Impoverished California residents, many of them homeless and without access to landlines, will finally get a little help paying for their monthly cellphone bills.For years, the California Public Utilities Commission has offered discounted rates for low-income residents who use landline telephones. But with those devices becoming increasingly rare, that financial aid package offered little assistance to many.
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State authorities will begin a formal investigation into how to regulate ride-sharing companies such as Lyft, Sidecar and Uber — an inquiry that could eventually legitimize the controversial businesses.
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Electricity rates could increase if the California Public Utilities Commission approves a plan to fund a $152 million research project by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The cost and the project itself are strongly opposed by The Utility Reform Network, along with state legislators who say the commission’s president is too close to the project to cast a vote.
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A long-awaited plan to improve PG&E’s pipeline safety testing is set to be approved by state regulators Thursday.
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A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Uber demanding that the transportation service company stop operating and pay taxi drivers damages for lost wages.
Filed on behalf of cabdrivers Leonid Goncharov and Mohammed Eddine, the suit claims Uber creates unfair business competition by operating without regulation from state and local authorities.
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PG&E did not cut corners on pipeline welds to reduce costs, according to a report released Wednesday by the California Public Utilities Commission.
The report comes as the utility company has faced increased scrutiny of its practices in the wake of the 2010 fatal gas pipeline blast in San Bruno.
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PG&E customers could be zapped with hefty fees if they want to opt out of the utility’s SmartMeter program.
Ratepayers who want to avoid the automated meter-reading program will have to pay a one-time fee of $90 and a monthly rate of $15 under a proposal being backed by the California Public Utilities Commission, the state’s energy watchdog.
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A state law containing stricter guidelines for natural gas pipeline operators is set to take effect on Jan. 1.
Assembly Bill 56 by Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, will require utilities to install remote-controlled shut-off valves on pipelines that run through highly populated areas.
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The segment of pipe that failed during a pressurized water test Sunday was apparently damaged by a backhoe sometime in the past 60 years, according to PG&E officials, but when exactly is unknown.
No one was injured when a segment of Line 132 exploded at 3:20 p.m. off Interstate 280 near Woodside, but it created a mudslide that closed northbound lanes for hours. It also left a 5-by-5-foot crater roughly 100 yards from homes.
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All that nasty hand-wringing and name-calling that came out earlier this year between the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the California Public Utilities Commission appears to have dissipated, as the two sides now are content on playing nice to avoid any looming legal battles over Muni’s rail system.
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