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California Public Utilities Commission
Clean Energy Gatekeepers
The Most Important People You Have Never Heard Of

President, Michael R. Peevey
California Public Utilities Commission
Appointed by: Governor Gray Davis in March 2002
Reappointed by: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Term: December 2008 - 2014
 Michael Peevey: President California Public Utilities Commission
  • From 1990 – 1993 Michael Peevey was President of Edison International and Southern California Edison Company and a senior executive beginning in 1984.
  • Mr. Peevey was and continues to be a strong advocate for electricity deregulation. After leaving So Cal Edison he started his own Electric Service Provider (ESP), NewEnergy Inc., then the nation's largest energy service provider. In 1999 he sold it for about $100 million to AES Corp. of Arlington, VA, one of the biggest non-utility power generators operating in California. AES Corp is also a major coal utility and coal utility and coal mining company.
  • Peevey sits on many boards, he is chairman of the California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF) with Ralph Cavanagh (Vice Chairman), and Art Rosenfeld from the California Energy Commission (CEC).

    •     - CalCEF is a $30 million nonprofit venture capital fund formed in 2004. The Fund arose in the wake        of the California electricity crisis (which was a result of deregulation that Peevey and Cavanagh both        strongly pushed for) and the ensuing bankruptcy settlement negotiated by the California Public        Utilities Commission (CPUC) with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).
        - CalCEF’s initial funding of $30 million comes from PG&E shareholders.
        - One of the controversial investments CalCEF has made has been with CoalTek’s coal projects.
  • From 2000 - 2002 Peevey sat on Excelergy Corporation’s board of directors. Excelergy is a developer in software technology for the global energy/utility industry.


Commissioner, Dian M. Grueneich
California Public Utilities Commission
Appointed by: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Term: January 2005 -2011
 Dian M. Grueneich: Commissioner California Public Utilities Commission
  • Dian Grueneich was a former staff counsel with the California Energy Commission (CEC) from 1977-1982.
  • In 1986 she founded Grueneich Resource Advocates (GRA), her own law and consulting firm. One of GRA’s clients included the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
  • She served on the Board of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

    •     - ACEEE s a nonprofit, organization dedicated to advancing energy efficiency as a means of        promoting economic prosperity, energy security, and environmental protection.
            - ACEEE is funded by a number of private companies, nonprofit organizations, utilities, and state           agencies;
                 - PG&E, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, San Diego Gas and Electric Company, and So Cal                Edison.
                 - The CEC, which she was a former staff counsel to.
                 - The Union of Concerned Scientists.
                 - Nexant, a provider of specialized software products and engineering and consulting services to                the energy and petrochemical industries, also funds ACEEE.
                 - Nexant acquired Excelergy January 2009. Peevey was a board director to Excelergy until 2002.     - In 2008, the ACEEE awarded her the Champion of Energy Efficiency Award.
  • Grueneich was also past president on the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) board.


Commissioner, John Bohn
California Public Utilities Commission
Appointed by: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Term: May 2005 - 2011
 John Bohn: Commissioner California Public Utilities Commission
  • John Bohn was managing director of the public relations firm, Burson-Marsteller, from 1997 to 1998.

    •     - Burson-Marsteller has done work with nuclear power, coal, petroleum, and electric utilities.
        - In 1993 Burson-Marsteller led a $1.8 million campaign to defeat President Clinton's proposed BTU       tax on fossil fuels, the centerpiece of Clinton's plan to combat global warming.
        - Their clients also included Philip-Morris and Blackwater USA.
        - J. William Ichord, Sempra Energy’s vice president of government relations was the former vice       president of Burson-Marsteller.
  • From 1997 to 2000 Bohn was co-founder and executive chairman of CheMatch.com (now ChemConnect Inc. of Houston), an internet-based petrochemical trading exchange.
  • John Bohn has been chairman of GlobalNet Venture Partners since 2001, the global financial advising and consulting firm, which invests in information technology startups.

    •     - Doug Heller, from the Santa Monica – based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, stated       that Bohn “has a clear conflict of interest with his current firm.” He says that one of Bohn’s 2005       clients at GlobalNet was working on software to compile energy data that could be used by traders       like the sort who contributed to the 2000-01 energy crisis.
  • Sits on the executive committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.


Commissioner, Nancy E. Ryan
California Public Utilities Commission
Appointed by: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Term: January 2010 - 2016
 Nancy E. Ryan: Commissioner California Public Utilities Commission

  • Nancy E. Ryan is an economist and the CPUC’s lead Commissioner for developing Smart Grid, and Alternative Fueled Vehicle policies.
  • Prior to her appointment, Commissioner Ryan served as the CPUC’s Deputy Executive Director for Policy and External Relations. She joined the CPUC in 2006 as Chief Energy Advisor to President Michael R. Peevey and subsequently served as his Chief of Staff.
  • Before joining the CPUC she was Senior Economist and Deputy California Director at Environmental Defense Fund.
  • Commissioner Ryan has also worked as a consultant in the energy field and for many years taught applied economics courses at UC Berkeley.


Commissioner, Timothy Alan Simon
California Public Utilities Commission
Appointed by: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Term: February 2007
 Timothy Alan Simon: Commissioner California Public Utilities Commission
  • Prior to his appointment to the CPUC, Timothy Simon had financial troubles.

    •     - Press reports cite court documents showing Commissioner Simon filed for bankruptcy in federal       court in Oakland in 2002, when he owed more than $82,000. Included in his list of creditors was the       Internal Revenue Service, to which he owed $17,000, and the state of California, which was owed       $2,504. He also owed more than $17,000 in child support.
        - He owed more than $20,000 to a law firm. The debt may have stemmed from a lengthy divorce.
  • In January 2008 Commissioner Simon, solicited donations from companies he regulated to help pay for a nonprofit conference on green energy hosted by San Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown, documents and interviews show.

    •     - About the same time Simon was raising money from the utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Southern       California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. were petitioning the PUC to increase bonuses in       an energy-efficiency program the commission had established a few months earlier.
            - Two weeks after the conference, the three most generous corporate donors to the Willie L. Brown           Jr. Institute on Politics and Public Service -- each of which gave at least $50,000 -- won PUC           agreement to change a new energy-efficiency program as the companies had requested.
            - The commission's energy-efficiency program rewards utilities for investing in efficient equipment           and taking steps to help customers conserve fuel. Originally, the panel allowed utilities that met           85% or more of their goals to collect bonuses. In the amended rules, the commission lowered the           threshold so those meeting more than 65% of their goals would qualify for financial rewards of as           much as $176 million, according to PUC spokeswoman Terrie Prosper.
        - Before the change, companies achieving 65% to 85% of the goals would receive no bonuses. Those       that do not exceed 65% of the goals will face penalties, as they did in the original plan, starting at       $144 million.
        - Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric agreed to be       "platinum sponsors," those donating $50,000 or more, according to conference materials.

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