Zócalo's Connecting California
Piling on the PUC
Maybe it’s too much for one state agency to oversee everything from power delivery and wildfire prevention to railroads and phones.
By Joe Mathews • • 5m ListenThe Public Utilities Commission is the agency that Californians love to hate. And maybe that’s by intention. The PUC is saddled with an ever-expanding list of oversight responsibilities – and the complicated decisions handed down by commissioners are often universally panned. Zocalo Public Square commentator Joe Mathews says the PUC sits at the intersection of commerce and policy in California. And it’s the place where our elected officials send thorny issues that they are too timid to tackle themselves.