PG&E Fined for San Francisco campaign

Politics and power collided two years ago in San Francisco, and it looks like the powerful utility interests may have crossed the line in funding their campaign:

Under settlements with the city Ethics Commission and the state Fair Political Practices Commission announced Tuesday, PG&E and the political committee it funded admitted that they had failed to disclose -- before the election -- $800,000 in donations from the utility that paid for last-minute advertising against Proposition D...

Prop. D would have allowed the city Public Utilities Commission to take charge of securing electricity supplies for all of San Francisco.

PG&E's No on Prop. D campaign spent $2.7 million; proponents of the measure spent $70,000. The company's outlays, unprecedented in local elections, paid off -- Prop. D was defeated 54 percent to 46 percent.