Opinion ID: 1897396
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the inclusion requirement

Text: [¶ 19] Relying on the United States Supreme Court decision in Pacific Gas and Electric Co. v. PUC , CMP contends that requiring T & D facilities to include Commission educational materials with the materials they disseminate to their customers is an unconstitutional content-based restriction on non-commercial core speech. We disagree. [¶ 20] In Pacific Gas, the Supreme Court struck down a California Utility Commission requirement that a privately owned utility include in its billing envelopes leaflets designed by a third party, outlining positions with which the utility disagreed. See 475 U.S. at 5-7, 106 S.Ct. 903. The Supreme Court noted that the California Commission's interest in fair and effective utility regulation may be a compelling interest, but concluded that the California Commission's inclusion requirement was not narrowly tailored to achieve the Commission interests. See id. at 19-20, 106 S.Ct. 903. [¶ 21] Several significant differences between Pacific Gas and the facts of this case, however, lead us to conclude that the requirements of the Commission Rule are narrowly tailored to serve the Commission's compelling interest. Like the California Commission in Pacific Gas, the Commission has a compelling interest in ensuring that consumers get information about deregulation of the electricity generation industry and retail access that is objective, accurate, and comprehensive given the potential for a high degree of customer confusion that can result from retail competition. Unlike the materials at issue in Pacific Gas, however, the subject matter of the material T & D facilities are forced to include within its billing envelopes is narrowly prescribed. In Pacific Gas, the utility was required to disseminate highly-opinionated political editorials of third parties that the utility considered to be directly contrary to its interests. See id. at 5-7, 106 S.Ct. 903. The materials that a T & D facility would be forced to include in its billing envelopes would be objective descriptions of the deregulation of the electricity generation industry and the retail access choices of consumers. The Commission stated, in support of its adoption of the Rule, We do not expect that there will be major differences of opinion between the Commission and utilities about the kind of fact-based information that is at issue here. Furthermore, the materials will be generated by the body with the authority to regulate utilities and with the legislative mandate to develop educational program regarding deregulation, not independent third parties. Finally, the alternative of directly mailing its education materials to consumers would hinder the Commission's achievement of its interests, because it would increase the possibility of consumers receiving differing information from different sources. Thus, the Commission Rule's inclusion requirement is narrowly tailored to serve the Commission's compelling interest.