Despite vows to become more transparent, the California Public Utilities Commission has systematically violated the public’s right to know about its handling of deadly disasters and corporate scandals, according to court records and First Amendment attorneys.
Applying century-old laws meant to fight corruption, the commission has effectively limited court enforcement of the state’s public records act. But a state appeals court on May 3 is hearing a lawsuit challenging that practice and could bring more transparency to the commission.
The CPUC has multiple barriers to prevent the public from learning about its handling of deadly disasters and corporate scandals, an investigation found.
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A lawsuit aimed at turning back a recently created California wildfire fund ran into some skepticism from a panel of three judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Monday.
“In my opinion, you haven’t shown us why this belongs in federal court and that’s your burden,” Judge Ryan Nelson told Michael Aguirre, a San Diego attorney who argued that significant portions of Assembly Bill 1054 should be tossed out.
Passed by the Legislature, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and approved by the California Public Utilities Commission in 2019, AB 1054 created a $21 billion insurance fund the state’s big three investor-owned utilities can access should their equipment ignite a wildfire.