Utility player

<p>Most Californians have never heard of Sylvia Siegel, but just about everyone has benefited from her tenacity.</p><p>In 1973, Siegel, the mother of two children, sat down at her kitchen table and started what became known as Toward Utility Rate Normalization (TURN), an advocacy group for consumers before the state Public Utilities Commission. The group would later become known as The Utility Reform Network.</p><p>During the 1970s and 80s, hers was often the lone voice for ratepayers in the complicated world of rate structures, tariffs and transmission systems. Largely self-taught on the intricacies of the industry and regulation, Siegel succeeded in creating an organization that served as a model for similar groups in other states.</p><p>Siegel championed special rates for customers on low incomes and once persuaded the state PUC to order PG&amp;E and Southern California Edison to reimburse ratepayers $345 million in fuel cost overcharges. But her biggest victories were often in what she prevented -- namely a host of nickel and dime fees that otherwise would have been tacked on to customer bills.</p><p>Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America, told the New York Times that Siegel, at one time, was the "most visible and outspoken utility advocate in the country."</p><p>Siegel, who died Sunday at a Mill Valley home at the age of 89, may not have earned the respect she deserved from the general public. But she certainly earned the attention and, for many, the respect of those in the phone and energy industries.</p><p>And for that, Californians have saved millions.</p>