770万美元和解：加州公用事业委员会批准南加州爱迪生不当收取开户押金案 股东出资赔付客户310万美元
位于加利福尼亚州 San Francisco 的加州公用事业委员会（California Public Utilities Commission，CPUC）10月29日批准一项总额770万美元的和解：Southern California Edison（SCE，南加州爱迪生）曾违规向住宅与小企业客户索取开户押金（service deposits），和解款全部由该公司股东出资，不转嫁给客户。
按和解安排，SCE 将向2020年4月1日及以后被收取开户押金的住宅客户支付310万美元；向帮助困难客户支付电费的 SCE Energy Assistance Fund（能源援助基金）捐助390万美元；另向加州州政府普通基金（General Fund）缴纳70万美元罚款。三项合计770万美元。
这项和解由 CPUC 消费者保护与执法处（Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division，CPED）谈判达成。CPUC 主席 John Reynolds 表示，和解解决了 SCE 在新冠疫情紧急状态期间违反客户保护规定的严重合规问题，公用事业公司违规、尤其是涉及违法收费时，委员会会努力确保赔偿到达受害客户手中，这笔超过770万美元的赔偿将由 SCE 股东承担。委员 Christine Harada 表示，每一美元对努力维持用电的家庭都很重要，这项协议让 SCE 担责、股东买单，为客户带来实际减负。
事件源于疫情期间的押金豁免规定。2020年4月17日，CPUC 发布 M-4842 号决议，要求投资者拥有的公用事业公司按疫情紧急救灾计划落实客户保护，其中包括免除住宅与小企业客户的开户押金，追溯至2020年3月4日州长纽森宣布加州进入紧急状态之日。2020年6月11日，CPUC 又通过 20-06-003 号决定，明确禁止公用事业公司要求任何住宅与小企业客户在开通服务时缴纳押金；同年12月17日再以 UEB-006 号决议设立执法引用程序，落实上述断电与收费保护规则。
SCE 在2021年3月10日向 CPUC 报告，该公司在2020年6月11日至2021年2月底期间仍向住宅客户发出了押金索取通知。SCE 表示，其系统未能及时更新，无法阻止对2020年4月17日至2021年4月6日期间开户的住宅与小企业客户索取押金；公司虽采取临时人工流程补救，直到2021年8月30日才完成永久系统修复，停止押金的开单与收取。本次批准的和解即针对这些违规行为作出处理。
该和解的正式形式为「行政同意令」（Administrative Consent Order，ACO），是 CPUC 2020年确立的执法政策工具之一，可在不发出引用通知、不启动正式调查令程序的情况下，以简化的执法行动处理违规。
$7.7 Million Settlement: California Public Utilities Commission Approves Deal With Southern California Edison Over Improper Service Deposits, Shareholders to Pay $3.1 Million to Customers
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), based in San Francisco, California, on October 29 approved a $7.7 million settlement with Southern California Edison (SCE) over the utility's improper requests for service deposits from residential and small business customers. The settlement will be paid entirely with shareholder funds, not by customers.
Under the settlement, SCE will pay $3.1 million to residential customers who were billed a service deposit on or after April 1, 2020; contribute $3.9 million to SCE's Energy Assistance Fund, which helps customers struggling to pay their electricity bills; and pay a $700,000 penalty to the state's General Fund. The three parts total $7.7 million.
The settlement was negotiated by the CPUC's Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division (CPED). CPUC President John Reynolds said the outcome resolves serious compliance issues by SCE regarding customer protections put in place during the COVID-19 emergency, and that when utilities violate CPUC policy, especially involving unlawful billing, the commission works to ensure restitution reaches victims, with the more than $7.7 million in this case paid by SCE shareholders. Commissioner Christine Harada said every dollar matters to families struggling to keep the lights on, and that the agreement holds SCE accountable and delivers financial relief with shareholders bearing the cost.
The case traces back to deposit waivers ordered during the pandemic. On April 17, 2020, the CPUC issued Resolution M-4842, directing investor-owned utilities to implement customer protections under the emergency disaster relief program, including waiving deposits for residential and small business customers retroactively to March 4, 2020, the date Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in California in response to COVID-19. On June 11, 2020, the CPUC adopted Decision 20-06-003, prohibiting utilities from requiring any residential or small business customers to pay a deposit for the establishment of service. On December 17, 2020, it issued Resolution UEB-006, approving a citation program to enforce compliance with the disconnection rules adopted in the June 2020 decision.
On March 10, 2021, SCE reported to the CPUC that it had sent deposit requests to residential customers between June 11, 2020, and the end of February 2021. SCE said it was unable to update its system to prevent asking for deposits from residential and small business customers who signed up between April 17, 2020, and April 6, 2021; it used temporary manual processes and workarounds until a permanent solution was implemented on August 30, 2021, to prevent the billing and collection of service deposits. The settlement approved on October 29 resolves those violations.
The settlement takes the form of an Administrative Consent Order (ACO), one of the enforcement tools in the CPUC's Enforcement Policy established in 2020, allowing streamlined enforcement actions in lieu of issuing citations or seeking formal Orders Instituting Investigations.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：加州公用事业委员会（CPUC）总部所在的旧金山州办公大楼（Governor Edmund G. Pat Brown Building），Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。 / The San Francisco state office building (Governor Edmund G. Pat Brown Building) housing the California Public Utilities Commission headquarters. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
