WASHINGTON-The California Public Utilities Commission has decided to postpone until Jan. 27 a vote on Commissioner Susan Kennedy’s proposal to suspend the bill of rights for telecom consumers. The agency had scheduled to take up the matter at Thursday’s meeting.
Both CPUC President Michael Peevey and Commissioner Geoffrey Brown requested a delay.
The CPUC passed Brown’s bill-of-rights plan by a 3-2 vote last May, triggering sharp criticism by GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the mobile-phone industry.
Two commissioners who voted for the bill of rights-Democrats Carl Wood and Loretta Lynch-have since left the CPUC because their terms expired. Schwarzenegger has appointed Dian Grueneich, a Democrat, and Republican Steve Poizner as replacements on the CPUC.
Grueneich and Poizner were scheduled to be sworn in yesterday, pending confirmation consideration by the California Senate. But CPUC spokeswoman Terrie Prosper said Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony has also been delayed, and a new date has not been set.
Kennedy, a pro-business Democrat who unsuccessfully fought to win approval of a less-regulatory bill of rights last year, said complex billing and computer system changes for wireless and wireline operators, as well as legal and regulatory developments, justify re-examining new guidelines governing carrier disclosure, billing, contracts and marketing.
Meantime, the wireless industry is challenging the bill of rights in federal and state courts.
