Attorney General Bill Lockyer, in January, charged Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation with illegal, unfair and fraudulent business practices that drove its California utility subsidiary into bankruptcy and breached legal agreements with the state to protect California ratepayers. The Attorney General is quoted as saying,


"PG&E agreed more than five years ago, as a condition of approval to form a massive holding company, to protect California ratepayers and ensure the healthy operation of its California-regulated utility," Lockyer said. "Instead of keeping its promise, PG&E Corp. drained the assets of its California utility and put billions of dollars into unregulated affiliates in order to achieve its ultimate objective of becoming one of the largest unregulated power generating companies in the nation."

The civil suit filed in San Francisco Superior Court seeks to have Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. pay between $600 million and $4 billion plus monetary penalties for the violations.

Deregulation resulted in a jump in the amount Californian's pay for electricity, from about $8 billion in 1999 to over $64 billion in 2001.

Natural gas costs also jumped dramatically last year. And California, a state that in 1999 had a major budget surplus in the billions of dollars, is now in the process of creating a budget that will significantly cut programs that have assisted people living in or near poverty. 

The third episode will explore the relationship of energy to the War on Poverty and will feature as guests: 

Joe Jordan

Works at the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field near Mountain View, CA.  Joe has worked at NASA on a variety of projects such as:

In- flight data acquisition and management on the world's only airborne infrared astronomy observatory;

Planning for the space station and a large orbiting telescope;

Atmospheric modeling and mission flight support for the ongoing investigation of stratospheric ozone depletion and global climate change.  Joe serves on the Public Works Commission for the City of Santa Cruz, and on the Board of Directors for Ecology Action of Santa Cruz County, a private nonprofit working jointly with private businesses and the public sector to reduce waste, conserve resources and prevent pollution.

You may have heard Joe on radio station KUSP-FM in Santa Cruz, where he contributes to the "Field Notes" series and other programs about science, technology, public affairs, and everyday personal experiences of nature.

And Len Beyea (bee – YAY) who is currently employed as a Senior Energy Engineer for NORESCO, a nationwide energy services company. Len has worked in the energy field for 23 years, with most of those years focused on improving the efficiency of buildings and industrial plants. 

He is also a lifelong student of sustainable development and has been active in recent years as an advocate for rational energy policies that protect ratepayers, the environment, and the local economy.

And Dennis Osmer

A Lifelong resident of Watsonville

Dennis is a former Mayor of Watsonville and the Current Chair of the Santa Cruz County Planning Commission And the Vice Chair of the SC County Energy Commission.

Dennis Osmer is the Program Director of Energy Services, a part of the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County, Inc serving low-income households of Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties since 1997.

And Patricia Frias 

Outreach Manager of Energy Services, who probably knows as much about energy related services for low-income people than any one on the central coast.

 The host and CAB Inc. producer of the series, Paul Rachuy Brindel, has been in public service since 1968 as a teacher, a principal, a day care director, and an administrator of non-profit private corporations.  He is an Interfaith Minister and a Videographer.  He has been a program director at the Community Action Board since 1989 and has lived on the Central Coast of California since 1972.  He was a talk show host on KSCO for three years.  He served as the Foreperson of the United States Grand Jury from June 2000 through June of 2001 and currently serves on the Board of Commissioners of The Santa Cruz County Housing Authority, The HIV Consortium Board, The Continuum of Care Working Group, The Community Assessment Project Research Committee, and the City of Santa Cruz Housing Element Advisory Committee. 

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