WASHINGTON-California Public Utilities Commission member Dian Grueneich later today plans to release a telecom consumer bill-of-rights plan countering one crafted by CPUC President Michael Peevey and former commissioner Susan Kennedy.
The CPUC said Grueneich, a Democrat appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, will hold a press briefing by phone at noon PST on her bill-of-rights proposal.
The current bill of rights, authored by Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Brown and approved by the CPUC in 2004, has been on hold for the past 12 months to enable regulators to re-examine a rule with scores of new state wireless regulations. Peevey and Kennedy, who left the five-member agency to become Schwarzenegger’s chief of staff , unveiled their bill-of-rights measure in December.
Schwarzenegger and the mobile-phone industry have been harshly critical of the telecom bill of rights. Consumer proponents, disability advocates, and California Attorney General Bill Lockyer want the current bill of rights to be reinstated. Some in the state legislature want a law mandating a telecom bill of rights.
Peevey, a Democrat whose bill of rights is far less regulatory than the current rule, appears positioned to win support of Republican Commissioner John Bohn and Rachelle Chong for his initiative.
A vote on the two proposals is expected in the next month or so.
