Unpunished Wrongdoing in Southern California?

Explicit content warning

10/30/24 • 36 min

Jason Hunter, a former employee of Riverside Public Utilities, is still looking for answers regarding contracting activity he witnessed at the organization years ago. Bolstering his claims of wrongdoing is the fact that some of the individuals involved in the alleged activity are now serving prison sentences for later activities at Los Angeles Department of Water & Power. It’s a wild story complete with employee harassment; police harassment; Federal Bureau of Information raids on LADWP offices; and conflicts of interest, as well as shell companies, luxury cars and beachfront condos.

Hunter alleges that after years of seeking the truth and seeking an audit of the contracting activities he witnessed more than a decade ago, the alleged crimes were never punished. He is still waiting for the City of Riverside to perform the audit, which nobody can seem to complete.

Check out the latest episode of People in Power to hear the whole story.

Check out the latest episode of People in Power to hear the whole story.

Previous Episode

People in Power Podcast, Episode 1

The effort to create a regional wholesale energy market in the West moved forward in 2023 when a group of state regulators from Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington advanced a proposal “for ensuring that the benefits of wholesale electricity markets are maximized for customers across the entire Western U.S.” This led to the creation of the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative, driven by stakeholders across the West who realize the reliability and cost benefits that could be created with a wider wholesale market that includes California.

In the inaugural episode of People in Power, NewsData’s Jason Fordney speaks with Kathleen Staks, director of Western Freedom and a member of the WWGPI Launch Committee, about the effort. This interview was conducted just prior to the issuance of WWGPI’s Step 2 proposal, which would create a new regional organization to oversee the market. NewsData's Abigail Sawyer also shares her thoughts about observing the demolition of the San Juan Generating Station in New Mexico.

Next Episode

Antoine Lucas on the Virtues of Patience and Competition

Antoine Lucas, Southwest Power Pool's VP of markets, talks with California Energy Markets Associate Editor Abigail Sawyer about waiting for federal approval of Markets+, SPP’s day-ahead market offering for load-serving entities in the West. Further regulatory delays could have implications for Markets+, which is in direct competition with the California Independent System Operator's extended day-ahead market. That competition, Lucas says, is good for everyone. Listen to the conversation on the latest episode of NewsData's People in Power.