$7.7 Million Settlement: California Public Utilities Commission Approves Deal With Southern California Edison Over Improper Service Deposits, Shareholders to Pay $3.1 Million to Customers
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), based in San Francisco, California, on October 29 approved a $7.7 million settlement with Southern California Edison (SCE) over the utility's improper requests for service deposits from residential and small business customers. The settlement will be paid entirely with shareholder funds, not by customers.
Under the settlement, SCE will pay $3.1 million to residential customers who were billed a service deposit on or after April 1, 2020; contribute $3.9 million to SCE's Energy Assistance Fund, which helps customers struggling to pay their electricity bills; and pay a $700,000 penalty to the state's General Fund. The three parts total $7.7 million.
The settlement was negotiated by the CPUC's Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division (CPED). CPUC President John Reynolds said the outcome resolves serious compliance issues by SCE regarding customer protections put in place during the COVID-19 emergency, and that when utilities violate CPUC policy, especially involving unlawful billing, the commission works to ensure restitution reaches victims, with the more than $7.7 million in this case paid by SCE shareholders. Commissioner Christine Harada said every dollar matters to families struggling to keep the lights on, and that the agreement holds SCE accountable and delivers financial relief with shareholders bearing the cost.
The case traces back to deposit waivers ordered during the pandemic. On April 17, 2020, the CPUC issued Resolution M-4842, directing investor-owned utilities to implement customer protections under the emergency disaster relief program, including waiving deposits for residential and small business customers retroactively to March 4, 2020, the date Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in California in response to COVID-19. On June 11, 2020, the CPUC adopted Decision 20-06-003, prohibiting utilities from requiring any residential or small business customers to pay a deposit for the establishment of service. On December 17, 2020, it issued Resolution UEB-006, approving a citation program to enforce compliance with the disconnection rules adopted in the June 2020 decision.
On March 10, 2021, SCE reported to the CPUC that it had sent deposit requests to residential customers between June 11, 2020, and the end of February 2021. SCE said it was unable to update its system to prevent asking for deposits from residential and small business customers who signed up between April 17, 2020, and April 6, 2021; it used temporary manual processes and workarounds until a permanent solution was implemented on August 30, 2021, to prevent the billing and collection of service deposits. The settlement approved on October 29 resolves those violations.
The settlement takes the form of an Administrative Consent Order (ACO), one of the enforcement tools in the CPUC's Enforcement Policy established in 2020, allowing streamlined enforcement actions in lieu of issuing citations or seeking formal Orders Instituting Investigations.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：加州公用事业委员会（CPUC）总部所在的旧金山州办公大楼（Governor Edmund G. Pat Brown Building），Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。 / The San Francisco state office building (Governor Edmund G. Pat Brown Building) housing the California Public Utilities Commission headquarters. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
