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OC Watchdog ~ Your tax dollars at work.

Employee bonuses are an issue in electric rate hike proposal

March 3rd, 2009, 3:00 am · 63 Comments · posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer

Should ratepayers foot the bill for bonuses paid to Southern California Edison’s executives and employees?

Those bonuses are slated to cost about $100 million, according to documents filed with California’s Public Utilities Commission.

The PUC was supposed to decide how much your electric rates will go up on Feb. 20, but postponed a decision on this close-to-the-bone issue until March 12. Seems Commissioner Timothy Alan Simon wanted more time to weigh all the claims and counterclaims.

So does Southern California Edison need an extra $1 billion or so over the next three years to make ends meet, or just a fraction of that - $438 million?

We’ve told you that SoCal Edison says it needs the extra money for capital investments (to replace and build new distribution facilities, and potential increased systems operations and maintenance); to meet regulatory requirements in green generation and electricity procurement; and to recruit, train, and retain its workforce in light of impending retirements.

But the folks at the PUC who are there to represent you - the Division of Ratepayer Advocates - quarrel with many of SoCal Edison’s numbers. “One of the big issues overall in this rate case is the incentives and bonuses for employees and managers and executives,” said Robert M. Pocta of the DRA.

There are several options before the commission:

  • SoCal Edison wants about $100 million for these bonuses.
  • An alternate plan would give it half of that, about $50 million.
  • The Ratepayer Advocate’s recommendation: Zero dollars.  

In the fall, the PUC ordered SoCal Edison to pay $146 million in penalty and refunds for falsifying “we’re happy oh so happy!” customer satisfaction and safety data, which helped it win ”performance rewards” paid for by those happy-oh-so-happy customers. That is why the Ratepayer Advocate is opposed to having consumers foot the bill for the bonuses, Pocta said.

It’s perfectly fine if SoCal Edison wants to give its employees bonuses, Pocta said - but that money should come from shareholders, not from customers.

SoCal Edison defends the bonus plan. “Just four-tenths of one percent of SCE’s revenue request would be used to fund executive compensation programs,” said spokesman Gil Alexander in an emailed statement. ”The bulk of the incentive part of SCE’s compensation program goes to employees such a meter readers, those who repair the distribution and transmission systems and others whose compensation is earned, in part, by the quality of their services.

The bonuses just bring compensation up to market averages, not above, Alexander said. Without them, the company would be competing for skilled labor with a below-average compensation program. “Such an approach is a recipe for reduced customer service and electric system reliability and safety,” Alexander wrote.

SoCal Edison also doesn’t think it’s fair to draw parallels between the bonuses on the table now, and the errors that resulted in the $146 million refund and penalty. The infractions happened many years ago, and the company took disciplinary action and made changes to its internal procedures as a result. “There is no connection between these two issues,” Alexander wrote.

Many of SoCal Edison’s 13 million customers will soon be paying an extra $2 (if you ask Edison) or $5 (if you ask the Ratepayer Advocate) each month for electricity. The more electricity people use, the more they’ll pay.

Critics argue that the increases will kick in as the nation plunges ever deeper into its darkest financial abyss since the Great Depression. SoCal Edison said it is mindful of the timing, and that rates are structured to minimize the impact on the most vulnerable.

Even if the highest funding proposal before the commission is adopted, the increase in average rates would be about 2 percent, Alexander said - the smallest increase among California’s three regulated utilities this year. SoCal Edison customers would have the lowest average rate - 16 percent lower than San Diego Gas & Electric’s, and 8 percent lower than Pacific Gas & Electric’s, Alexander said.

“SCE’s average monthly residential bill would increase about $2 per month, and 65 percent of SCE’s residential customers would see little or no increase because the utility’s rate structure shelters those least able to pay.”

Rather than seeing the pending hikes as a drain on consumers in dire economic times, Edison sees it as an investment in Southern California, pouring billions into infrastructure projects that will rev up its economic engine.

What do you think? Let regulators at the PUC know by emailing public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov.

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Posted in: MoneyUtilities
 
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 63 Comments

  • ah says:

    its a damn monopoly it sucks

  • oldpoet says:

    Not a fan of SCE.

  • Renee says:

    HEY! I’m not get a bonus or a merit increase this year!!!!! Geesus.

  • snarf says:

    Reminds me of a recent conversation I had at the post office with a clerk. I commented on how rates had increased since this time last spring….the clerk advised me that I could “thank the price of gasoline” for that. I said, wasn’t gas $4 a gallon this time last year?…she stumbled, then said, cost of living increases for employees…are they having a difficult time with employee retention at the USPS? What a joke.

  • kingofchimps says:

    .
    The continued fleecing of America.
    .
    Just be a good sheep and pay your bills/taxes/fees.

    .

  • evennow says:

    Bonuses? I think not. This is irresponsible and insulting and would be in any economy. Edison telephone employees are rude and arrogant. Maybe they need to take the $ they have to spend on bonuses and spend it on telephone etiquette and customer service skill development. When my bill jalmost doubled last summer and I’m NOT a heavy user of air conditioning - I called i was almost told to “stop whining’ that this wasn’t “high” by their standards and I should be glad I had electricity. A fixed income, an almost double jump and I should stop whining? NO we should not foot the bill for their bonuses. If they can afford bonuses, they do not need any rate increases AND they should get fined heavily for lying on their satisfaction survey reports. They sure didn’t reflect my satisafaction!

  • mardo says:

    If you dont like it make your own electricity or dont use it.

  • toxicnut says:

    I am so glad to be just a common man in America making sure that executives of our big comapnies get nice fat bonuses, it is so comforting to know that CEO’s and the like get taken care of while we ask them for more time to pay the bills. I just love their “let them eat cake” mentality.

  • ocobserver says:

    What a bunch of crap. These people consider themselves in a protective bubble. Completely removed from economic reality since all they need to do is increase electric rates when the pot starts running short on money. How many edison employees have been laid off? $100 million in BONUSES in a near economic depression? Dirty rotten scoundrels. Time for a revolt!

  • Oh my! says:

    I want a rate REDUCTION!!!

  • toxicnut says:

    No No ocobserver…we need to sit back and take it because that is the way capitolism works, if we tax those big bonuses they call it socialism or something like that. Just take it like the servants to big business that we are and like it, its the American way.

  • Jim says:

    We are in a depression with major deflation going on and huge job losses and these idiots want a pay raise?

    IT’S TIME FOR A REVOLUTION AND TO TAKE IT TO THE STREETS!

    I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!

  • never ending fight for freedom says:

    Jim;
    good luck w/ that.

  • Paul says:

    I am with Jim on this. Sorry but its time for people to stand up and go after these greedy folks, congress included. These are the folks who buck the trend and make it worse for everyone else. The economy is in the tank. So what do they do? Give themselves raises and shaft everyone else. Good old Madoff wants to keep his $62million dollar pad after he stole what? $50 billion? I think not, sorry Madoff, here is your boxes for you and your family, enjoy the street. If you family doesn’t like it, they can take it out on you for being a scumbag criminal.

  • wwwhat says:

    I just hate the fact that we are stuck with SCE. I hate there service and if you try to call good luck. They have the worst customer service, and could care less. I already have the energy saving bulbs and have cut back on my electricity use as much as possible, unless I want to live by candle light. What else can I do? The rest of us have already made scarafices and many have already lost there jobs, its time that these large companies take a step to show there support to there customers and the big wigs take pay cuts.

  • mack says:

    it’s funny how this writer talks about other people’s bonuses and not the one he’s getting. people complain about rates but, when your lights go out because we don’t invest in infrastructure then people complain again. I just don’t get it. this finanical crisis is not the electric company’s fault but, the people who decided to leverage themselves to death and the banks that allowed it to happen. people should not loose sight of that. i’m sure the mortgage brokers are sitting on a ton of money they got for people that over extended their credit and chose to use their home as a bank instead of a home. everything in california is going up from sales taxes to income taxes and you can blame lost revenue property taxes for that because people were buying stuff they could not afford. whine if you want but, we put ourselves there and can’t even take responsibility for it. to that’s a big joke. people are just looking for someone else to blame instead of looking at what they did to themselves. stop using credit to inflate your lifestyle. we are learning a painful lesson and shaby articles irrelevent to the finanical crisis do nothing to help the people who are struggling and need help.

    you should spend your time writing about what we can do as a people to recover.

  • bw says:

    One of the benefits of living in Anaheim is you don’t have to deal with Edison and the rates are cheap.

  • jeffcali says:

    un f’n believable…at least somebody is getting more money for not doing anything. it’s amazing that institutions that are supported by the general public always get to raise rates and get raises regardless of how the current economic situation is.

    f these crooks and all their children…they should all die of aids and cancer and die horrible painful deaths for this crap they pull off day after day.

    now they are going to raise rates to recoup the costs of raises and bonuses…why the f is happening to this country???

  • johnb says:

    I hope alot of people show up for the meeting and let them know what the public thinks. NO PAY RAISE!!!

  • caseclosed says:

    Southern California Edison need an extra $1.5 billion or so over the next three years to make ends meet? Don’t worry Obama will include them in his next stimulus bill. You wanted change and big business wanted money. Has the democrats made you happy yet???

  • wwwhat says:

    ok so I suggest that with the economy and the fact that people are losing there jobs that the higher exes should take pay cuts, and my post gets deleted. What is up with that!

  • mitchy says:

    I can’t believe the they want to make US pay for their employee’s increased pay!? Knowing, firsthand, that many, many other public and private agencies have taken drastic actions to reduce their budgets by laying off and implementing furloughs…who do they think they are?

  • jeezus says:

    Hey, remember when everyone jumped on the deregulation bandwagon? Remember? Deregulation of utlities (and any industry for that matter) was supposed to BENEFIT the consumer? What a bunch of sheep you all were, and now you’re paying the price.

  • Beach Boy of OC says:

    I can not believe that a utility is still pulling this garbage. When I was working for the Bell System (phone Company) years ago we would always increase our employees pay and add in bonuses, then turn around and ask the PUC for a rate increase. It was always granted regardless of the fact that at no time did we attempt to reduce costs. It seems unbelievable for them to ask for $100 Milliion unless they can prove that the costs of service have been trimmed to reasonable amounts.

  • Elizabeth says:

    If you don’t like Edison, move out of their territory.. Edison can’t lay people off because you idiots keep calling in to complain about your bill (or don’t pay your bill so they have to send a guy out to turn you off). Electricity is a priviledge, not a right. No one is forcing you to do business with them.

  • me says:

    toxicnut,
    Totally. Totally!!

  • me says:

    Let your fingers do the complaining! The writer has provided the outlet: public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov

    I know I’ll be spending the next few minutes giving my opinion of the proposed “customer-funded bonuses”!!

  • jgittels says:

    I just got a 10% pay cut–at least I get to keep my job!!! Can I tell Edison that I can only afford to pay 90% of my electric bill? I don’t think so.

    I hope the PUC will not continue to be a rubber stamp for the utilities. Someone has to draw the line somewhere. When Nixon and Ford dealt with runaway inflation, they froze wages and prices. Anybody remember the “Whip Inflation Now” (WIN) campaign?

  • SpenceOC says:

    What this has proven is that they don’t need a rate hike! Pull the rate hike and with it their bonus’. If they don’t like it they can find work someplace else.

  • toxicnut says:

    mack…you don’t get it either do you? The world is going down in a fireball and you find it ok that executives give themselves a nice fat bonus while passing the cost off to the thousands getting laid off from their jobs on a daily basis? Yes I do understand that many overspent, that has nothing to do with raising electrical rates to pay for a raise now dose it.

  • Trey says:

    How many of you complaining have actually made the effort to make your homes as energy efficient as possible? Not too many is my guess based on what I’ve seen out here in the OC. Like others have said, if you don’t like it, move. Whining isn’t going to do a darn thing, it’s just annoying to others.

  • FreeFreeFree says:

    Wow talk about throwing meat to the wolves. The banks, politicians, realtors, and greedy CEOs caused this financial mess and now every business that makes money is villified by the losers among the masses.

    Attacking any business that makes money makes it that much more difficult to go after the truly corrupt. But people don’t see that. Hate Bernie Madoff, Angelo Mozillo, Dick Fuld, Christopher Dodd, Barney Frank, The Swiss banks, Jimmy Cain? Then that’s it let’s go after the electric company for killing my 401k, home price, and lost job. Most if not all the people who readabd post messages here probably have no clue who the crooks are who caused this current crisis yet they can probably bitch and moan about paying for electricity and gas. I’m sure the crooks are pleased that people’s misplaced anger isn’t directed at them. Next we can go after other legitimate businesses for doing their jobs while we are all robbed blind by the real crooks. No wonder they get away with their scams. People are dumb and don’t know it.

  • space cowboy says:

    come on now! if you could get a raise or a bonus you would take it. Don’t blame everyone else for your decission to work in a job with no future.

  • CC says:

    My electricity goes off 4-5 times a year (Costa Mesa). Bonuses? What a joke.

  • Carol says:

    This just makes me SICK!!!!!! Why should we pay for this!!!! SCE is raping the public!!! While we struggle to pay bills…..GLUTINS!!!!

  • John Doe says:

    I agree with Mack, everyone wants clean energy and no one wants to pay for it, do you think that the powerlines are free, no someone has to pay for them, and install them, as the story said most of the 100 million goes to ALL the employees so if you don’t like it work for SCE and get some of it.

    My advice to all is to find out how the power companies make money and if it is so great to be a power company then why do they need permission to do anything.

    Power companies only charge for what you use, so if your bill is high only you are to blame.

  • Jaime says:

    Just wait until John and Ken (KFI640) hear about this.

    It will be “off with their heads”, or heads on a stick, or in this case on an electrical pole. lol

  • SCE bonuses says:

    The bonuses are paid strictly on company performance. The PUC determines what that performance should be. This was defined by the PUC ten years ago.
    Also, Edison employees are often required to do extra work for no pay. When they will be installing the new steam generators at San Onofre, every employee at the plant will be required to participate.
    Many of the tasks require 12-hour 6-day schedules, and even more are swing shift or graveyard shift. Many with desk jobs will be required to be exposed to radiological areas, all without extra pay.
    We’re all grateful to have jobs, but we also have extra demands put on us.
    On the plus side, Edison employees spending that bonus will boost the economy in California.

  • RC says:

    Invest in solar energy. Yeah it cost a lot of money, but between the kick backs and the $7 a month electric bill in the summer with the A/C running day and night ist’s worth it.
    Stick it to Edison and go solar.

  • Living Life Responsibly says:

    Let us first realize the electricity is a privilege not a right. You are only charged for the electricity you use. The more you use, the more you pay, it is as simple as that. Just like any major corporation, you pay your employees a salary. SCE is not responsible for the economic meltdown, and actually boost the economy by providing jobs in an unstable economy. Edison communicates regularly with its consumers on how to save money by saving energy. They also collaborate with the community in every way possible to assist consumers in saving money, including a supplier program to boost small business incomes. Edison is not the bad guy here. Consumer greed is the bad guy. Living beyond your means, is the bad guy. Not conserving energy is the bad guy. Refinancing your new home to buy a new car, and landscape your property is the bad guy. Not SCE, Not the SCE employees and certainly not the CPUC.

  • Jed says:

    Let’s see some sacrifice by everybody. Giving up your bonus for a couple of years beats losing your job, which is what has happened to many.

  • Spelling says:

    Carol, you’re accusing SCE of being wheat flour? :-)

  • John S. says:

    If the rates are higher, does that mean if you have a solar system and your meter runs backwards they give you more credit?
    Out of the $146 million fine the CPUC got, how much did we get of it? Zero.
    If the CPUC and other “watchdogs” feels so sorry for us why wasn’t the fine distributed amongst the ratepayers ?

  • Send EMAIL to PUC says:

    Greetings PUC members:

    Please VOTE NO to Southern California Edison’s proposal for rate increases (so they can pay their executives and employees raises).

    The California Taxpayer should NOT have to pay for this. Edison can pay the $100 million themselves.

    Again, I urge you to Vote NO.

    Thank you for your time.

    Respectfully,

    *sign your name

  • BillPayer says:

    My use of electricity is low and my bill has stayed the same give or take $10. Is it THAT big of a deal? Electricity is the cheapest of all my bills and you pay only for what you use. That’s like complaining about a $200 cell phone bill due to your own excessive ringtone downloads or a cable bill the 500 channels on your three plasma TVs. People want everything for free.

    And, to answer John S’s question: yes, you get money back if you generate more electricity than you use –> http://www.sce.com/customergeneration/customer-generation.htm

  • Spungemonkey says:

    That is a bunch of bul?sh?t … SCE is full of cr?p just like Chase, AIG, Citigroup, …. u get the point

  • ReddikW says:

    Edison electrical energy costs in 2009 dollars are much cheaper than what they were 50 years ago. You know why? Because Edison worked to make the production and transmission of electricity more efficient. It’s not their fault that all you cry babies are energy hogs.

  • Mr. Capital says:

    Let’s face it. We live in the most powerful country in the world, why, because we hate communism. Edison is a private own company, and as any other business, Edison is here to make money. I’ll applaud those companies in American that are doing well and pass the wealth to their employees to keep America strong.

  • BS says:

    Obama’s going to tax the rich! Guess what people, their bonuses will go up to off-set the taxes that genius (Obama) is going to implement!

  • getoverit says:

    Your ‘bonus’ is having a job, you bloodsuckers.

  • Tyrone says:

    Sounds like Obama is at work there too. What we need are more taxes and less incentive to work hard. Private enterprise and hard work didn’t make the US great, it was single mothers on welfare who are pregnant with their fourth child.

  • Tyrone says:

    Mr. Capital - you’re wrong. Edison is a monopoly. Our rates would be lower if free market competition were allowed to operate.

  • James Nguyen says:

    Someday, we might have to bail out the company with our tax money again, so cut their bonus now or we will have to pay at that time, and
    the execs are gone with big pocket

  • Ralph Mission Viejo says:

    the real losers here are those whom have no choice for their power source. For those whom do, they are the reason that SCE increase their rates. How so. Well with new Go Green approach, more and more customers are installing solar panels, utlizing cooper paneling for heat distribution, replacing high consumable appliances with more efficient ones, electing to use windmils, and are changing their overall habits.

    However, apartment communities, mobile home parks, and others alike where change is too costly, the tenants are footed the large bills, to make up for the losses. Imagine if you could rent a green efficient home or even own one, where you are your own regulator. I sure hope that these changes occur, and chokes the vitality out of these businesses. I can foresee all of these business being taken and run by our givt if the abuse of tax payer and consumer money is not stopped.

  • WOW!? says:

    change their name to So. Cal AIG

  • Steevo says:

    You guys totally missed the point. The issue here is not only that they want to pay out bonuses to employees but that they want a rate increase. The bonuses are a side issue.

    Southern California Edison has the highest rates by far of any regulated utility. They are charging more than 28 cents/KWH. Check your Edison bill!

    This is all a byproduct of that failed deregulation scheme of some years ago, and it is now past time to unwind that damage.

    Other nearby utilities that are similarly situated, like in Arizona and even the city of Anaheim have dramatically lower electric rates, about 10 cents/KWH.

    You should be upset that Edison is charging us three times that much, that’s the real problem.

    They and the lunatics in the legislature actually expect us to sit here in the burning hot desert and conserve electricity, avoid running the AC (which I do, reluctantly) to save money, whereas if they went completely out of business we could easily get the electricity we need for 2/3 less.

    Edison is the problem and the CPUC is the problem.

    Write a letter to CPUC at the email above, keep the letter civil and oppose the rate increase as unwarranted, and avoid side issues. Forget the employee bonuses, if we can get the CPUC to lower their rates and start treating them like a regulated utility and get Edison to start acting like one we will be much better off. Those bonuses will be paid if at all by Edison and their shareholders. We’re only supposed to have to pay for the electricity.

    Regulated utilities served a valuable purpose. We needed someone to put in the wires, poles and infrastructure to support our cities.

    We hired Edison to do the electricity part. In exchange for a guaranteed ROI, they were protected from competition for the last 100 years. They are still protected, witness there is no practical other way to get electricity.

    Believe me, if there was a way to get 15 more sets of wires on the pole out back there would be competing electric companies knocking on our doors offering us much lower rates if we wanted to hook up to their wires instead. But we can’t get that, so we’re stuck with Edison and Edison’s stuck with us.

    In exchange they are supposed to charge us very low rates and are supposed to be regulated as to what they can charge. All that went out the window years ago with the failed deregulation scheme. Time to unwind that.

    Here is the letter I just sent CPUC:

    Southern California Edison has filed a rate case with CPUC.

    Southern California Edison is charging us the highest rates in the country on our electric power, as a byproduct of the failed deregulation scheme of past years.

    As such they are charging me up to 28 Cents/KWH, sometimes even more, which is several times the average rates charged by similarly situated utilities, even the adjacent City of Anaheim public utility which has the very same energy sources and costs.

    The cost of fuel and crude oil has not been as low as it is today in years, the CPUC should lower the Southern California Edison rates, not raise them.

    Oil closed at $34 a barrel yesterday, and Edison should contract for the oil and natural gas it needs for as long as possible at the current low rates, and should be denied any rate increase by CPUC. Edison also enjoys extremely low costs to operate the SONGS nuclear facility and should have consequently low costs of operation and low rates.

    Again, CPUC should immediately lower the Southern California Edison rates to 10 cents per KWH or less, and force the company to economize.

    This is a typical rate charged by regulated electric utilities in nearby states with similar costs and situation.

    The current Edison rates are not justifiable. They are much too high and they were raised to these ridiculous levels because of that failed deregulation scheme and it is now time for Edison to return to acting like a regulated utility.

  • Joe Holtzman says:

    Folks:

    In the Wednesday March 4, 2009 edition of the Orange County Register Teri Sforza outlines more outrageous actions/requests by Southern California Edison. This includes a big rate increase and bonus money for their executives and employees.

    Mind you Southern California Edison has been recently fined by the California Public Utilities Commission for multiple violations related to their falsification actions.

    See: http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2009/03/03/executive-bonuses-are-an-issue-in-electric-rate-hike-proposal/11741/

    Fundamentally what the article states is that Southern California Edison wants a $1 Billion Dollar rate increase in their rates.

    This Southern California Edison huge rate increase comes when:

    1. Southern California Edison cost for oil and natural gas ( feeder stocks) have had a significant decrease in costs.
    2. Southern California Edison been caught:
    * Pumped big money into the Mission Viejo council elections to defeat a critique of Southern California Edison.
    * Southern California Edison failed to comply with their stated reduction of EMF ( see 2004 Mitigated Negative Declaration–Viejo System Project. (http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/Environment/info/aspen/viejosystem/mnd/text/0_frontmatter.pdft) on the Viejo System Project in Mission Viejo. ( See Sage Report commissioned by the City of Mission Viejo.)
    * Failed to post warning signs in high use public parks in Mission Viejo concerning the health hazards of EMF emissions from their power lines.
    * Falsifying Customer Satisfaction Surveys to get incentive bonuses. (See the above noted OC Register article.)
    * Falsifying Health and Safety Records. (See the above noted OC Register article.)
    * Been placed on the watch list by The Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission over multiple deficiencies at the Southern California San Onofre Nuclear Generation Facility.
    * Found to have permitted Tritium from their San Onfre facility to pollute the nearby beach and Pacific Ocean.
    *

    3. This also comes when California has a 10% plus unemployment rate and business are fleeing California due to the uncompetitive nature of doing business in California. ( Thus Edison’s statement about being competitive in the job market is hog wash)

    I would highly suggest you write the California Public Utilities Commission public adviser and let them know that you are against any rewards, or increases for Southern California Edison. The Public Advisers e- mail address is: Public.Advisor@cpuc.ca.gov

    Joe Holtzman

    P.S. Go Solar to beat Edison

  • John G. says:

    Competing for skilled labor? WHo exactly do they think they’ll be competing against during a time when over 500,000 people are losing their jobs every month.

    SCE = Scr3w California Edison

  • Tustin Guy says:

    So Edison wants ratepayers to pay an extra $100 million for employee bonuses?

    Has Edison management been reading the papers lately? They are is afraid that their employees will jump ship if they don’t get the extra cash? Huh? How many thousands of excellent, unemployed people would apply in a New York moment and probably appreciate their jobs more?

    On the other hand, is Edison serious or is this just another way to plunder more undeserved money from consumers? Isn’t this the same company that falsified customer records to get millions of extra dollars for “superior customer service?” Fortunately consumer groups (including the great consumer group TURN.org) fought that lie.

    Thanks to the Register for letting us know about this scam and also that we can contact the PUC (at public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov) to let them know we don’t agree with Edison pigging out at the public trough again.

    Please email the PUC and let them know. Don’t just complain on this page. People can make a difference when we hit them like a tidal wave.

  • John Doe says:

    I have been reading the posts and some still think taxpayer money is paying for the increases, no it is the ratepayer.

    So lets do the numbers 100 million over THREE years for 15,000 employees for a total bonus AND pay increase of 2,222 per year. That is nothing, I know some companies are cutting back and I am sure Edison is as well.

    As for Rates: the big three Edison, LADWP, and San Diego are regulated and have to do all these programs; like buy your old frig, do AC summer discounts, etc. Municipal power companies like Anaheim, Colton, Riverside, etc do not have to meet the same guidelines so their costs of doing business are much lower.

    The article above is one person’s side, and barely any information.

    In addition, remember how everyone VOTED to increase the amount of renewable energy - YOU have to pay for it too. Edison, DWP, and San Diego are not the government. They are here to make money, but the difference is that the CPUC tells them how much they can make.

    Also, yes the oil prices have come down, but do you really think power companies go the local gas station when they need oil, they have to buy it far in advance and then receive shipments, most had to get into contracts at high rates so their costs are still high.

    So do not judge to quick, and remember read more than one point of view before you say, “The taxpayer shouldn’t pay this”

  • dealemslim says:

    that so called stimulus bill was supposed to be for infrastructure. exactly the same thing sce is claiming part of this increase is for. so what is it? nobody else can smell what sce is cooking? we, as ratepayers already bailed out sce a few years ago. just smile when they bend us over their desks’ and get used to it. this is small potato’s compared to what’s coming from the feds increase in energy costs nationwide.

  • shutupalready says:

    blah, blah, blah….”SCE is raping the public”…..”i get the worst customer service when i call”….”i already pay too much for electricity”….

    when the hell are people going to quit blaming everyone else for their consumption issues?? what do you expect when you live in a huge home in an area that gets hot?? you’ll have to cool it in the summer. no surprise, dummies! as consumers you have the option to make yourself less energy dependent, yet all anyone seems to do is sit on their electrically-powered computers in their air conditioned homes that are WAYYYYY too big for their needs, and complain about the company they have to write out a huge check to every month. kinda ridiculous, right??! quit pointing your fingers and make educated choices about what you consume, and what you don’t. that’s the only way to change things. goods and services are not going to get any cheaper.

    and SCE, as a company, is wonderful to their employees. San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is a major source of revenue for our area. it employs thousands of people, pays them well enough that they can turn around and put money back into our local economy…buying homes, keeping their current homes, buying vehicles, and offers them benefits to keep them and their families self-sufficient. they should be applauded for this.

    they also happen to be hiring….something that most California companies aren’t offering right now. maybe all of you should apply.

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