Why ratepayers should not bailout San Onofre

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Here are the some of the facts behind the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), SDG&E and Southern California Edison (SCE) concerning the closure and dismantlement of the San Onofre nuclear facility and its proposal to bailout a whopping $3.3 billion out of ratepayers.

Ratepayers paid more than $2 billion for the four defective steam generators at San Onofre since 2011.

Here are the some of the facts behind the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), SDG&E and Southern California Edison (SCE) concerning the closure and dismantlement of the San Onofre nuclear facility and its proposal to bailout a whopping $3.3 billion out of ratepayers.

Ratepayers paid more than $2 billion for the four defective steam generators at San Onofre since 2011.

SCE charged ratepayers since 2006 without presenting costs to the CPUC and without holding the required reasonableness hearings review.

SCE shareholders profited more than $2.7 billion in dividends since that time.

San Onofre shut down its facilities 10 years earlier than predicted due to design flaws.

The LA Times reported that Edison International Chairman and Chief Executive Theodore Cravor pocketed $4.1 million in proceeds with stock options for more than 172,000 shares. He also received a raise in salary and compensation from $6.43 million to $6.6 million.

If the CPUC allows ratepayers to burden the cost of its own misjudgment so far, ratepayers will occur all of the costs of the mistakes made and all reviews will stop, allowing these utility giants to remain free of negligence and bad decisions. It will already cost Americans for the containment of the nuclear waste that remains hazardous for many thousand years to come. The installation of the four defective generators was not a result of ratepayer’s usage, but rather by the negligence of SCE executives. 

Now, SDG&E is proposing raising its rates in September to offset the closure of San Onofre. This money comes out of our pockets, not utility executives, shareholders or the profits made by these utility monopolies. 

They continuously pillage ratepayers with higher costs, expecting us to pay for their mistakes. We are constantly threatened by rolling blackouts. They continuously build, or try to build, peaker power plants in our backyards. They rape our land with large projects like the Sunrise Powerlink project and yet, California energy rates are the highest in the continental U.S.

We get a pocketful of promises as our wallets are emptied. It is time for us to stand up to these utility giants and make them take responsibility for their actions. Not pay for their mistakes and hidden profitable agendas. Journalists throughout Southern California have reported on the utilities refusal and reluctance in holding public meetings for ratepayers to voice their concerns. These meetings are scarce and planned on when and where to get the least amount of resistance, but now, with public pressure they have begun holding a handful of public meetings.

It is time to demand full disclosure and transparency of our utilities intentions, make the decision makers be made accountable for their actions, and hold public meetings for people to voice their concerns.

There has to be an end in putting profits and shareholders above the people that pay out of their pockets.