Dive Brief:
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A state audit of the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has found the agency has lacked transparency, has not been compliant with best practices and is, therefore, in need of reform.
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The auditor, Elaine Howle, said the CPUC must change the rules that govern when commissioners can participate in proceedings and the entities and individuals who must report private communications about those proceedings.
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The audit examined the PUC’s actions related to its own contracting and to utility contracting from 2010 through 2015.
Dive Insight:
There has been no shortage of controversies regarding California’s PUC as of late, and many have dealt with private communications and backroom dealing.
In May state regulators re-opened a case looking into secret discussions regarding the closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. And in 2014, PUC President Michael Peevey stepped down after emails between Peevey and Brian Cherry, a Pacific Gas & Electric vice president, surfaced.
A bill to reform the PUC failed earlier this month when it did not come to a vote before the legislative session ended.
But in August the state Senate passed a measure aimed at bringing more transparency to the PUC, including requirements calling for the disclosure of any ex parte communications and for violations of those rules to be potentially prosecuted.
The controversies have led to some stakeholders to challenge CPUC governance. Earlier this month, pro-nuclear nonprofit Environmental Progress filed a complaint with the regulatory body, asking it to allow California legislators to evaluate a plan to close the massive Diablo Canyon nuclear plant because, it said, the CPUC is in a "crisis of legitimacy."