By Staff Writers, ASSOCIATED PRESS
February 25, 2019
https://www.courthousenews.com/pge-cancels-130-million-in-worker-perfor…
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Northern California utility Pacific Gas & Electric said it won’t award $130 million in employee bonuses because of its recent bankruptcy filing, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
By Kevin Smith, LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
February 22, 2019
https://www.dailynews.com/2019/02/22/organizations-petition-state-to-ba…
Consumer Watchdog and a host of community organizations are urging California insurers to stop imposing higher auto insurance rates on low-income drivers with less education.
By Lyle Adriano, INSURANCE BUSINESS
February 22, 2019
https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/breaking-news/pressure-gro…
Various community groups in California have petitioned state insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara to prohibit the use of occupation and education as factors in setting auto insurance premiums.
By Hannah Wiley, SACRAMENTO BEE - CAPITOL ALERT
February 21, 2019
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article22…
WORKER DISCRIMINATION
A group of organizations is submitting a petition this morning to California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara in a fight to ban the use of occupation and education when pricing auto insurance.
Or should we turn the scofflaw company into a public agency?
By Alastair Bland, EAST BAY EXPRESS
February 20, 2019
https://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/should-we-break-up-pgande/Conten…
By Pete Bigelow, AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
February 18, 2019
https://www.autonews.com/regulation-safety/self-driving-test-miles-zoom…
Even with automakers and tech companies sprouting projects across the country, California remains a fertile testing ground for self-driving vehicles.
By Priya Kantaria, THE VERDICT
February 15, 2019
https://www.verdict.co.uk/self-driving-cars-have-miles-to-full-autonomy/
Companies such as Google’s Waymo are testing robot cars on Californian public roads, and reports to the Department of Motor Vehicles there show that human intervention is needed on average every 14 miles.
Despite the hype surrounding self-driving cars, human intervention is consistently required for its functionality, according to Consumer Watchdog.
By Macy Bayern, TECH REPUBLIC
February 15, 2019
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/autonomous-cars-are-not-ready-for-…
It will always be essential for people to be in control not only of autonomous vehicles, but of all forms of artificial intelligence.
By Larry Magid, THE EAST BAY TIMES
February 14, 2019
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2019/02/14/magid-ai-looks-its-best-as-a-hu…
The civil rights groups aim to fix issues like discriminative advertising, voter suppression and targeted misinformation.
By Marrian Zhou, CNET
February 13, 2019
https://www.cnet.com/news/aclu-naacp-call-on-congress-to-address-discri…
Civil rights groups are calling on Congress to protect marginalized groups in privacy laws.
California disengagement reports give several reasons for when safety drivers needed to take over.
By Keith Shaw, ROBOTICS BUSINESS REVIEW
February 13, 2019
https://www.roboticsbusinessreview.com/unmanned/consumer-group-says-sel…
By Donna Horowitz, THE DEAL PIPELINE
February 9, 2019
A federal judge has given final approval to a Transamerica Life Insurance Co. class-action settlement for $110.7 million, slashing a proposed $195 million payout after eight large life settlement investment groups withdrew from the agreement.
Judge Christina Snyder of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles certified the settlement Wednesday, Feb. 6.
By Dan Bacher, COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT
February 7, 2019
https://cvindependent.com/index.php/en-US/news/politics/item/5044-a-con…
By Staff Reporters, PYMNTS.COM
February 6, 2019
https://www.pymnts.com/gig-economy/2019/instacart-lawsuit-shoppers-deli…
Instacart, the delivery on demand service, is facing a class-action lawsuit over how it handles tips earned by drivers.
PG&E spent almost $10 million on lobbying California officials in 2018, surpassing even the Western States Petroleum Association in lobbying spending in 2018. The nation’s largest utility, PG&E filed for reorganization in federal bankruptcy court under Chapter 11 on January 29.
By Dan Bacher, RED GREEN & BLUE
February 4, 2019
“For a consumer to somehow glean that this tip is in fact just subsidizing what the company would have paid on the back end is a completely deceptive practice,” said one consumer advocate.
By Olivia Solon, NBC NEWS
February 4, 2019
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/why-instacart-doordash-w…
Watchdogs alarmed by $360 million that companies spent to guard their interests
By Patrick McGreevy, LOS ANGELES TIMES
February 3, 2019
https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-cal-record-california-lobbying-…
By Staff Writers, BEST'S REVIEW
February 1, 2019
Auto Insurance: California has issued new rules, which ban automobile insurers from using a driver's gender when setting rates. The new regulations went into effect Jan. 1. The rules bring private auto insurance prices into line with the provisions of voter-approved Proposition 103, which prohibits unfair and discriminatory pricing, said Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, a California advocacy group.
State political leaders have no plans to help once-influential utility; ‘The landscape has really shifted’
By Alejandro Lazo, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 30, 2019
SACRAMENTO—In the hours following PG&E Corp.’s filing for bankruptcy protection, leaders here in California’s capital had very little to say.
By Lauren Fruen and Jennifer Smith, THE DAILY MAIL UK
January 30, 2019
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6648935/PG-E-trying-130million…
Pacific Gas & Electric, the nation's largest utility company, is trying to keep their $130million bonus program for employees despite declaring bankruptcy.
By Staff Reports, KSRO 1350 AM, Sonoma, CA
January 30, 2019
http://www.ksro.com/2019/01/30/consumer-watchdog-says-the-cpuc-gave-pge…
Click here to listen to the audio segment of this radio broadcast.
PG&E asks court to approve payments of $130 million in incentives for thousands of employees
By George Avalos, THE MERCURY NEWS
January 29, 2019
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/29/pge-bankruptcy-utility-seeks-to-…
PG&E lists $51.69 billion in debts, while warnings erupt of higher power bills due to bankruptcy case
By George Avalos, THE MERCURY NEWS
January 29, 2019
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/29/pge-files-for-bankruptcy-facing-…
By Marnette Federis & Lisa Pickoff-White, KQED Bay Area Public Radio
January 29, 2019
https://www.kqed.org/news/11722060/disappointment-concerns-grow-as-pge-…
Oil industry and environmental leaders in California both marked the 50th anniversary of the Santa Barbara Oil Spill, but they did it in very different ways.
By Dan Bacher, RED GREEN & BLUE
January 28, 2019
http://redgreenandblue.org/2019/01/28/50-years-santa-barabaras-iconic-o…
By Cheryl Clark, CALIFORNIA HEALTHLINE
January 22, 2019
https://californiahealthline.org/news/death-certificate-project-califor…
The Medical Board of California has launched investigations into doctors who prescribed opioids to patients who, perhaps months or years later, fatally overdosed.
By David Lazarus, LOS ANGELES TIMES
January 22, 2019
https://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-why-are-eyeglass…
It’s a question I get asked frequently, most recently by a colleague who was shocked to find that his new pair of prescription eyeglasses cost about $800.
Why are these things so damn expensive?
By Editorial Board, THE DAILY NEWS OF LOS ANGELES
January 17, 2019
https://www.dailynews.com/2019/01/17/lawmakers-here-today-gone-to-maui/
The following editorial ran in The Long Beach Press-Telegram, Redlands Daily Facts, and The San Gabriel Valley Tribune in addition to The Daily News.
By Sammy Roth, LOS ANGELES TIMES
January 15, 2019
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pge-bankruptcy-climate-change-20…
Climate change helped fuel the deadly fires that prompted California’s largest power company to announce Monday that it would file for bankruptcy in the face of $30 billion in potential liabilities.
By Dan Bacher, RED, GREEN & BLUE
January 15, 2019
http://redgreenandblue.org/2019/01/15/pge-power-company-chooses-bankrup…
By Ivan Penn, Thomas Fuller and Lisa Friedman, THE NEW YORK TIMES
January 14, 2019
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/business/energy-environment/pge-bank…
LOS ANGELES — Pacific Gas and Electric said on Monday that it would seek bankruptcy protection as “the only viable option” as the giant California utility faces billions of dollars in liability claims from two years of deadly wildfires.
By Alena Maschke, LONG BEACH BUSINESS JOURNAL
January 14, 2019
https://www.lbbusinessjournal.com/utilities-face-scrutiny-after-fires-i…
By Jeff McDonald, SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
January 13, 2019
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/sd-me-legislators-ma…
Sen. Ben Hueso, chairman of the state Senate’s Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee, was one of a dozen California lawmakers to join 60 utility executives and other paid sponsors at the Fairmont Kea Lani resort in Hawaii last November.
By Jamie Court, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
January 11, 2019
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-court-self-driving-cars-201…
People are fighting back against robot cars.
By Michael Karkafiris, CARSCOOPS
January 10, 2019
https://www.carscoops.com/2019/01/california-bans-insurance-companies-c…
The California Department of Insurance has come up with new rules, under which the auto insurers are now prohibited from charging drivers based on their gender.
By Staff Reporters, ASSOCIATED PRESS
January 9, 2019
https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/article224189000.html
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A consumer advocacy group is calling for California lawmakers to immediately disclose their trips to educational events with lobbyists following a report that a dozen legislators were attending an event in Hawaii with utility lobbyists while deadly wildfires raged in California.
By Sean Szymkowski, THE CAR CONNECTION
January 9, 2019
https://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1120807_government-shutdown-promp…
As the U.S. government shutdown continues to drag on, the NHTSA said Tuesday that it will not investigate car defects until federal funding is restored.
By Eric D. Lawrence and Todd Spangler, THE DETROIT FREE PRESS
January 9, 2019
https://www.postbulletin.com/news/business/feds-won-t-investigate-most-…
Federal workers must go without pay, national parks are a mess, and now vehicle safety investigations are on hold.
Good news (for some), only variables that can influence your car insurance premiums are age and driving record.
By James Gilboy, THE DRIVE
January 8, 2019
http://www.thedrive.com/news/25832/california-rules-gender-cannot-influ…
The California Department of Insurance announced Thursday that it no longer permits the use of gender as a variable in the calculation of car insurance premiums.
New regulations require rates to be determined only by driving records
By Mark Huffman, CONSUMER AFFAIRS
January 8, 2019
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/california-blocks-use-of-gender-in…
A lot of factors go into setting a consumer’s insurance rate but California officials say rates should mostly rest on the consumer’s driving record, not other things they can’t control.
By Ryan Smith, INSURANCE BUSINESS AMERICA
January 7, 2019
https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/breaking-news/consumer-gro…
A consumer advocacy group has applauded California’s new rule banning gender discrimination in auto insurance pricing.
By Bob Egelko, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
January 6, 2019
https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Gender-inequality-in-Californi…
Thirty years after California voters told auto insurers to focus on a driver’s safety record in setting rates, the state’s outgoing insurance commissioner has banned the apparently widespread practice of charging different rates for male and female drivers, regardless of their records.
"Gender and sex have no more place in what we pay for auto insurance than race or ethnicity do."
By CITY NEWS SERVICE, KNBC TV-4 Los Angeles, CA
January 4, 2019
New rules issued by the state Department of Insurance say California auto insurers can no longer charge drivers more based on their gender.
By John Wildermuth, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
January 2, 2019
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Qualifying-a-California-ba…
The price of putting an initiative on the ballot is soaring, and California voters have only themselves to blame.
