California Public Utilities Commission

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC or PUC) is a regulatory agency that regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies. In addition, the CPUC regulates common carriers, including household goods movers, limousines, rideshare services (§ Transportation network companies), self-driving cars, and rail crossing safety. The CPUC has headquarters in the Civic Center district of San Francisco, and field offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento.

On April 1, 1878, the California Office of the Commissioner of Transportation was created. During the 19th century, public concerns over the unbridled power of the Southern Pacific Railroad grew to the point that a three-member Railroad Commission was established, primarily to approve transportation prices. However, the Southern Pacific quickly dominated this commission to its advantage, and public outrage re-ignited. As experience with public regulation grew, other common utilities were brought under the oversight of the Railroad Commission.

On March 3, 1879, the Constitution of California was adopted by constitutional convention and was ratified by the electorate on May 7, 1879, and included provisions relating to Railroad Commissioners in article XII. On April 15, 1880, the Board of Railroad Commissioners was created. On March 20, 1909, the Railroad Commission of the State of California replaced these other entities. On February 9, 1911, the California Legislature passed the Railroad Commission Act reorganizing the Railroad Commission.

On March 24, 1911, the California Legislature proposed a constitutional amendment giving it constitutional status, which was ratified by the electorate on October 10, 1911. On June 16, 1945, a constitutional amendment was proposed by the legislature to rename the Railroad Commission as the California Public Utilities Commission, which was ratified by the electorate on November 5, 1946.

As a result of the amendment, the Constitution of California declares that the Public Utilities Code is the highest law in the state, that the legislature has unlimited authority to regulate public utilities under the Public Utilities Code, and that its provisions override any conflicting provision of the State Constitution which deals with the subject of regulation of public utilities. In 2013 and 2014, the Office of State Audits and Evaluations (OSAE) audited the CPUC budgeting practices and found significant weaknesses in the CPUC's budget operations. As a result, the CPUC could not assess whether transportation and utility companies are over or under charging ratepayers for user fees. Additionally, the CPUC did not know if user fees were spent on the programs they were collected for. The CPUC did not regularly audit public utilities to ensure the fees they collect from ratepayers were accurately paid to CPUC. Additionally, the CPUC did not consistently pursue delinquent user fees it was aware of, that utility companies collected.

In October 2014, Commission President Michael Peevey decided to step down at the upcoming end of his second six-year term in December. The agency had an apparent cozy relationship with Pacific Gas & Electric, a utility whose gas line exploded in San Bruno killing eight people in 2010. His home in the Los Angeles suburb of La Cañada Flintridge was searched by criminal investigators in January 2015.

In 2020, external auditors from Sjoberg Evanshenk Consulting delivered a series of reports commissioned by the CPUC for roughly $250,000. These reports reaffirmed continued weak budgeting practices and further discovered that approximately $200 million due from utility companies, including $50 million past due since 2017, with portions dating back as far as the 1990s. In February 2021, OSAE reaffirmed these findings, in response to a whistle blower complaint by former Executive Director, Alice Stebbins.

In December 2020, Alice Stebbins was dismissed from the position of executive director after allegedly "violating state personnel rules" and misleading "the public by asserting that as much as $200 million was missing from accounts intended to fund programs for the state’s blind". However, "Bay City News Foundation and ProPublica found that Stebbins was right about the missing money."