Florez decries Smart Meter foot dragging by PG&E, CPUC
Utility avoids testing even as they speed new installations, renewing call for moratorium

BAKERSFIELD – Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez (D-Shafter) will hold a news conference Monday morning in Bakersfield, to find out why -- five months after it was promised -- no testing has been completed on the “Smart Meters” blamed for outrageous utility bill spikes in the Valley.  

Florez will address both PG&E, which has recently announced it is actually speeding up the installation of so-called Smart Meters even as consumers and legislators await answers regarding their accuracy, and the California Public Utilities Commission, which allowed continued installations and has seemingly done little to resolve the concerns of the public they represent.

The CPUC agreed in October that testing of Smart Meters was not only necessary but that the sheer volume of complaints about billing abnormalities constituted an extraordinary circumstance which justified expedited contracting of an independent contractor to conduct accuracy testing.  At the same time, they rejected Senator Florez’s call for a moratorium on installations pending testing.

“Given the decision of PG&E to speed up installations even as the company drag its feet on hiring someone to conduct accuracy testing, in flagrant disregard for the order of the PUC, I think the PUC owes it to consumers to revisit their earlier decision and disallow further installations until we know these meters work.”

Florez is further disturbed by contradictory statements by top PG&E staff, with a senior spokesman taking to the airwaves of NBC to say billing irregularities were caused by old meters running slow, while another senior director told CBS that representatives should not be using this rationale.

“I find it hard to believe a company of this size would under-collect so egregiously for so many years without anyone ever noticing something was wrong,” Florez said.  “If they want to continue hiding behind this blame-the-old-meters claim, I want to see test results for both the digital and non-digital meters that support what they are saying.”

Florez held several district hearings last fall to look into outrageous spikes in PG&E bills following the installation of Smart Meters.  Makers of these new digital meters claim they will make it possible for homeowners to track and adjust their energy usage to save both resources and money.

In reality, some Valley residents have seen their bills triple – or worse – even after buying energy-saving appliances and, in some cases, when homes were vacant.  The biggest savings recognized so far has been to PG&E, who were able to lay off numerous meter readers.

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WHO:             Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez (D-Shafter)

WHAT:           News conference on foot-dragging over Smart Meter testing
 
WHEN:           Monday, March 8, 2010
                        10:00 a.m.

WHERE:         Bakersfield District Office of Senator Dean Florez, D-Shafter
                        1800 30th Street, Suite 350; Bakersfield, CA  93301