Leno bill would let ratepayers weigh in before PG&E claims profits

San Francisco Sen. Mark Leno, a Democrat, has introduced a piece of legislation we're guessing won't be too popular with Pacific Gas & Electric Co.: the measure would require ratepayer approval before a public utility company can transfer profits to their shareholding company.

Senate Bill 1441 would require that two-thirds of the people who pay rates to a utility approve, at the ballot box, any transfers to a holding company. Leno said the bill is necessary because PG&E asked state regulators to allow a 19 percent rate hike next year, even though he claims they made $1.22 billion in 2009, or turned 9.1 percent of its annual revenue into profit. Meanwhile, he said, they suffered "significant service problems" over the past two years.

"Ratepayers are the ones who generate utility company profits, yet those public companies have no legal responsibility to be fiscally accountable to the people from whom they profit," Leno said in a written statement. "Before ratepayer funds flow out of a utility company like PG&E, ratepayers should have an opportunity to weigh in on whether that action is appropriate, especially given the critical need to improve the utility's infrastructure."

Also today, Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, introduced another measure sure to peeve some corporations: the bill would require corporations to report what they spent on political campaigns and candidates to shareholders. If a shareholder doesn't like what they see, they can opt out "for their proportionate corporate ownership amount."

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