Regulatory capture and the California Public Utilities Commission

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is a powerful body that regulates California's gas, water, electricity, and transportation sectors. The CPUC has become engulfed in a scandal that severely undermines its legitimacy. These events were touched off by a tragic gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno in 2010. The pipeline was owned by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), and the disaster revealed critical pipeline safety issues and lax CPUC regulation. Administrative law scholars have long been concerned that regulated industries can capture the agency that is supposed to regulate them. This appears to have been the case with PG&E and the CPUC. This unfortunate mess is a sobering reminder to all utility commissions that they must remain at arm's length from the utilities they regulate.