Recent years have not been kind to the California Public Utilities Commission. Two high-profile disasters—the 2010 San Bruno gas pipeline explosion, which killed eight, and the shutdown last year of the San Onofre nuclear power plant—have turned the spotlight on its oversight of the state’s two biggest utilities. The PUC doesn’t come out shining in either case. Meanwhile its jurisdiction has been systematically eroded by federal law and the advance of technology.
A convenient opportunity for reconsideration is coming. PUC President Michael Peevey’s six-year term expires at the end of this year. Peevey, 76, who is serving his second term, won’t say whether he’ll seek reappointment by Gov. Brown. But whether Brown’s choice is Peevey or someone else, the State Senate will hold hearings, and they should focus broadly on how to remake the PUC for the 21st century.
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