Demand that California Utility companies be regulated by the people instead of a hand picked commission

  • da: Laurel Kaskurs
  • destinatario: California Ratepayers and Environmentalists

In California, ratepayers pay more for electricity than any other state in the nation, yet one of our utility companies, Southern California Edison, wants to leave toxic nuclear waste from the operation of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station buried along our pristine coastline in thin substandard canisters that will, in all lileleyhood, leak in as few as just 7 years, leaving much of the surrounding area uninhabitable for centuries. The utility got permission to do this from a California Coastal Commission whose members are hand picked by the Governor. The California Coastal Commission decided the fate of this nuclear nightmare at a meeting in Long Beach, over 100 miles away from the communities afffected by their decision. Many concerned community members had no chance to make their objections known. Southern California wants to wash its hands of all liability and move on quickly to please its shareholders. A Community Engagement Panel was formed to explain this toxic dilemma to the people who live near the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, but Southern California Edison removed the only voice of dissent fromtheir panel and has refused to take the advice of experts who recommend thicker storage containers for the spent fuel. SDG&E, the minority owner of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, has been using very creative billing schemes to cover the extra costs of this nightmare and seems to make a practice of bilking ratepayers using an unfair tiered billing structure that rewards big companies who use the most electricity while charging 14 cents per kilowatt hour to homeowners who use the least. The California Public Utilities Commission is supposed to regulate prices on behalf of consumers, but this is another group of people hand selected by the Governor that is only accountable to the corporate shareholders of Southern California Edison , Pacific Gas & Electric, and San Diego Gas & Electric.
We should not have an unaccountable PUBLIC utilities commission representing the utility shareholders' PRIVATE interests. We the ratepayers demand that the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Coastal Commission be open to appointments by We the People or ratepayers of California and that elected members comprise at least 50 percent of all seats on these Commissions. We further demand that at least two seats on the Community Engagement Panel be selected by vote of the people who attend their meetings so that the voice of reason is not limited to just two minutes of public speaking time. The ratepayers and local citizen activists deserve to be heard and should have a voice that is equal to that of the corporate interests of our private utility companies. Diablo Canyon is another California nuclear plant that will be facing its own nuclear waste dilemma when it closes and we can not afford to allow corporate interests determine the fate of another beach community and turn it into a toxic waste dump.
As we turn towards a renewable energy future, we the people must stay engaged and have a working and equal relationship with our utility companies so that shareholder interests do not deter us from reaching our clean energy goals. If you agree, please sign this petition and share it with other like minded citizens who care about a clean and fair California Thank you.

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