Koponen

Plaintiffs Brian Koponen, Gloria Peterson and The Edith A. Hayes Trust filed suit on behalf of themselves and a class of persons similarly situated against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), a public utility, seeking damages and other relief after PG&E leased or licensed rights in easements burdening plaintiffs’ property to telecommunications companies for the purposes of installing and using fiber-optic lines. PG&E demurred, contending (1) Public Utilities Code section 1759 deprived the superior court of jurisdiction to adjudicate plaintiffs’ claims, (2) plaintiffs’ claims cannot survive the decision in Salvaty v. Falcon Cable Television (1985) 165 Cal.App.3d 798 [ 212 Cal.Rptr. 31 ] (Salvaty) and (3) the case is not suitable for class adjudication. The trial court sustained PG&E’s demurrer on the first of these grounds, ruling it had no jurisdiction over plaintiffs’ claims. Having decided the matter on that point, the court did not rule on PG&E’s other contentions, concluding they were mooted by its jurisdictional finding. The court then dismissed the complaint without leave to amend. We conclude section 1759 bars some but not all of plaintiffs’…