Letter regarding the Governor's Reorganization Plan to Create a Department of Energy  #182  June 2005

When Consumers Have Choices: The State's Role in Competitive Utility Markets #139 December 1996

After an intensive year-long study of the State's regulation of the energy and telecommunications markets, during which five days of public hearings were held and testimony was taken from 45 witnesses, the Commission concluded that the State needs to fundamentally reform its oversight of the public utility markets so that the benefits of emerging competition can be fully reaped by California consumers. In this report, the Commission presents 14 findings and 27 recommendations to assist the State in adopting its proper role in these increasingly competitive markets. In addition to defining the future roles for the Public Utilities Commission and the Energy Commission, this report recommends that the State: move the administration of energy efficiency and research and development programs to the Department of Conservation; expand the Attorney General's consumer protection and antitrust role in the energy and telecommunications markets; transfer rate setting of investor-owned water providers to the State Water Resources Control Board; and move the safety and licensing authority over transportation providers to the Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Highway Patrol.