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Recently, the board of watchdog Utility Consumers' Action Network wrote a letter to its co-founder, Michael Shames, demanding that he return $474,000 that he took as bonuses on intervenor fees the organization was awarded for participation in matters of the California Public Utilities Commission. The UCAN board's letter to Shames was based on an interpretation letter it received from the California Attorney General's office. Charles Langley, a UCAN employee who as one of two whistle-blowers brought irregularities to the board's attention, wrote the Attorney General for a copy of the letter under the Public Records Act. Tania Ibanez of the AG's office wrote Langley denying the request because "the records you seek are confidential records related to our investigation" of UCAN, she wrote. It is not clear what that investigation is about. UCAN is also under criminal investigation of the U.S. Attorney's office, and will have to go through a state-mandated audit.
Recently, the board of watchdog Utility Consumers' Action Network wrote a letter to its co-founder, Michael Shames, demanding that he return $474,000 that he took as bonuses on intervenor fees the organization was awarded for participation in matters of the California Public Utilities Commission. The UCAN board's letter to Shames was based on an interpretation letter it received from the California Attorney General's office. Charles Langley, a UCAN employee who as one of two whistle-blowers brought irregularities to the board's attention, wrote the Attorney General for a copy of the letter under the Public Records Act. Tania Ibanez of the AG's office wrote Langley denying the request because "the records you seek are confidential records related to our investigation" of UCAN, she wrote. It is not clear what that investigation is about. UCAN is also under criminal investigation of the U.S. Attorney's office, and will have to go through a state-mandated audit.