CPUC News Blog

The Office of the Safety Advocate (OSA) is the CPUC’s newest Division, established in Fall 2016 pursuant to legislation, to “advocate for the continuous, cost-effective improvement of the safety management and safety performance of public utilities.” OSA will participate in CPUC proceedings as an advocate on utility safety concerns to inform the official record on safety related risks and provide transparency of safety information.  OSA will also recommend improvements to the CPUC’s safety management policies, procedures, and safety culture.

Christopher Parkes was announced this week as the Director of OSA. 

Mr. Parkes joined the CPUC in 2003 as an engineer auditing and inspecting power plants in the Safety & Enforcement Division's (SED's) Electric Generation unit.  In 2013 Mr. Parkes joined SED's utility Risk Assessment Section as a senior engineer supporting safety in CPUC proceedings.  Through this experience, Mr. Parkes has developed an inquiring and creative approach to the entire panoply of safety issues, including safety management systems and the use of a safety culture to promote safety.

Mr. Parkes has a BSEE degree from UC Davis. 

• Reducing pollution from power plant carbon emissions
• Decreasing pollution-related health costs and promoting an active outdoor lifestyle
• Creating jobs and economic development

Created by the CPUC in 2011, Energy Upgrade California is a statewide customer engagement initiative to promote energy management concepts, energy efficiency actions, and clean energy opportunities for the state’s residents and businesses.

Do Your Thing Campaign
Do Your Thing is a behavior change initiative that will come to life through mass media, social media engagement, community groups, and grassroots efforts across the state. It will create awareness and educate California residents and small businesses to take simple actions that ultimately result in sustained behavior change. These actions could include:

• Unplugging home electronics when turned off (average household savings: $100 annually)
• Upgrading to LED light bulbs (average household savings: $70 annually)
• Using high-energy devices (dishwashers, air conditioners, washing machines) at low-cost times to save money and cut the user’s carbon footprint

“Do Your Thing taps into the pride, diversity and power that each California resident and small business has to create a big change for our state through smart energy use,” said California Public Utilities Commissioner Carla Peterman. “Although we lead the nation in efficiency, we must do more to reach our aggressive goals. That’s why we’re working to empower every Californian with the tools and information to become energy stewards through more efficient energy choices.”

The multi-language (English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese) Do Your Thing message will engage Californians through print, radio, TV, billboards, social media, a website, and community events.

Career Searching? Come To Our Open House!

We are hosting an Open House on Tuesday, May 23, 2017, from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. at our San Francisco office at  505 Van Ness Avenue in our Courtyard and Golden Gate rooms.

What is the Open House?

The Open House is a job recruitment event where job-seekers and potential applicants are invited to the CPUC in San Francisco for the purpose of learning about various job openings and how to apply. This is a great opportunity for candidates to learn more about the CPUC and speak with Division representatives about job vacancies they’re interested in.  Jobs are located in San Francisco, Sacramento, and Los Angeles.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for candidates with degrees and experience in the following areas:

Help Spread The Word

Please share this event’s details with others you think may be interested!

Please RSVP by Friday, May 19^th at:  https://ia.cpuc.ca.gov/rsvp/register.aspx?id=31

Our Policy and Planning Division has issued a paper that offers An Introduction to Utility Cost of Capital. The paper explains what cost of capital is, how it is calculated, and what its overall impact is to consumers.

The CPUC authorizes a utility a return high enough to attract investor capital and low enough to minimize consumer costs. The question is: What is a fair return that reasonably balances and optimizes these offsetting goals?

In addition to issuing this paper, the CPUC will hold an introductory class on this topic on June 6, 2017, in its Auditorium in San Francisco. The training will be open to the public and it will be webcast.

We have opened a penalty consideration case against Rasier-CA, providing Transportation Network Company (TNC) services as Uber, for repeated violations of our safety requirements by failure to comply with zero tolerance intoxicating substance policy rules.

Our Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division alleges that the company failed to either suspend promptly and/or investigate drivers after zero-tolerance complaints had been filed between August 12, 2014 and August 31, 2015. The Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division recommends a penalty of $1,132,500. 

The penalty consideration case, opened April 6, 2017, will determine whether Rasier committed 151 violations of zero tolerance rules, and if so, what the penalty should be. During the penalty consideration case, an Administrative Law Judge will be assigned to the case and will hear testimony from parties. Based on the record that will be developed, the Administrative Law Judge will prepare a recommendation for consideration by the CPUC’s Commissioners.

 You can subscribe to documents related to the proceeding using proceeding number I.17-04-009.