CPUC Foundation to raise money from utilities

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 1/26/11 | Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross

[SmithL]

The California Public Utilities Commission is running a bit short on cash, so it has blessed the creation of a foundation to solicit money from the very companies it is supposed to be keeping an eye on.

The idea behind the CPUC Foundation is to have a pool of money to reward deserving staffers, host foreign guests and generally brush up the commission's image - in other words, to pay for activities not covered by agency coffers.

Organizers plan to kick off the fundraising with a big dinner Thursday night coinciding with the commission's 100th anniversary.

Companies buying $20,000 tables for the dinner at San Francisco's Julia Morgan Ballroom include Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric Co.

"Basically, every utility will be contributing - so if it's a conspiracy, it's a massive conspiracy," said former PUC Commissioner Bill Bagley, . . .

[Seruzawa]

The idea behind the CPUC Foundation is to have a pool of money to reward deserving staffers, host foreign guests and generally brush up the commission's image - in other words, to pay for activities not covered by agency coffers.

In other words a slush fund.