News Scrapbook 1981-1982

EVENING TRIBUNE SEP 1 3 1982 Watchdog group's organizers offer to keep an eye on SDG&E SEP 1 7 1,n San D1e_go Gas &Electric Co. ought to be momtored by a watchdog agency representing the 10terests of consumers. say organizers of a group that has offered to do just that. · In public bearing that opened in the Fed ral Building downtown today, spokesmen for the University of San Diego w &hoot's Center for Public Interest Law and other community groups argued for official recognition of a group known as Utihty Consumers' Action Network. . Included in their presentation to the Public Utilities Commission, the ~roup's orgamzers sought access to SDG&E's monthly billing notices. Recogni- tion by the ulllil!es commission also would allow t e group to solicit funds and members, organizers said. Abill to create a similar statewide organization died 10 the recent session of the state Legislalure At new conference before today':; heanng by the PUC, assemblymen Wadd1e Dcddeh, D--Chula Vista, and Peter Chacon, ronado, pledged their Chacon said if such a group existed now, there would be no controversy regardtng a late-ordered audit of the utility. The udit was suspended last week by the PUC pending a probe of possible conflict of interest between SDG&E and the auditing firm. SDG&E ~as said it opposes opening its billing notices to private groups. At todays heanng a spokesman for Southern Caltforma Edison Co. said bis k to intervene in the cc1se m uooo t of DG&E's oo itio11. By Michael Richmond Tnbum.• EnvuonmeDI Wriltr support for the new group. firm would

SAN DIEGO UNION SEP 1 4 1982 SDG&E s~ 1 By CHARLES W. ROSS Financial wr~er, The SGn Dieoc, uniOn accused yesterday of routinely shut- ting off power to the homes of the unaware poor when they are only one-month behind in a utility bill, de- spite a state policy that allows for a four-month catch-up payment peri• San Diego Gas &Electric Co. was "And company credit employees tell delinquent customers there is no such policy when they specifically ask for a delayed payment plan," said Meredith Kronsel, an employee f a federally funded agency that elps the poor avoid energy shutoffs. nergy coordinator for he Metropolitan Area Ad.visory Commitlee, was testifying at a state Kronse\, o'd.

aid To Cut Powe 'l f!q Public Utilities Commission hearing here on whether there is a need for a new energy consumer-aid group in the city that would be financed by voluntary contributions solicited by

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from their rela!\ves, their neighbors "Most ar not told of the extended payment plan. They have to ask, and most don't know abo t 1t. My clients are not sophisticated enough to use Public Utililtes Commission proce- dures and are too frightened if they "They are easily intimidated. Even I have to be stubborn in dealing with them on behalf of clients. My phone calls go unanswered, and days and days go by with no solutions to the problems and people are going with- • The two witnesses were called by the University of Slln Diego's Center for Public Interest Law in an at- tempt to prove to the PUC that SDG&E is a umque utility with little regard for its cu tomers, and that the PUC itself is U"derfinanced and un- derstaffed to respond to consumer complaints. The center's objective is a PUC ruling to allow inserts in monthly SDG&E bills to raise funds to create the pro-con umer group and finance hirmg of experts to help customers with il1sputes with the utility. As did a parad of witnesses at yesterday's h r rg in the Federal Building most f whom had con- sumer-type gr1 vances against SDG&E -- Krons 1nd Valenzuela endorsed crealion of the proposed group, which would be known as UCAN (Utility Consumer Action Net- work). "By and large the company pro- vides good service and has good cus- tomer relations," said Ralph Meyer, SDG&E vice president, who attended the hearings. "But when you are dealing with a million customers, you are bound to make a few mis- takes." SDG&E does not plan to rebut tes- timony point by pj)int, relying in- stead on pleas to the PUC to either dismiss the petition o open tlie hear• in.2.s up to include all other utilities. and their friends are aware. out electricity."

inserts in SDG&E bills. Kronsel, who handles about 1,000 potential electricity and ga shutoff cases a month, was supported in her testimony by an attorney for the Legal Aid Society who said the utility company has a policy of demanding 50 percent of a delinquent bill imme- diately and the remainder in two "Their policy is to encourage im- mediate payment;' said attorney Jacqueline Valenzuela. ''They first tell customers to pay the bill or be shut off. They tell them to borrow weeks.

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SAN DIEGO UNION SEP 2 5 198(

Most witnesses yesterday attacked the company's customers relations department, made general state- ments that SDG&E did not handle complamts efficiently or court ous- ly, contended its employees wrre rude and arrogant and had a d cided lack of clarity in dealings with the public. Most also thought UCAN would be beneficial to society as a consumer assistance agency that would benefit both SDG&E and the PUC ultimately, restoring SDG&E credibility and helping the PUC with its absence of a consumer assistance department But two witnesses - an attorney and a businessman - attacked UCAN and opposed its ha · g ace to the bill mailing. Mtorney Scott Marcus said 'UCA fatally bi- ased" because of it adversary posi- · tion in opposition to everything SDG&E does and does not deserve the special status access to bills would authorize. Bonita businessman James May- field flatly called on the PUC to deny UCAN access to SDG&E bills, con- tending that to do so would open the door for "every other rump group in the county that wanted lo be includ- ed." Two witnesses in fact did tell the admmistrative law judge that their organizations wanted to be included in the mailings if the PUC agrees to open them to the public. An officer of the San Diego chapter of the Ameri- can Red Cross said it would be ap- propriate for the organization to put mailing inserts in SDG&E bills.

Lectures

Tuition Tax Credits will be discussed at 11 a. p.m. Oct. 4 at the University of San Diego's Ca1T11no all Student Lounge The program is part of the 1982 Clergy Dialogue Series and will present as speakers the Rev. George Snuth. pas- tor of Christ United Presbyterian Church and "8 -year member of the San Diego Unified Schools Board, and Father Dennis Clark, superintendant of schools for the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego. The cost of the luncheon and program is $6 and reser- vations may be made by calling the National Conference of Christians and Jews, 348 W. Market St, Suite 306, for reservations. . to 1

SAN DIEGO UNION r P 1 s

PUC Told Value Of Consumer Group EP 171 By CHARLE W. RO F'-1al Writer, The San Dit9t Union LOS ANGELFS Hosltle utility x ·utives, u p1clou turf-protec- , FINANCIAL NEWS the case to the commission. ''They show there is a public crisis of confi- dence in the ability of SDG&E man- agement to run a utility."

SAN DIEGO CLIPPING SERVICE READER SEP 2 3 1982 - "ls There Life After a Humanities Edm.:ation?", a 4m.,,unn p ,\i.?Uin1.; many a former Engl,sh m.1Jor Ill th IS comrurer-cra:ed age, will l.'C the torte of a rnlk h USD ,,s,,oc1,11e rrnfo<"-" James E,.m,, SMurda,, eptcmher 25 2 r m , an Piego Fc-Jeral, 1055 Tore< Pines Road, La Jolla. Free. 454-4 M .

Randall W. Childress, SDG&E at- torney, said the documents would have to be examined for relevance before being introduced as evidence and agreed to either produce them or argue the merits of a refusal to do so by Oct. 8. A decision by the PUC is several months away. Radosevich said Wisconsin's CUB in its two years had been able to save ratepayers an estimated $43 million in trimmings from rate increases suggested by the professional staffs of the Public Service Commission. CUB has nine employees, including an attorney and rate analysts who have officially intervened in 30 Wis- consin rate cases. Addressing a key point raised in the PUC hearings, she said there had never been a dispute with the utili- ties over the recruiting inserts placed in the monthly bills. The group, as is proposed here, pays the utility for insertion of the literature, and the utility has no control over the wording. CUB, Radosevich said, in addition to professionally intervening in rate cases, consistently monitors manage- ment and has been responsible for raising several complex issues be- fore the Wisconsin PSC, including low interest weatherization loans and studies of production standards and efficiency of utility employees.

tive late regulators and a wary ctb• zenry hould have no f ars about a propos d citizen-op rated utihties watchdog group to monitor San D1 go Ga & Electric Company, an official of the nation's first such group id yesterday. "We h d a terrible credibility problem at first," said Michele Ra- dosevich of Wt con m. "Now the pub- lic believes our explanat ons about utility rates and still doesn't believe statement by the ubhties, even when they are correct' Rad v1ch, who a a Wisconsm tat enator co-sponsored the bill that created that state Consumers Ut1hty Board (C :B) and ts currently the board's pubhc Information direc- tor, testified here ye terday at state Public Utilities Commission hearing considering the need for uch an agency in San Diego. "The utility compan es now ee us I as mon. ters and m re a the loyal opposition," sh testified. "Their fears have d1m1m bed They do not us as obstructlomsts. We don't prolong rate ca and aren ·1 litigation prone "We bave bullt a not-warm, but re- spectful relat1onsh1p nd the Public Service Commission - which had lots of trepidation at first about our competing with them - now praises us. We have somewhat of a symbiotic relation hip, we do ome things bet- ter than they do and they do some

things better that we do. "But, overall, the consumer has a voice before the commission that did not exist before The two-year-old CUB, born out of rapidly ri mg isconsm gas, oil a,1d electric rat , has 60,000 members statewide who pay yearly dues of from $3 to $100 on a voluntary basis. All were recruited by CUB literature placed m utility company billing en- velopes. Such a statewide orgamzation for California was rejected by the state Legislature m the current session after intensive !obbymg by utilities The proposa before the PUC here is limited to SDG&E and was put be- fore the comn11ss1on by the Universi- ty of San Diego Law School's Center for Pubhc Interest Law. The three days of hearings ended yesterday, with an order by the PUC's admmistrative law judge, Ali· son Colgan, that SDG&E produce three pubhc opinion survey reports that the Law Center wants to sub- stantiate a point that the San Diego public ha lost confidence in SDG&E's management capability and needs an agency to turn to for resolution of energy consumer prob- lems "They are the company's own evaluation of its negative public Image," 'aid Robert Fellmeth. law professor at USO who is presenting

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SAN DIEGO CLIPPING SERVICE

SENTINEL SEP 1 9 1~82

Art

"EDWARD S. CURTIS : The Indian Venus," an exhibition drawn from Edward Curtis' photogra- phic study of America's native civilizations, will be held at the University of San Diego's Founders Gallery from Tuesday to Oct. 21. Fifty gold-toned photographs comprise the exhi· bition selected from USD's complete collection, " North American Indians," the monumental work of Curtis, lr pioneer western photographer who lived from 1868-1952. Amassed by Curtis between 19<17 and 1920, the full study includes 1,500 prints and was limited to 500 editions. " The Indian Venus" depicts a seldom recognized theme of Curtis' work. According to Therese Whit- comb, art professor and Gallery director, "The exhibition is a synthesis of what, in Curtis' judg• ment, must have been the epitomy ofbeauty among native Americans at the end of the century." +++

SAN DIEGO

~LIPPING SERVICE -...: ~ EVENING TRIBUNE SEP 1 8 \982. lb '?

An eight-week course in Basic Catholic liefs will be offered at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Sept. 23 through Nov. 11.• at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church, 1945 Illion St. The instructor ~i~l be the_ Rev. Dr. Raymond Ryland, professor of religious studies at the University of San Diego.

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THE SAN DIEGO UNION

Sunday, Seplember 12, 1982

u 1 s Go I: 0 ganizing Customers To Take On SDG&E

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in government circles. It occurs be- cause an agency exposed to the views of the industries it regulates naturally tends to adopt rules which reflect the industries' point of view, and not because of any collusion or corruption. The five-member utilities commis- sion, well aware of growing anti-util- ity sentiment in the state as well as an apparent feeling in the Legisla- ture against groups such as UCAN, nevertheless has agreed to bold pub- lic bearings on the issues presented by the USO group. The SDG&E hearings begin here at 11 a.m. tomorrow in room 6Nl0 in the downtown federal building and continue Tuesday at the state office building in Los Angeles, beginning at 9:30a.m. San Diego Gas & Electric execu- tives are known to be lukewarm to the proposal that another consumer group be organized, but are very much opposed to being involved in its creation and the USD suggestion that (Continued on A-25, col.l)

school staff members. It is headed by attorney Bob Fellmeth and bas a staff of about O law and graduate students. Robert Simmons, also a professor, beads the UCAN effort. The Law Center contends there is an inherent confl ct in the role of the PUC, that despite its quasi-judicial role and legal mandate to make deci- sions in the overall public interest by insuring a supply of energy and a viable utility company, it cannot do so. By extension, the Law Center ob- viously believes that the PUC has abandoned its adversarial role. "Were it given that the commis- sion command unlimited funds, ex- pertise and ti~. ratepayers would remain unjustly represented," the center said in its brief. It also cited a comnussioner's previously stated be- lief that the PUC as a trier of fact, determiner of policy and concluder of law should have a broad spectrum of viewpomts on which to base its decisions. UCAN told the commission that its own inherent pro-industry bias is known as the "capture phenomenon"

chael Shames, law student on the staff of the Law Center's project to organize what would be known as the Utility Consumer Action Network (UCAN). "If the bill inserts on't br~ in any ;noney or members then the"e won't be any organization. If

that small business and residential utility ratepayers do not have the ex- pertise or resources to advocate their interests effectively or fully un• derstand the scope of these inter• ests," said the Law Center in briefs filed with the PUC.

and has "received national exposure as a corporate incompetent.'' Therefore, the professors reason, the Center for Public Interest Law at USD believes 1t should 'have the legal right to organize the 800,000 custom- ers of SDG&E, establish a board of directors to set policy and hold elec- tions to selec officers who would hire experts represent consumer interests before state agencies. The organization also seeks the legal nght to officially intervene and pres• ent testim y on behalf of ratepay- ers m any DG&E case before the commiss10n. To finance these activities, the Law Center also wants state permis- sion for the as-yet unborn consumer o~gamzatlon to put member-recruit- mg advertising and money-plea in- serts m the 00, b1 Is mailed each month by DG&E to its customers. T law pr Iessors contend that cur- rently, e_ven with SDG&E promotion- al inserts in the billing envelopes, the envelopes go to the Post Office only two-thirds full. "It's entirely voluntary," said Mi-

Wriler, TIie San Diego Union

EVENING TRIBUNE SEP 2 5 1982 A series of seminars called Women &Issues will be held at 7:30 a.m. Thurs- days, Sept. 30 through Dec. 2, in the DeSales Hall at the University of San Diego under auspices of USO, the San Diego County Ecumeni- cal Conference and the San Diego chapter of the Na- tional Conference of Chris- tians and Jews. The fee is $10 per session. ~---~

Desp1 its defeat ID the Legisla- ure, th concept of a state-approved voluntary consumer utility board with 'f1cien. money and clout to ke on e big electric and gas utili- ltes is still alive. l11.5tcad of a statewide association of energy users, however, the anti- utihty organization would be local, confirung itself to issues mvolving only n 01 oGas Electric Co. Contending lha the state Public Utiht1e Commission is under- ned, und rfunded and reflective of ulllity CO!fl!":inv philosophy, a up of law professors and students at the Umvers1ty of San Diego's Law Sch I wan o organize SDG&E c tomers mto a mass ve on-profit c rporahon to argue consumer ener- . ues before the commission. They contend in pleadings filed th th commission that SDG&E - unlike other California utilities - h "an app rently deserved reputa- tion as a m1Smanaged corporation"

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they do, tbe the donors themselves will elect officers, set up a budget and run the organization." Several bills in the Legislature that would have created a similar statewide organization known as Consumer Utility Board (CUB) died in the current session. One of the op- position argcments was that utility customers pay for utility company presentations before the PUC, pay for the commission itself through taxes, and would be paying again for creating the new consumer organiza- tion. "UCAN is premised on the belief

"Staffed by economists, energy counselors, writers, engineers, rate experts and attorneys, UCAN (would) present a counterbalancing force to both the advocacy and information dominance by well-financed some- times publicly financed San Diego Gas & Electric and larger business interests. The UCAN concept pro- motes active ratepayer participation in an aspect of government that se- verely affects the individual." The Center for Public Interest Law is a university-supported group established to monitor state regula- tory agencies and is directed by five

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