8660 Public Utilities Commission
Program Descriptions

10 - REGULATION OF UTILITIES

The fundamental objectives of this program include ensuring customers have safe, reliable utility service at reasonable rates, protecting against fraud, and promoting the health of California's economy, which depends on the infrastructure the utilities and the PUC provide. Californians spend more than $38 billion annually for services from industries regulated by the PUC. This includes 11 electricity utilities (80 percent of electric load in California), 1,821 telecommunications carriers, 156 water and sewer utilities, and 6 natural gas utilities.

The program also includes the Division of Ratepayer Advocates, which advocates on behalf of public utility customers to obtain the lowest possible rate for service consistent with reliable and safe service levels. The Division balances the interests of all ratepayers to ensure all consumers are treated equitably. The Division is funded by the Public Utility Ratepayer Advocate Account, which funds are utilized exclusively by the Division in the performance of its duties as determined by the director.

In the area of energy regulation, the PUC has a number of programs in place to help consumers, the economy, and the environment. The PUC is working to protect the environment from climate change. The PUC is also committed to renewable power and is working to implement renewable energy goals for utilities. Through the California Solar Initiative, the PUC will provide more than $2 billion in incentives over the next several years for solar installations.

The Commission oversees the safety of electric, communications, natural gas, and propane gas utility systems and also performs operation and maintenance audits, outage inspections and investigations of incidents at electric generation facilities.

To ensure consumers have access to sufficient information to make informed telecommunications choices, the PUC created a Telecommunications Consumer Education Initiative called Cal Phone Info, designed to help consumers navigate the increasingly competitive telecommunications market and to learn how to avoid becoming victims of consumer fraud. Cal Phone Info provides consumers with information on issues such as understanding phone bills, illegal practices, buying wireless telephone service, choosing telecommunications companies and services, prepaid phone cards, and avoiding telephone fraud and misleading advertising.

The Commission also administers issuing state franchises to provide video service in California. The Commission is responsible for monitoring video service provider compliance with the anti-discrimination, anti-redlining, and build-out requirements of California's state franchise law.