Accountability

Consumer Watchdog Calls On LA City Council President To Appoint Consumer Advocate To Find Next Ratepayer Advocate, Says Pickel Failed LADWP Customers

July 25, 2017  ·  Liza Tucker

Santa Monica, CA—Consumer Watchdog today urged City Council President Herb Wesson to name a consumer advocate to the citizens’ committee that will nominate the next...

Amazon Slime: Amazon’s New Consumer Deception

June 12, 2017  ·  John M. Simpson

Two Consumer Watchdog reports show that Amazon is deceiving its customers by putting fake crossed-out prices next to its products.  It’s a deceptive marketing ploy...

April 27th Letters: Let the sunshine in on PUC’s San Onofre deal

April 27, 2017  ·  Mark Reback

<h4>Let the sunshine in on PUC’s San Onofre deal</h4> <p style="">The California Public Utilities Commission votes Thursday on releasing vital records showing whether the government secretly helped Southern California Edison stick ratepayers with 70 percent of a $4.7 billion bill for the flawed San Onofre nuclear power plant.</p>

FTC To Focus on Consumer Injury, Minimizing Paperwork Requests to Companies

February 2, 2017  ·  Evan Thomas King

<p style="font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);"><span style="font-kerning: none">Washington --The Federal Trade Commission will focus on fraud and be judicious in making paperwork requests when it opens an investigation into a company, acting FTC Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen said in a speech on Thursday.</span></p>

LADWP Customer Bill Of Rights Nothing But Paper Without Overhaul Of Utility Bureaucracy And Independent Ratepayer Voice To Hold DWP Accountable

January 3, 2017  ·  Liza Tucker

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-21000" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/images_ladwp_logo1.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 212px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="882" height="933" />Santa Monica, CA -- The LADWP’s pledge to give customers a bill of rights is a step forward, but the LADWP remains in need of a major bureaucratic overhaul, Consumer Watchdog said today.</p>

Consumer Watchdog Tells LA Mayor That Ratepayers Should Be Paid Interest On Money DWP Owes in Overbilling Scandal And Calls For Transparency About DWP Problems

November 17, 2016  ·  Liza Tucker

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-21000" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/images_ladwp_logo1.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 212px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="882" height="933" />Santa Monica, CA -- Consumer Watchdog wrote Mayor Eric Garcetti today that last-minute revisions to a DWP ratepayer overbilling settlement now boost attorneys’ fees 46 percent to $19 million from $13 million, but shortchange ratepayers who should be paid interest on refunds owed them for three years.</p>

KCBS TV-2 Los Angeles, CA: LADWP Overcharge Refunds Delayed Again

September 16, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>LADWP ratepayers who were misbilled and overcharged will have to wait until mid-2017 to get their refunds, in yet another delay.</p>

Misbilled LA DWP Ratepayers Denied $44 Million In Refunds Until Mid 2017 Despite Pledge Of 2016 Payments

September 13, 2016  ·  Jamie Court

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-21000" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/images_ladwp_logo1.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 212px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="882" height="933" />Santa Monica, CA — Consumer Watchdog today said that court filings by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power showing misbilled ratepayers will have to wait until mid-2017 to get $44 million in refunds are unacceptable and Mayor Garcetti should act immediately to pay ratepayers back.  </p>

SoCalGas and California Regulators Cry Wolf In Report Claiming Aliso Canyon Needed To Meet Winter Peak Demand, Says Consumer Watchdog and Food & Water Watch

August 24, 2016  ·  Liza Tucker

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Brown’s PUC Overhaul More Cosmetic Than Substance

June 27, 2016  ·  Jamie Court

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2934" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/images_govbrown_2.jpg" style="width: 120px; height: 120px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="120" height="120" />Governor Brown and legislative leaders announced <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=19461">a series of agreed-upon reforms</a> to target the <a href="http://capitolwatchdog.org/content/special-report-will-leak-porter-ranch-puc-gate-ruin-brown%E2%80%99s-legacy">corruption that's haunted the Public Utilities Comission during the Brown-era</a> and immediately prior to it. <br />  <br />

Governor’s Top Aide Needs To Prove Recusal Or Step Down

March 13, 2016  ·  Jamie Court

<p><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">California public officals are not allowed to participate in decisions in their public office when they have an financial interest in the outcome. <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/mcfaddenfppccomplaintcpuc.pdf">Evidence uncovered </a>in wake of the PUC public corruption scandal fingers Governor's Brown top aide, Nancy McFadden, for doing just that.</span></p> <p> </p>

KNBC TV-4 Los Angeles: LADWP Overcharge Settlement Still Cause For Concern

December 22, 2015  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p>Consumer Watchdog has raised concerns that refunds owed ratepayers of Los Angeles DWP, many of whom have already made overpayments, will not be delivered for one year and a half under the best case scenario, while plaintiff attorneys will get paid $13 million in May.</p> <p>Consumer Watchdog's problems with the settlement include the need for immediate refunds, no more threats of disconnections, no requirements for deposits for people who owe back bills, and the need for an impartial standard for whether ratepayers get paid, not whether DWP says so or not.</p>