Bay Guardian and ratepayers booted from PG proceedings
 	 		 		 		
 May 23, 2001 | SFBG News
 						 						
By Rachel Brahinsky
 						
At a time when many corporations would be somewhat humbled, 
Pacific Gas and Electric's arrogance and greed – even as it 
proceeds through its bankruptcy case – continue unabated.
 						
Among this week's developments:
 						
• At PG's annual shareholders meeting in San Francisco May 16, 
company officials allowed every news organization inside that 
requested it – except for one. I was denied entry and was told 
that the Bay Guardian is not a member of "the media," in defiance 
of a 1993 court decision requiring PG to treat all news media 
alike.
 						
• Late in the evening May 18, Judge Dennis Montali, the U.S. 
bankruptcy judge presiding over PG's Chapter 11 proceedings, 
granted PG's request to boot from the case a committee 
representing ratepayers. State officials further soured the 
situation for consumers last week by approving the largest rate 
hike in PG history.
 						
As shareholders shuffled into Masonic Auditorium for PG's annual 
meeting last Wednesday and protesters watched from outside, I 
headed for the press table. The woman working the desk was 
friendly, requested my credentials, and asked me to sign in, 
noting that I was from the Bay Guardian. Just then Shawn Cooper, 
who said he was a PG spokesperson, told me I wouldn't be allowed 
inside. "The Bay Guardian is not considered a legitimate news 
organization," Cooper said. Cooper would not provide a list of 
so-called legitimate groups, but it was clear that at least a 
dozen reporters had signed in at the desk.
 						
Cooper's action was unprofessional and discriminatory, but it 
also violated a precedent-setting appellate court decision 
affirming the First Amendment rights of journalists covering 
regulated-monopoly utilities. Reporter J.A. Savage filed a 
lawsuit in 1988 claiming she was fired from two jobs after PG 
executives complained to her employers about her freelance work 
for the Bay Guardian and her past activism against nuclear power.
 						
Seven years later the court found in her favor. "A utility can't 
stonewall a reporter," Justice William Newsom told the Bay City 
News Service after his decision, summarizing the main point of 
his 1993 ruling. "A public utility, which is a monopoly, has no 
right to say it won't deal with a reporter because it doesn't 
approve of the reporter's point of view or whatever." (Newsom is 
the father of Sup. Gavin Newsom.)
 						
Despite this ruling, PG has made a habit of ignoring Bay Guardian 
requests for comment and information and has sought to discredit 
the paper through such tactics as using its influence to kick the 
Bay Guardian out of press-awards contests (those of both the old 
San Francisco Press Club and the California Newspaper Publishers 
Association). Repeated calls for this story to the press desks of 
both PG and its parent company went unreturned.
 						
Also last week, PG successfully had a consumers' committee, which 
represented businesses, farmers, schools, and consumer groups, 
thrown from its bankruptcy proceedings. Bankruptcy judge Montali 
essentially argued that because PG doesn't technically owe funds 
to ratepayers, the group cannot formally be considered creditors. 
"Having an interest in a result (as all ratepayers do), does not 
rise to the level of having a claim as defined in the bankruptcy 
code," Montali said in a written opinion. He suggested ratepayers 
could instead be represented by the state attorney general, 
though the A.G. has not joined the proceeding.
 						
"It's unfortunate that the judge took such a narrow view of what 
is permitted in the bankruptcy code," Gail Hillebrand, senior 
attorney for the Consumers Union and a member of the committee, 
told us. "Because ratepayers are going to be affected by the 
outcome." The committee is considering its options for appeal.
 						
Consumers' rights groups said that the decision bodes poorly for 
PG customers. "It's very easy to figure out who gets PG out of 
bankruptcy if the people paying the bills aren't allowed in the 
room," Doug Heller, consumer advocate for the Foundation for 
Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said.
 						
E-mail Rachel Brahinsky at rachel@sfbg.com [rachel@sfbg.com] .
 						
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