California Assemblymember Mike Gatto introduced legislation last week that would put a proposal on the November ballot to shut down the California Public Utilities Commission by 2018 and allocate its functions to other agencies. The Commission has come under increasing fire for oversight failures following the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion, the 2012 closure of the San Onofre nuclear plant and the ongoing natural gas leak at Porter Ranch. We look at this latest proposal and past attempts to reform the CPUC and what may change about the industries it regulates: electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, water and transportation.
Radical Overhaul of California Public Utilities Commission Proposed by State Lawmakers
California Assemblymember Mike Gatto introduced legislationlast week that would put a proposal on the November ballot toshut down the California Public Utilities Commission by 2018 andallocate its functions to other agencies. The Commission hascome under increasing fire for oversight failures following the 2010San Bruno pipeline explosion, the 2012 closure of the San Onofrenuclear plant and the ongoing natural gas leak at Porter Ranch.We look at this latest proposal and past attempts to reform theCPUC and what may change about the industries it regulates:electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, water andtransportation.
The California capitol dome. (David Paul Morris/Getty Images)
Guests:
Assemblymember Mike Gatto, member, California State Assembly
Mark Toney, executive director, TURN: The Utility Reform Network
Marisa Lagos, reporter, KQED's California Politics & Government Desk
Steven Weissman, lecturer at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley; former administrative law judge for the CPUC; former policy and legal advisor to three CPUC commissioners