SDG&E, along with 3 other Utilities, have been accused by a consumer agency, affiliated with the California Public Utilities Commission, that they failed to meet California's energy-efficiency goals. Along with the accusation comes the belief that the Utilities companies should not receive any bonus awards for their failure to meet such goals.

The Division of Ratepayer Advocates, an independent consumer advocacy division within the PUC, said Tuesday that "SDG&E, Southern California Gas Co., Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. reached only 70 percent of the savings that the PUC prescribed for 2006-08, in contrast to the utilities’ claims that they achieved 160 percent of their goals."

The Division of Ratepayer Advocates suggests they should be fined or penalized for failing to meet goals encouraged by the State to address the energy concern in California.

The article goes on to say, "Mark Gaines, director of public programs at SDG&E, said the DRA picked a worst-case set of calculations drawn up by PUC staffers that would potentially subject the utility to an $11 million penalty, instead of using a different set of calculations in the PUC staff report that would result in a $28 million bonus for SDG&E."

UCAN's Executive Director, Michael Shames, stated, "this is a periodic battle between the utilities and the regulators. The issue of whether the utilities are hitting their goals is important because energy efficiency is the least expensive and most desirable way of achieving our energy needs. But it’s also one of the hardest to measure, which is why there is such a dramatic divide in the estimates.”

You can read the entire article.

If you have any questions or concerns you can call the Fraud Squad at 619-696-6966 or you can file an online complaint.