Cpuc Commissioner Florio Avoids Consumer Advocates' Wrath

Consumer advocates who are calling for the scalp of California Public Utilities Commission President Mike Peevey for back-channel talks with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. appear to be a lot more forgiving when it comes to their own former colleague's conduct. At issue: PG&E's attempts to cajole state officials to pick its preferred judge to decide how much customers will have to pay toward the utility's post-San Bruno disaster pipeline improvements. In one e-mail, Florio told a PG&E executive that "I'll do what I can" to bounce an administrative law judge who wasn't to the utility's liking. [...] what's the difference between what Florio did and the role played by Peevey, whose chief of staff was in regular communication with PG&E about which judge would hear the rate case? "Commissioner Peevey's actions are part of a clear and long pattern that shows a cozy relationship with the utilities," Toney said. According to the sponsor, Yuba County GOP Assemblyman (and congressional candidate) Dan Logue, small-business owners "account for 99 percent of the state's employers."