Reports

Dirty Deal: How A Corporate Utility Fixer Is Poised To Turn Over California Climate Law To Trump

April 17, 2025  ·  Justin Kloczko

A new investigative report (opens in new tab) by Consumer Watchdog explains the sudden reversal by electric worker and corporate lobbyist Scott Wetch to support a...

At Your Convenience: How California Can Make Refunding Bottle Deposits As Easy As Buying Beverages In The First Place.

April 19, 2023  ·  Liza Tucker

After decades of consumer and media criticism of California’s failed bottle deposit return program, Governor Newsom and the California Legislature last year finally passed a...

Taxing Oil Refiners’ Profits: How To Get Back What Californians Overpay At the Pump

October 6, 2022  ·  Liza Tucker

Pointing to windfall profits reported by California oil refiners to their investors, Consumer Watchdog issued a report showing that a windfall profits tax is needed...

Pilot Error : How CalRecycle’s New CRV Refund Pilots are Crashing and Burning

July 15, 2022  ·  Liza Tucker

CalRecycle is banking on pilot programs around the state, including “mobile” return pilots, to make it easier for consumers to get California Redemption Value (CRV)...

Black Gold: The $10 Trillion Dollar Cost of California Oil

June 2, 2022  ·  Liza Tucker

The true cost to the public of California’s oil and gas production and combustion is estimated to reach $10 trillion by 2045, a new report released today...

Cash For Trash: Recycling Fraud In California

January 6, 2022  ·  Liza Tucker

Recycling fraud is costing Californians hundreds of millions of dollars annually. This report explains the problem and how to fix it. Read the report here.

Waste Haulers: The Square Peg in the Circular Economy

May 26, 2021  ·  Liza Tucker

This exposé explores the reasons for the failure of California’s bottle deposit system, which currently has a 57% redemption rate, and puts the blame on the...

TRASHED: How California Recycling Failed and How To Fix It

January 7, 2020  ·  Liza Tucker

Read the report here.

Half a Nickel: How California Consumers Get Ripped Off On Every Bottle Deposit They Pay.

February 27, 2019  ·  Liza Tucker

For every nickel bottle deposit that California consumers pay in the checkout line, they only get back 2.65 cents. A three-month investigation by Consumer Watchdog found the...

Betting Against the House: How California’s Leaders Could Gamble Away Our Energy Future On A Western Power Trading Casino

June 17, 2018  ·  Evan Thomas King

How a Western Energy Grid integration could create a Wild West casino for California’s utilities and how ratepayers could foot the bill. Read the report...

The Price of Pickel: The LADWP’s Ratepayer Watchdog Comes With A $7 Billion Price Tag

March 13, 2018  ·  Liza Tucker

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest, most powerful municipal utility in the country. For its first 110 years, the...

How Green Is Jerry Brown?

February 15, 2017  ·  Liza Tucker

This review fact-checks the perception of Jerry Brown as an environmentalist against his actions since taking office as Governor in 2011 to answer the question:...