smart meter. She said her bill has nearly tripled from $200 to almost $600 a month.
 

A man testified that the recent blackout highlighted stability problems with the grid, particularly with all lines going through Yuma. “The public needs to be encouraged to put in solar,” he said, adding that distributed energy systems would increase stability for our region. He said there he sees a built-in conflict with a regulated public utility company owned by Sempra, “an unregulated corporation.” He concluded, “It makes sense to encourage people to put solar on their homes and then assess if we need more power.”
 

Dennis Richardson of Lakeside concluded, “I don’t understand how SDG&E can be so greedy when so many people are having such a hard time….The PUC needs to look out for the best interests of us, instead of the interests of global greed.”
 

CPUC Administrative Law Judge John Wong said he will draft a proposed decision for the CPUC commissioners after hearing from public testimony at a series of hearings around San Diego County this week.
 

The CPUC’s own Ratepayers Advisory group, as well as the Utility Consumers Action Network, have both conducted audits and concluded that SDG&E inflated costs and should lower, not increase, rates.

Those who missed the hearings but wish to submit written comments on the SDG&E proposed rate hikes may contact:  Public.Advisor.la@cpuc.ca.gov  or contact the CPUC at 320 West Fourth St., Suite 500, Los Angeles, CA 90013.