The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) regulates services and utilities, protects consumers, safeguards the environment, and assures Californians’ access to safe and reliable utility infrastructure and services.

• Energy -- The CPUC regulates investor-owned electric and natural gas utilities. The CPUC ensures the reliability and safety of electric and natural gas systems, and works to advance renewable energy and climate goals.

• Transportation -- The CPUC oversees the safety of railroads and rail transit systems, for-hire passenger carriers (limousines, airport shuttles, charter and scheduled bus operators) and Transportation Network Companies (Lyft, Uber).

• Telecommunications -- The CPUC develops and implements policies for the telephone communications and broadband markets, including ensuring fair, affordable universal access to necessary services.

• Water -- The CPUC is responsible for ensuring that investor-owned water utilities deliver clean, safe, and reliable water to their customers at reasonable rates.

<Source: CPUC>

• Alice Busching Reynolds was appointed to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) as President by Governor Gavin Newsom on Nov. 22, 2021, effective Dec. 31, 2021. She was confirmed as a CPUC Commissioner by the State Senate on August 17, 2022.

Before her appointment, President Reynolds served three years as Governor Gavin Newsom’s senior advisor for energy. From 2011 to January 2019, she served in the administration of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., most recently as the Governor’s senior advisor for climate, the environment and energy and previously as chief counsel and deputy secretary for law enforcement at the California Environmental Protection Agency. During her time at CalEPA, she coordinated statewide multi-agency environmental enforcement actions and led the creation of the agency’s environmental justice task force and refinery safety task force. President Reynolds began her public service career in 2002, serving approximately 10 years as a deputy attorney general in the California Attorney General’s Office, where she litigated cases involving protection of public trust lands, coastal resources and public access, and other environmental issues. Prior to entering public service, President Reynolds was a lawyer in private practice in San Francisco. President Reynolds holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a juris doctor degree from Santa Clara University School of Law where she graduated magna cum laude.

• Genevieve Shiroma was appointed to the CPUC by Governor Newsom on Jan. 22, 2019. Prior to joining the CPUC, Commissioner Shiroma served as a member of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board from 1999 to 2019, serving as chair from 1999 to 2006, 2011 to 2014, and 2017 to 2019. Previously, she was Chief of the Air Quality Branch at the California Air Resources Board from 1990 to 1999, an air quality supervisor from 1984 to 1990, and an air quality engineer from 1978 to 1984. From 1999 to 2018, Commissioner Shiroma was elected director of Ward 4 of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) for five terms.
  Commissioner Shiroma is presently the lead Commissioner for more than 70 formal proceedings spanning the regulated electricity, gas, telecommunications, transportation, and water industries.

Commissioner Shiroma resides in Sacramento and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of California, Davis. She was born and raised as a farm worker’s daughter in the Acampo-Lodi area of San Joaquin County.

• Commissioner Darcie L. Houck was appointed to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) by Governor Gavin Newsom on Feb. 9, 2021. She formerly served as Chief Counsel for the California Energy Commission since 2019.

Commissioner Houck was an Administrative Law Judge at the CPUC from 2016 to 2019, a Partner at Fredericks Peebles & Morgan from 2005 to 2016, and Staff Counsel and Policy Advisor at the California Energy Commission from 2000 to 2005.

Commissioner Houck has expertise in environmental equity, nuclear energy regulation, and safety policy matters. She has an extensive background representing Native American tribes throughout the country on matters involving energy, natural resources, land claims, and water rights.

Commissioner Houck is a member of the California Indian Law Association, California Lawyers Association, Schwartz-Levi Inn of Court, Women Lead and the Association of Women in Water, Energy, and Environment. She earned a law degree from the University of California and a Master of Science in community development.

• Commissioner John Reynolds was appointed to the CPUC by Governor Gavin Newsom on Dec. 23, 2021, and reappointedon Dec. 22, 2022.

Prior to his appointment to the CPUC, Commissioner Reynolds served as Managing Counsel at Cruise LLC since 2019. Prior to that, he held multiple positions at the CPUC, including Interim Chief of Staff to Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma in 2018, Advisor to former Commissioner Carla J. Peterman from 2015 to 2018, and Public Utilities Counsel from 2013 to 2015. Commissioner Reynolds has a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco.

• Commissioner Karen Douglas was appointed to the CPUC by Governor Gavin Newsom on Dec. 22, 2022.

Commissioner Douglas was previously Senior Advisor for Energy in the Office of Governor Newsom since 2022. She was a California Energy Commission Member from 2008 to 2022. She was Director of the California Climate Initiative for the Environmental Defense Fund from 2005 to 2008. She held several positions at the Planning and Conservation League from 2001 to 2005, including Acting Executive Director and General Counsel. Commissioner Douglas earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School and a Master of Public Policy degree in Environmental Policy from the University of Colorado Boulder.