Edison Forgoes Ratepayer Bonuses

One problem critics allege with incentive bonuses is that they incentivize making stuff up...Southern California Edison is learning this now:

Edison told the California Public Utilities Commission staff that it would forgo or return to the agency $35 million in payments that the company said were based on flawed safety ratings. Many of the ratings were distorted by inadvertent omissions, others by what Edison called "inappropriate" efforts by managers to hide reportable incidents.

In some cases, Edison found evidence that supervisors contacted outside medical personnel to influence treatment, change medical records or downgrade the seriousness of an injury. Other times, Edison said, its managers encouraged employees to dodge safety reporting requirements by undergoing physical therapy or using vacation days during recovery.

"I was pretty flabbergasted," said Robert Cagen, a PUC staff attorney who attended a closed meeting Thursday with Edison executives. "What this appears to be is an incentive … to underreport injuries. That's what's happened here."

Unlike Wonkette, for example, Southern California Edison is a utility--not a blog--and the cost of making stuff up is significant.