2025-2026 Oversight/Informational Hearings

To watch videos of all committee hearings, click on this link then search for the hearing date or the name of the committee.

2026 Hearings

May 12, 2026 -- Informational Hearing -- Enhancing California's Resiliency to Natural Catastrophes: Senate Bill 254 (2025) Study Report. Focusing on Electric Utility-Related Policy Recommendations. **VIDEO**

• Agenda
• Background
• Tom Welsh, Chief Executive Officer, California Earthquake Authority, Administrator of the Wildfire Fund
  • Senate Bill 254 Study Report
• Dr. Laurie A. Johnson, SB 254 Research Study Director, California Earthquake Authority, Administrator of the Wildfire Fund
• Andy Neal, FSA, Senior Managing Director of Public Sector Partnership, AON
• Forest Kaser, Chief Deputy Executive Director, California Public Utilities Commission
  • Senate Bill 254 Information and Recommendations
• Tony Marino, Acting Director, Office of Energy Infrastructure and Safety
  • SB 254 Resiliency Study Submission to the California Earthquake Authority
• Joy Chen, Executive Director, Every Fire Survivor’s Network
• Tyson Smith, Vice President, Law, Strategy and Policy, Pacific Gas & Electric Company
• Fernando Valero, Executive Director of Strategic Issues, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, A Member of California Municipal Utilities Association
• Mark Toney, Ph.D., Executive Director, The Utility Reform Network
• Melissa Sparks-Kranz, Legislative Advocate, League of California Cities

March 3, 2026 -- Oversight Hearing -- The California Public Utilities Commission and the Public Advocates Office Annual Update to the Legislature: Addressing Affordability by Revisiting the Economic Regulations of Investor-Owned Electric Utilities **VIDEO**

• Agenda
• Background
• Severin Borenstein, Faculty Director, Energy Institute at Haas School of Business - University of California, Berkeley
• John Reynolds, President, California Public Utilities Commission
  • CPUC 2025 Annual Report
• Linda Serizawa, Director, Public Advocates Office
  • PAO 2025 Annual Report
• Matt Freedman, Staff Attorney, The Utility Reform Network
• Travis Ritchie, Energy and Climate Research Fellow, Berkeley Law, Center for Law Energy and the Environment
  • Lower Return on Equity for Wildfire Capital Expenditures
  • Exploring the Possibility of a New CPUC Investigative Unit
• Jose Torres, Executive Director, Affordable Energy Campaign

2025 Hearings

August 19, 2025 -- Oversight Hearing -- Reliability of the Power Grid and an Update on Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant's Extended Operations **VIDEO**

• Agenda
• Background
• Silva Gunda, Vice-Chair, California Energy Commission
  • Presentation from CEC, CPUC, DWR, and CALISO
• Alice Reynolds, President, California Public Utilities Commission
• Delphine Hou, Deputy Director-Statewide Energy Office, California Department of Water Resources
• Elliot Mainzer, President/CEO, California Independent System Operator
• Maureen Zawalick, Vice President-Nuclear Business & Technical Services, Pacific Gas & Electric

March 12, 2025 -- Informational Hearing -- Regional Expansion of Wholesale Electricity Markets: An Overview of the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative **VIDEO**

• Agenda
• Background
  • July 2023 Letter to the CREPC and the WIEM from a group of Regulators for a path to electricity market inclusive of all Western states.
• Alice Reynolds, President, California Public Utilities Commission
• Siva Gunda, Vice Chair, California Energy Commission
• Elliot Mainzer, President/CEO, California Independent System Operator
• Kathleen Staks, Executive Director, Western Freedom and Co-Chair of the Pathways Initiative Launch Committee
• Linda Serizawa, Director, Public Advocates Office
• Jennifer Tanner, Leader, Indivisible California Green Team
• Michael Colvin, Director Regulatory and Legislative Affairs, Environmental Defense Fund
• Loretta Lynch, former President, California Public Utilities Commission
• Marc D. Joseph, Attorney, Coalition of California Utility Employees and the State Association of Electrical Workers
• Randy Howard, General Manager, Northern California Power Agency

February 19, 2025 -- Oversight Hearing -- The California Public Utilities Commission and the Public Advocates Office Annual Update to the Legislature: Addressing Electricity Utility Bill Affordability While Advancing the State's Clean Energy Goals. **VIDEO**

• Agenda
• Background
  • Governor's Executive Order N-5-24
• Alice Reynolds, President, California Public Utilities Commission
  • CPUC Annual Report
  • CPUC Response to Governor's Executive Order N-5-24
• David Hochschild, Chair, California Energy Commission
  • CEC Response to Governor's Executive Order N-5-24
• Linda Serizawa, Director, Public Advocates Office
  • PAO Annual Report
• Carla Peterman, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Chief Sustainability Officer, Pacific Gas & Electric
• Ashley Arax, Senior California Policy Manager, Clean Air Task Force
• Richard J. McCann, Partner, M.Cubed on behalf of the California Solar & Storage Association
• Nora Sheriff, Counsel, California Large Energy Consumers Association
• Matthew Freedman, Staff Attorney, The Utility Reform Network
• Mohit Chhabra, Senior Analyst, Regulatory and Economic Policy, Climate & Energy, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Michael Wara, Director, Climate & Energy Policy Program & Senior Research Scholar, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University