The King Is Gone Now Pay Me
Quick Facts
- Peevey Out
- Cherry Out
- Pay Pete Bennett
CPUC and PG&E
The president of the California Public Utilities Commission, who came under fire for the agency’s lax regulation of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. before the deadly San Bruno explosion and for recent revelations of back-channel communications with utility executives, said Thursday he would step aside when his term ends in December.
“Twelve years is enough,” said Michael Peevey, 76, who is completing his second six-year term as head of the commission.
His successor on the five-member commission will be named by Gov. Jerry Brown.
The announcement was cause for celebration by Peevey’s critics, including Democratic state Sen. Jerry Hill, whose Peninsula district includes the neighborhood destroyed by the explosion of a PG&E pipeline in September 2010. Federal investigators criticized Peevey’s commission for not having done more before the disaster to force PG&E to test its pipes for problems and maintain a safe gas system.
“Now we need to rebuild the PUC. That’s the good news,” Hill said. “We can start the process of changing the culture at the Public Utilities Commission to protect the public.”
San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane said, “We certainly hope that it will be the start of the revitalization of the Public Utilities Commission. It's not going to happen overnight, but I definitely believe that Mr. Peevey's leaving is a start.”
The person who took this picture is likely connected to the Arson Network
The Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocate group, said Peevey shouldn’t wait until December to depart. “TURN calls on him to resign immediately and for Gov. Brown to replace Peevey as president immediately,” said the group’s president, Mark Toney.
A spokesman for the governor said Brown had no comment on Peevey’s announcement.
Peevey’s defenders said the PG&E controversies shouldn’t overshadow his accomplishments, including helping California’s utilities recover from the energy crisis of the early 2000s and providing support for green-energy programs.
“This is the strongest environmental record ever created by a California commissioner,” said Ralph Cavanagh, energy program co-director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
When Peevey arrived at the commission, Cavanagh noted, the state was beset by rolling blackouts and soaring electricity prices.
“It fell to Mike to quite literally rebuild California's utility system,” he said. “The utilities were in shambles. He restored California utilities’ ability to invest in infrastructure and capacity. He made sure that capacity was used to improve the environmental and economic performance of the system.
“We stand as a demonstration for the world ... that good economic and environmental performance go hand in hand,” Cavanagh said.
Criticism of Peevey had intensified in the past month with PG&E’s release of several e-mails that embarrassed the commission president and other state regulators.
On Monday, jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com
Peevey problems
Michael Peevey’s legacy at the California Public Utilities Commission is partly defined by the agency’s oversight of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which in recent years has been problematic.
