Dive Brief:

• Initial comments are due tomorrow at the California Public Utilities Commission, as regulators try and determine how best to move forward following revelations of ex parte communications surrounding the settlement to close the San Onofre nuclear plant, KPBS.org reports. 
• Southern California Edison (SCE) closed the plant after radioactive steam leaks were discovered in 2012, and a deal shouldered consumers with $3.3 billion in closing costs. 
• Critics say those costs should have been borne by shareholders, and following discovery of secret meetings between utility officials and regulators, they may get another chance to make their case. 

Dive Insight:

California regulators announced in May that they would reopen the settlement proceeding surrounding the closure of San Onofre following news of secret meetings between SCE and the commission—the latest in a string of controversies that has cast doubt on the CPUC's close relationships with the utilities it monitors.

“There is little trust in the commission that it will honestly do the job it had all along, without any efforts to help Edison and just close this up again,” attorney Mia Severson told KPBS. “We’re hoping this is not lip service.”

The California Department of General Services has issued an independent audit of the CPUC, detailing a host of issues with how regulators complied with business management practices. The audit came just days after Gov. Jerry Brown announced sweeping reforms at the agency.

According to the 11-page report, the commission contracted improperly with private law firms, did not properly maintain paperwork, and paid vendors for work that was incomplete or not up to specified standards.

Last year, regulators fined SCE $16.7 million for failure to reveal meetings that took place in Warsaw, Poland, between former CPUC head Michael Peevey and utility officials.

“In light of our December 2015 penalty levied against Edison for failing to disclose ex parte communications relevant to this proceeding, it is prudent to review whether the settlement reached before those disclosures remains in the public interest and in accordance with our settlement rules," CPUC Commissioner Catherine Sandoval said in a letter. "It is important to reopen the record and hear from the parties through their filings in the CPUC’s proceeding."

The settlement agreement was reached in 2013 after SCE permanently shuttered the plant.