In San Francisco gay political circles, PG&E has long been viewed as a pariah. So it comes as a surprise to see Evan Low, the openly gay mayor of Campbell on the Peninsula and a Democratic Party leader, appearing in an online campaign promoting the company's disputed SmartMeters.

It is just the latest example of how the company has tried to court LGBT residents as it fends off criticism from San Francisco leaders and various local officials from around the state.

Past moves have included PG&E helping LGBT agencies install solar panels to reduce electricity costs and major financial support in the losing battle to defeat Proposition 8, the ban against same-sex marriage California voters passed in 2008. PG&E's LGBT critics dubbed those efforts a "pinkwashing."

As the Political Notes first reported back in July 2008, the power company has been accused of a litany of anti-gay moves, from trying to defeat openly gay state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) in his primary race that year through a homophobic smear campaign to suspicions it was behind the ouster of Susan Leal, an out lesbian who used to head the city's Public Utilities Commission. [To read the column, visit http://ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=3211.]

This past spring PG&E once again came under assault from LGBT political leaders for its (ultimately unsuccessful) drive to pass Proposition 16 on the June primary. The ballot measure would have required cities looking to provide electricity from renewable sources to first get two-thirds majority vote approval from residents.

One of those critical of the company's move was former state Senator Carole Migden. When Migden, an out lesbian, served in the state Assembly she authored Assembly Bill 117 in 2002. The legislation gave communities the ability to procure electricity directly from electricity suppliers. Prop 16 would have made it near impossible for most cities to establish such community choice programs.

The latest contretemps between the company and city leaders has to do with its installing SmartMeters to record customers' electricity usage. The new meters have prompted complaints from thousands of the San Francisco-based company's customers who have seen their bills skyrocket once switched over to the new technology.

Several cities and counties, including Marin, have moved to ban the SmartMeters in their area, while state officials have launched an investigation into the matter, which is expected to wrap up in September.

PG&E has acknowledged there have been problems with the rollout of the SmartMeters but insists the devices work correctly nearly all the time.

"The total number of instances where we've found a customer's SmartMeter device is not measuring usage in line with accepted standards is just eight meters, out of 5.5 million. Context here is important - just eight meters out of 5.5 million," PG&E Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer Helen Burt told a state Senate panel in April. "As a result, we can say with confidence the technology at the heart of the SmartMeter program is not only sound – it is a substantial improvement over previous meters."

Criticism of the devices still persists. Last month San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, whose office successfully sued the state to overturn its anti-gay marriage statutes, petitioned the California Public Utilities Commission to immediately order PG&E to stop installing the "so-called SmartMeters" until state regulators conclude their investigation.

"Common sense should argue against installing millions of defective SmartMeters until their problems are fixed, and questions about their accuracy are fully resolved," stated Herrera in a press release his office sent out June 17. "Unfortunately, when a company lacks common sense, it means regulators need to do their job to protect the public interest. The CPUC is charged with policing utility services, and making sure that ratepayers can be confident that what they're charged for electricity service is just and reasonable. Until CPUC's investigation is concluded, prudence dictates that PG&E's ongoing SmartMeter program be halted, so we can be confident that the problems are fixed."

The state agency has yet to respond to Herrera's request, which is before an administrative law judge. In an interview with the San Jose Mercury News in July, CPUC President Michael Peevey rejected any notion that the SmartMeters' problems were a "technical glitch."

He told the paper that, "More than 6 million meters have been installed, and 99 percent of them have had no problems. The 1 percent problems that have come up are largely because of human error on the installation side more than any kind of technical glitch."

Yet Herrera spokesman Matt Dorsey noted that the company plans to install 10 million SmartMeters, so 1 percent would equal 1 million households with problematic meters.

"That is sufficient enough that the agency in charge of regulating utilities in California should halt the installation of these devices," said Dorsey. "We think it is not a big ask; we think it is a reasonable request."

While the lawyers and regulators joust, PG&E has launched its own public relations campaign to convince its customers that the SmartMeters will help them save money. It created a website at http://pge.com/smartmeter/ to counteract the negative press and respond to the criticisms.

In one video posted to the website, Low is shown touting how the SmartMeters are an advantage to PG&E's customers.

"SmartMeters work by focusing on the consumption so that the consumer really understands how much they are using and ways they can improve on their usage," says Low in the video.

Low, one of the country's youngest mayors and out politicians, is a rising star within the Democratic Party, which opposed Prop 16. Asked about his involvement in the SmartMeters PR campaign, Low told the Bay Area Reporter in an e-mailed response to questions that the company approached him to take part in it.

"PG&E asked me if I would make a comment about SmartMeters. I agreed," wrote Low, adding that he was not compensated for appearing in the video. "SmartMeters are an effective tool. The video was part of a public education campaign."

He also stressed that his support of the SmartMeters has nothing to do with the ballot fight over Prop 16. Not only did he oppose the ballot measure, said Low, he also voted against it.

"I see the issues as separate. The recent proposition is different than that of the SmartMeters," wrote Low.

Political Notes hasn't been the only one puzzled to see Low appear in the company's online campaign. Under a June 30 post titled "Watt's Up, Evan?" The Fly blog on the San Jose Inside website questioned why "the trail-blazing, openly gay mayor of Campbell [was] shilling for PG&E?"

Noting the voters' overwhelming rejection of Prop 16 – it went down to defeat with 52.5 percent of the electorate opposed to the measure – the microblog wrote, "Seems like a tricky time to be pasting a PG&E logo so close to the name of a local politician." It posited the company picked the telegenic and handsome Low because it "was looking to harness the power of a megawatt smile."

As for Herrera's office, Dorsey said it would have no comment on Low's pinch-hitting for PG&E.

"I have seen the ads. I don't know if we have a response to them," said Dorsey.

Local Dems want ENDA vote now

Following a July 1 report in the B.A.R. that it may be five years before Congress passes a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act – contrary to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-San Francisco) pledges a vote would occur prior to the fall recess – local Democratic Party officials are set to pass a resolution calling on Congress to adopt ENDA now.

Several LGBT members of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, including Gabriel Haaland and Leslie Katz, as well as Party Chair Aaron Peskin are pushing the local party's governing body to adopt the ENDA resolution at its meeting July 28. It calls on Democratic leaders and state lawmakers to demand that Congress pass ENDA this year.

The pro-gay legislation's fate, however, increasingly looks dim in this Congress. With polls showing Democrats could lose the House in November, it is unlikely Republicans would bring ENDA up for a vote, effectively killing the bill until at least 2013.

The DCCC meeting begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the State Building's basement conference room at 455 Golden Gate Avenue.

Activists will also be protesting at 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 27 outside of Pelosi's San Francisco offices inside the Federal Building at 7th and Mission streets. They are urging people to wear their work clothes in order to "send the message that the livelihood of LGBT workers across the spectrum are at risk."

The groups sponsoring the rally are SF Pride at Work, One Struggle One Fight, GetEqual, and the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club.

Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes.

Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 861-5019 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.