Together, the 3 Brown appointees
provide a rare opportunity for a majority of the 5–member CPUC to be comprised
of members who take seriously the CPUC mission to provide safe and reliable
utility service at fair and reasonable prices. During the past few months
the new Commissioners have been responsible for several decisions in which the
public interest has prevailed over industry interests, including opening an
investigation of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger, rejecting a PG&E customer
service charge, and compelling utilities to share with ratepayers the benefits
of federal economic stimulus funding. During the next few months, they
will decide upon LifeLine affordability and expansion to wireless, profit rates
guaranteed to utilities, and PG&E fines for the San Bruno explosion.
Commissioner Sandoval is a law
professor specializing in telecommunications policy at Santa Clara University,
and has served as a senior manager at the FCC. She was born in East LA,
becoming the first Latina in the U.S. to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship
and the first person of Latino descent to be appointed to the CPUC.
Commissioner Florio developed his
reputation as California's foremost consumer advocate during the 33 years
(1978–2011) he worked as the senior energy attorney at TURN. He was
raised in the Midwest, became the first in his family to attend college and law
school, and is possibly the most experienced person ever appointed to the CPUC.
Commissioner Ferron has over two
decades of banking and business experience from a European perspective that
embraces the value of regulation as a balance to industry dominance. He
worked his way through school growing up in the Midwest by working in
factories, and brings to the CPUC an expertise in financial markets with a
sense of humanity.
Here are 3 sample letters of support for each of the 3 CPUC appointees up for
confirmation. Please feel free to modify anything that you desire.
Letter 1
January
11, 2012
Honorable Darrell Steinberg
Chair, Senate Committee on Rules
California State Senate
State Capitol, Room 205
Sacramento, CA 95816
Dear President pro Tempore Steinberg,
I am pleased, on
behalf of _____________________________, to submit this letter of enthusiastic
support for the confirmation of Michel Florio as Commissioner of the California
Public Utilities Commission. __________________ is a
______________________ organization that ________________________________.
Commissioner Florio offers a unique depth of experience and expertise
that qualifies him to serve as an effective CPUC Commissioner. His 33–year tenure from 1978 to 2011 as TURN
Senior Energy Attorney provides him with an exceptional appreciation of how
energy policies impact both the utility industry and everyday consumers. His expertise on the challenges of
maintaining a sustainable system of energy procurement, transmission, and
distribution was honed when he served as a member of the Board of Governors of
the California ISO from 1997 to 2005.
His reputation as a problem solver has been earned from years of
bringing together consumers, utilities, and energy generators to seek common
solutions that resulted in SB 695 reforms as well as broad–based settlements in
key energy policy procurement issues.
Commissioner Florio brings a sensibility to the CPUC rooted in community
and accomplishment. He was raised in the
Midwest as the son of a machine repairman who worked in a rock quarry. He was the first in his family to not only
receive a law degree, but to attend college at all. It seems only fitting that he was appointed
by Governor Brown as one of the most experienced regulatory experts to serve as
CPUC Commissioner in its 100–year history.
The most important reason that we support the confirmation of
Commissioner Florio is because he has demonstrated his leadership commitment to
the CPUC mission of providing safe and reliable utility service at fair and
reasonable prices. While he has had to
recuse himself from recent key votes pertaining to PG&E rate cases because
of his previous participation as a consumer attorney in those cases, recent
examples of his willingness to exercise independence from the CPUC leadership
include:
1) Commissioner Florio
joined Commissioners Sandoval
and Ferron in voting for an investigation of the impact on California
ratepayers of the proposed AT&T/T–Mobile merger, and voted against
President Peevey’s alternate proposal, which would not have analyzed the
California-specific impacts of the merger.
2) Commissioner Florio
has taken the lead in expanding CPUC oversight of gas safety, requiring
PG&E to conduct extensive pipeline inspections and document retrieval, and
reversing the policy of not fining utilities for safety violations—resulting in
a $36 million fine of PG&E for the deadly Rancho Cordova explosion.
We strongly urge that the Senate Rules
Committee recommend to the California Senate the confirmation of Michel Florio as CPUC Commissioner because
of his leadership experience, accomplishments, and willingness to defend the
public interest to deliver the cleanest energy and best phone service at the
lowest prices to consumers.
Sincerely,
(Your name)
----------------
Letter 2
January
11, 2012
Honorable Darrell Steinberg
Chair, Senate Committee on Rules
California State Senate
State Capitol, Room 205
Sacramento, CA 95816
Dear President pro Tempore Steinberg,
I am pleased, on
behalf of _____________________________, to submit this letter of enthusiastic
support for the confirmation of Catherine Sandoval as Commissioner of the
California Public Utilities Commission. __________________ is a
______________________ organization that ________________________________.
Commissioner Sandoval offers a wide range of leadership experience and
expertise that qualify her to serve as an effective CPUC Commissioner. Her positions as a professor specializing in
telecommunications law at Santa Clara University since 1994, and a senior manager
at the FCC from 1994 to 1999, provide her with a research–based expertise in
telecom policy issues. Her expertise in
energy policy issues was developed when she served as Undersecretary of the
California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency from 2001 to 2004 and
advised the Agency Secretary on energy matters when she served on the
California ISO Board of Governors.
Commissioner Sandoval brings a sensibility to the CPUC rooted in
community and accomplishment. She was
raised in East Los Angeles in a bilingual Spanish and English environment, and
became the first person in her family to graduate from a four–year
college. She is the first Latina in the
United States to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford
University. It seems only fitting that
she was appointed by Governor Brown as the first person of Latino descent to
serve as a Commissioner on the CPUC in its 100–year history.
The most important reason that we support the confirmation of
Commissioner Sandoval is because she has demonstrated her leadership commitment
to the CPUC mission of providing safe and reliable utility service at fair and
reasonable prices by casting votes different from that of the CPUC
leadership. For instance:
1) Commissioner
Sandoval joined Commissioners Simon and Ferron in voting for a CPUC Judge’s
Proposed Decision to deny a new PG&E $3 monthly customer service charge,
saving most customers $1 billion over the next 3 years, compelling President
Peevey to join the majority and withdraw his Alternate Decision to grant the
customer service charge.
2) Commissioner
Sandoval joined Commissioners Florio and Ferron in voting for a thorough
investigation of the impact on California ratepayers of the proposed
AT&T/T–Mobile merger, and against President Peevey’s alternate proposal in
which an expedited and more superficial investigation would have been
conducted.
We strongly urge that the Senate Rules
Committee recommend to the California Senate the confirmation of Catherine Sandoval to Commissioner of the
California Public Utilities Commission because of her leadership experience,
accomplishments, and willingness to defend the public interest to deliver the
cleanest energy and best phone service at the lowest prices to consumers.
Sincerely,
(your name)
----------------
Letter 3
January
11, 2012
Honorable Darrell Steinberg
Chair, Senate Committee on Rules
California State Senate
State Capitol, Room 205
Sacramento, CA 95816
Dear President pro Tempore Steinberg,
I am pleased, on
behalf of _____________________________, to submit this letter of enthusiastic
support for the confirmation of Mark Ferron as Commissioner of the California
Public Utilities Commission. __________________ is a
______________________ organization that ________________________________.
Commissioner Ferron offers a wide range of leadership experience and
expertise that qualify him to serve as an effective CPUC Commissioner. His 24 years of service as an international
banker provides him with the experience necessary to evaluate the costs and
risks associate with running a business that delivers safe and reliable utility
service. For the past two years, he has
supported the role of nonprofits in advancing positive policy reforms through
his involvement with Silicon Valley Social Ventures, a collaboration of 100
families who pool their resources to promote effective organizations. His two
decades living in Europe has given him an appreciation of the positive effects
of government regulation to provide a balance to unfettered markets.
Commissioner Ferron grew up in a small Midwestern town,
worked his way through school by cleaning up in a metals-working factory,
working grave-yard shifts at a 24/7 plastics factory and tutoring kids in
Math. He comes from a family of 5 kids, and now has 5 children of his own.
One of his chief motivations for getting involved in the work of the PUC is to
try to hand over a decent environment for children who will live with the world
we have created. It seems only fitting that Governor Brown has appointed him as a
financial markets expert with a sense of humanity to serve as CPUC
Commissioner.
The most important reason that we support the confirmation of
Commissioner Ferron is because he has demonstrated his leadership commitment to
the CPUC mission of providing safe and reliable utility service at fair and
reasonable prices by his willingness to exercise independence from the CPUC
leadership. Two recent examples include:
1) Commissioner Ferron
joined Commissioners Sandoval and Simon in voting for a CPUC Judge’s Proposed
Decision to deny a new PG&E $3 monthly customer service charge, saving most
customers $1 billion over the next 3 years, compelling President Peevey to join
the majority and withdraw his Alternate Decision to grant the customer service
charge.
2) Commissioner Ferron
joined Commissioners Sandoval and Florio in voting for a thorough investigation
of the impact on California ratepayers of the proposed AT&T/T–Mobile
merger, and and against President Peevey’s alternate proposal in which an
expedited and more superficial investigation would have been conducted.
We strongly urge that the Senate Rules
Committee recommend to the California Senate the confirmation of Mark Ferron as CPUC Commissioner of the
California Public Utilities Commission because of his leadership experience,
accomplishments, and willingness to defend the public interest to deliver the
cleanest energy and best phone service at the lowest prices to consumers.
Sincerely,
(Your name)
