Charles Hua unveils PowerLines, a new coalition with a mission to accelerate access to affordable, reliable, and clean energy by modernizing the utility regulatory system, with particular attention to public utility commissions (PUCs).
Retired bank regulator here. PUCs sound exactly like bank regulators--except that banks have a habit of blowing up every 10-15 years or so, and thus occasionally get public attention.
PUC staffer here, have been for either about two years or about one week depending on how you count. Not going to address everything in this pod, but just to talk about the talent pipeline: first, a lot of the smartest people i've ever met have been commissioners and staffers, and second I got into this by accepting a DOE-sponsored fellowship out of grad school. It's a pretty small program but has been growing, and largely on the recognition that it's basically impossible to get a degree in being a PUC staffer and the initial learning curve is like el capitan. So yes there is a real push to build the state capacity mentioned, it's just been flying relatively under the radar.
I have been an Intervenor at Idaho PUC proceedings and completely agree that this effort is needed. Light should be shown on how Governors appoint PUC commissioners. Idaho Power should not be allowed to send campaign donations to legislators nor should PUC members be former legislators who have received IPC campaign contributions.
I'm a resident of California. Our PUC (the CPUC) has good visibility with both the public and the legislature, and yet, many residents are not happy with their performance..
I believe we need commissioners in the CPUC that bring varied skills and perspectives to the table. Perhaps the current composition worked well in the past but I believe we need a different set of commissioners to deal with the very fast changes in the energy space.
Currently the Governor can choose anybody for the CPUC commission. Changing this will be politically complicated but there is a precedent I like. I like the way the California Energy Commission works and I think their composition helps. The selection process is:
"The Governor appoints, with Senate confirmation, five commissioners to staggered five-year terms. The commissioners must come from and represent specific areas of expertise: law, environment, economics, science/engineering, and the public at large."
Retired bank regulator here. PUCs sound exactly like bank regulators--except that banks have a habit of blowing up every 10-15 years or so, and thus occasionally get public attention.
Well, it seems power outages are becoming more and more common, so there's the public attention
PUC staffer here, have been for either about two years or about one week depending on how you count. Not going to address everything in this pod, but just to talk about the talent pipeline: first, a lot of the smartest people i've ever met have been commissioners and staffers, and second I got into this by accepting a DOE-sponsored fellowship out of grad school. It's a pretty small program but has been growing, and largely on the recognition that it's basically impossible to get a degree in being a PUC staffer and the initial learning curve is like el capitan. So yes there is a real push to build the state capacity mentioned, it's just been flying relatively under the radar.
I have been an Intervenor at Idaho PUC proceedings and completely agree that this effort is needed. Light should be shown on how Governors appoint PUC commissioners. Idaho Power should not be allowed to send campaign donations to legislators nor should PUC members be former legislators who have received IPC campaign contributions.
I'm a resident of California. Our PUC (the CPUC) has good visibility with both the public and the legislature, and yet, many residents are not happy with their performance..
I believe we need commissioners in the CPUC that bring varied skills and perspectives to the table. Perhaps the current composition worked well in the past but I believe we need a different set of commissioners to deal with the very fast changes in the energy space.
Currently the Governor can choose anybody for the CPUC commission. Changing this will be politically complicated but there is a precedent I like. I like the way the California Energy Commission works and I think their composition helps. The selection process is:
"The Governor appoints, with Senate confirmation, five commissioners to staggered five-year terms. The commissioners must come from and represent specific areas of expertise: law, environment, economics, science/engineering, and the public at large."