III. PG&E FAILED TO COMPLY WITH PUBLIC UTILITES CODE SECTION 451
A. Public Utilities Code Section 451
All services provided by a utility to its ratepayers must be just and reasonable. Public Utilities Code Section 451 states:
All charges demanded or received by any public utility, or by any two or more public utilities, for any product or commodity furnished or to be furnished or any service rendered or to be rendered shall be just and reasonable. Every unjust or unreasonable charge demanded or received for such product or commodity or service is unlawful. (Emphasis added.)
Public utilities have a duty to provide just and reasonable service which includes the duty to provide complete and truthful information to their customers. By lying to and infiltrating anti-smart meter consumer groups, Mr. Devereaux, acting on behalf of PG&E, violated PG&E's obligation to provide just and reasonable service to its customers.
CPSD's Report describes Mr. Devereaux's attempts to join, monitor, and influence four online anti-smart meter consumer groups, Stopsmartmeters.org, Onthelevelblog.com, SmartWarriorMarin Google Group, and the EMF Safety Coalition Google group.3 The CPSD Report states that Mr. Devereaux used a false name and a non-PG&E email address in order to join these organizations without identifying himself as an employee of PG&E.4 The CPSD Report details five occasions when Mr. Devereaux used his false identity to monitor and send inappropriate messages to the consumer groups.5 CPSD's Report also references PG&E's own investigation into the matter and specifically PG&E's conclusion that Mr. Devereaux was involved in intelligence gathering, using a false identity, and that he had made inappropriate comments to consumer groups.6
B. Public Utilities Code Section 2109
Public Utilities Code Section 2109 states:
[. . . ] the act, omission, or failure of any officer, agent, or employee of any public utility, acting within the scope of his official duties or employment, shall in every case be the act, omission, or failure of such public utility.
Mr. Devereaux's actions toward anti-smart meter groups were within the scope of his employment. Mr. Devereaux's communications with anti-smart meter groups were directly related to Mr. Devereaux's role as the public face of PG&E's SmartMeter Program. Further, CPSD's Report alleges that PG&E's senior management was aware of Mr. Devereaux's activities.7 The Report references six occasions when Mr. Devereaux forwarded emails he had collected from the online anti-smart meter consumer groups using his false identity.8 Between September and November 2010 Mr. Devereaux forwarded those emails to his boss and other senior managers at PG&E including a member of the legal department.9
PG&E's senior management's failure to act leads us to believe that they either condoned or approved of Mr. Devereaux's behavior. When PG&E management finally did take action, it was only after Mr. Devereaux's deceitful acts were exposed by
the media. Only after the moderator of a discussion group discovered Mr. Devereaux's
deceit and only after the entire matter was made known to the public, did PG&E take actions to stop Mr. Devereaux's activities.
Therefore, pursuant to PU Code Section 2109, Mr. Devereaux's actions are considered the actions of PG&E.
C. Conclusion
PG&E lost the public's trust when Mr. Devereaux was caught using a false identity to join the EMF Safety Network. CPSD believes that PG&E, based on Mr. Devereaux's actions and the failure of senior management to detect and stop his behavior, failed to provide just and reasonable service to its customers and as such violated PU Code Section 451.
The allegations in CPSD's Report provide a sufficient record to initiate this investigation into the actions of PG&E and its employees. Based on CPSD's investigation and Report, it appears that PG&E failed to provide just and reasonable service as required by PU Code Section 451. CPSD alleges that PG&E engaged in deceitful conduct towards its customers in anti-smart meter groups when Mr. Devereaux infiltrated these groups and lied to them about his identity. We consider truthful conduct toward customers to be an essential element of just and reasonable service.
This proceeding shall seek to:
(1) determine whether PG&E violated any provision of the PU Code, general orders, other rules, or requirements as a result of the improper activities of William Devereaux or any other PG&E representative regarding anti-smart meter consumer groups;
(2) determine whether PG&E management was aware of Mr. Devereaux's activities;
(3) determine the extent of Mr. Devereaux's improper activities regarding anti-smart meter consumer groups:
(4) determine whether fines and/or other remedial actions should be imposed on PG&E.
3 See e-mail from Josh Hart to CPSD staff, December 30, 2010, 11:20 AM, page 4. (CPSD Staff Report, Attachment 7) and PG&E January 10, 2011, supplement to CPSD data request, Attachment CPSD_001-08Supp01-1, page 1 of 2. (CPSD Staff Report, Attachment 15.)
4 See e-mail from Josh Hart to CPSD staff, December 30, 2010, 11:20 AM, page 4. (CPSD Staff Report, Attachment 7.)
5 See CPSD Staff Report, Pages 5 -8. (CPSD Staff Report Attachments 7,9,10, and 15.)
6 PG&E response to DR1, December 10, 2010, Attachment CPSD_001-01Supp01-1, page 2. (CPSD Staff Report, Attachment 6.)
7 See CPSD Staff Report, Table 2, page 8.
8 CPSD Staff Report, Table 2, page 8 - 9.
9 CPSD Staff Report, Table 2, page 9.
