SACRAMENTO — Last January 24, Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) introduced legislation that would stop the revolving door of employees between the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the utility companies in which they are tasked to regulate.
Since the San Bruno disaster, consumer advocates, legislators, and others have questioned whether the CPUC was properly fulfilling their responsibility to protect the public and the cozy relationship between many CPUC executives and the top brass at many of the utility companies.
“It’s time stop the fox from guarding the hen house,” said Yee. “Senate Bill 981 will rightfully end the revolving door that has existed at the CPUC for years.”
Specifically, SB 981 would prohibit a CPUC commissioner or executive employee from working at or serving as an agent of a regulated utility company for two years after leaving the CPUC. The bill would also prohibit the reverse – a regulated utility employee or agent of a utility from serving on or working for the CPUC – for a period of two years.
“The public is not served when utility executives are able to game the system from inside the Public Utilities Commission,” said Phillip Ung, Policy Advocate for California Common Cause. “This revolving door must be shuttered to prevent corruption and protect Californians.”
Newspapers throughout the state have highlighted several such cases of musical chairs.
Judy Nadler, a government ethicist at Santa Clara University, told the San Francisco Examiner in August, “The perception to the public is that insiders are making all the decisions and they’re all looking out for one another because they’re all interconnected.”
This session, Yee has also introduced SB 1000, which would subject the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to the state’s Public Records Act.
There have been several documented instances of the CPUC denying public access to safety reports, audits, and other public information. In fact, most documents at the CPUC are shielded by a secrecy statute passed in 1951 and a Commission rule adopted in the mid-1950s.
Unlike most states – as well as all other public agencies in California – CPUC keeps documents secret unless the Commission votes to allow public access.
“Californians have a fundamental right to know how their government is working,” said Yee. “As taxpayers, they should have full access to all documents and information that affects them and their families.”
“If the San Bruno disaster has taught us anything, it is that we need to be vigilant in ensuring utility companies are not endangering our communities,” said Yee. “The CPUC is supposed to be there to protect us and these bills will ensure that is the case.”
Last year, Yee passed a law that requires PG&E and other gas utility companies to install automatic and remotely-controlled shutoff valves throughout California’s pipelines.
The gas pipeline that exploded on September 9, 2010 in San Bruno was only equipped with manual shutoff valves and without a technician in the vicinity, the inferno continued for hours, killing 8 people and destroying 38 homes.
In October 2010, Yee introduced legislation that was signed into law to provide disaster relief for the affected families in San Bruno and to assist the County of San Mateo, City of San Bruno, and local schools.
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