California

CA State Senator Majority Leader Dean Florez, (D) Questions PG&E “Transparency” In Wake Of Tragedy

It seems that PG&E is in the news all to often the past year. From tragedy to problems for customers with new SMARTMETERS, I have not posted of any other specific industry/service provider anywhere close to the PG&E story, as it continues to unfold. The latest…

Senator blocks utility giant’s attempts to dodge questions on San Bruno blast

SACRAMENTO – Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez (D-Shafter) today charged that PG&E has failed in its pledge to be transparent and open in the wake of the San Bruno tragedy, avoiding questions posed by legislators and attempting to bog the Senate down with irrelevant documentation.  He reiterated a list of questions he would like answered.

Last month, Florez asked the utility to stop hiding behind claims that its hands were tied on releasing information due to the ongoing federal investigation.  Lawyers for the National Transportation and Safety Board told Florez that, contrary to PG&E chairman Peter Darbee’s claims, they had placed no restrictions on PG&E releasing the documents requested by the Legislature.

Shortly thereafter, a top PG&E executive on Smart Meters was caught lying about his identity to infiltrate a website devoted to sharing concerns about the digital meters.

Disturbed by the pattern of behavior, Florez wrote again on November 19th, 2010, to Darbee, restating the questions he would like answered, including the risk assessment for gas transmission lines statewide and when they were last inspected, a breakdown of how PG&E says it spent $100 million on improvements and whether or not the utility completed improvements for which it requested and received rate hikes.

Following his initial request, PG&E provided Florez’s office with boxes holding thousands of pages of documents, none of which addressed the questions asked, giving the impression the utility giant was attempting to bog the office down with paperwork rather than live up to its promise of transparency and openness in the wake of high-profile gaffes.

I will keep posting the latest developments on this issue as I learn of them.

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