California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday named his senior energy adviser, Alice Reynolds, as the next president of the California Public Utilities Commission, a body under intense pressure to ensure resource adequacy, prevent utilities from igniting wildfires and shepherd the state through its transition to 100% clean energy by 2045.
“As my lead energy policy expert, Alice has been indispensable in our work to move California toward a cleaner, affordable and reliable energy future, navigate the bankruptcy of the state’s largest investor-owned utility [Pacific Gas and Electric] and accelerate the state’s progress toward meeting our clean energy goals, among other critical issues,” Newsom said in a statement. “I look forward to her leadership as President of the California Public Utilities Commission.”
Reynolds will replace outgoing President Marybel Batjer on Dec. 31. Batjer announced in September that she planned to step down at the end of the year with five years left in her seven-year term. (See California PUC President to Step Down.)
“I have had the privilege of serving four California governors and have given my all to public service for many decades,” Batjer wrote in a letter to CPUC staff. “I am now ready for a new challenge and adventure.”
Newsom had named Batjer, then the state’s government operations secretary, to fill out the term of retiring President Michael Picker in July 2019. He reappointed her to a full term last year.
Under Batjer’s leadership, the CPUC oversaw PG&E’s Chapter 11 reorganization and obtained greater oversight of the troubled utility, which has been blamed for starting catastrophic wildfires since 2015. The commission worked to prevent more wildfires through vegetation management and grid-hardening and to rein in the overuse of public safety power shutoffs.
The CPUC came under fire for failing to anticipate the capacity shortfalls that have plagued the state in the past two years and are expected to continue next summer. Commissioners responded by ordering record amounts of procurement, including requiring the state’s three big investor-owned utilities — PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric — to find 11.5 GW of new resources by mid-decade. (See CPUC Orders Additional 11.5 GW but No Gas.)
As adviser to Newsom since early 2019, Reynolds was instrumental in PG&E’s reorganization and in enacting a controversial measure, Assembly Bill 1054, that sought to shore up the IOUs against wildfire liability through a state insurance fund. (See Calif. Wildfire Relief Bill Signed After Quick Passage.)
Reynolds was former Gov. Jerry Brown’s senior adviser for climate, the environment and energy from 2017 to 2019 and served as deputy secretary for law enforcement and general counsel at the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) from 2011 to 2017.
A lawyer by training, she worked for two law firms from 1998 to 2001 and as a state prosecutor before taking the job with CalEPA.
Industry and environmental groups congratulated Reynolds or offered praise on her appointment after Newsom’s announcement.
“We have worked with Alice Reynolds during her years of service with Governors Brown and Newsom and believe that she is superbly qualified to lead the California PUC at a critical time,” Victoria Rome, director of California government affairs for the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a statement. “She has unmatched expertise on California energy issues. Over the next few years, the PUC will help ensure that California’s clean energy transition is built on a foundation of reliable electric service and equity.”
Others noted the difficult job ahead.
“California has a lot of work to do to make its energy more reliable, affordable, and cleaner, and we look forward to working with the CPUC to make that happen,” Advanced Energy Economy tweeted.
The state Senate must confirm Reynolds’ appointment as CPUC president, a position that pays $229,000 per year.