CPUC REFORM PACKAGE REVEALED

East County News Service

Photo:  San Bruno pipeline explosion in 2010, Creative Commons image by MisterOh

August 15, 2016 (Sacramento) - Governor Jerry Brown and Assemblyman Mike Gatto, Chair of the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee, have announced an agreement to extensively reform the California Utilities Commission with an aim to improve how the state’s utility regulators service the public.

Assemblyman Gatto, a Los Angeles Democrat, has released language for his reform measure, Assembly Bill 2903.

Combined with Senate Bill 215 (Leno) and Senate Bill 512 (Hill), these bills represent the reform package negotiated between Gatto and the administration.

The CPUC has been riddled by scandals in recent years, including revelations that some commissioners engaged in illegal back-door dealings or “ex parte” communications with the utilities they were supposed to regulate, including discussions on the deadly San Bruno pipeline explosion and charging ratepayers for shutdown costs of the San Onofre nuclear facilities.

Gatto’s reforms aim to increase safety, accountability, and oversight by creating a centralized, independent “Ethics Ombudsperson” – to whom any CPUC employee or member of the public can contact. The Ombudsperson will also be responsible for enhanced ethics training for all CPUC staff and commissioners, on everything from gift and travel ethics to ex parte communication compliance.

His bill would also create a Deputy Executive Director for Safety with absolute authority to “red flag” any unsafe facility, process, or activity. 

It would further establish cross-agency training procedures with other agencies (such as the California Air Resources Board and the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources) to foster coordinated efforts, exchange information, and facilitate cultural change at the CPUC.

The measure will also transfer several transportation and enforcement responsibilities of the CPUC to departments within the California State Transportation Agency.  For example, oversight of airport shuttles, moving truck companies, transportation network companies, and charter buses will be moved to the State Transportation Agency.  Rail crossing inspections and rail transit will be done in coordination with the agency.

The California Research Bureau will be required to conduct a comprehensive study by January 1, 2018 to assess whether the CPUC’s telecommunications functions should be transferred to another agency.  The study will focus on consumer services as a top priority to ensure continued quality service from telecommunication companies. 

Assemblyman Gatto states, “The reforms in this package overhaul the CPUC and subject it to more transparent good-government principles. It will now be able to focus on the things that are most important to Californians and our communities – safety, the environment, and keeping utility rates low.  These three pieces of legislation are just the beginning to restoring the public’s trust in our commission.”