<!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ --></p> <p>from <a href=""https://calmatters.org/author/malena-carollo/"" title=""Posts" by="" malena="" carollo="" class=""author" url="" fn="" rel=""author"">Malena Carolo</a>CalMatters</p> <p>This story was originally published by <a href=""https://calmatters.org/"">CalMatters</a>. <a href=""https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/"">Sign up</a> for their newsletters.</p> <p>The state’s main utility regulator is under new leadership. This week, Gov. Gavin Newsom promoted Commissioner John Reynolds to president of the California Public Utilities Commission as part of a “new phase” of Newsom’s efforts to address sky-high electricity bills. </p> <p>Former president Alice Reynolds will be reappointed later this month to a position on the board of governors at California Independent Systems Operator. The two Reynolds are not related. </p> <p>“The appointment underscores a renewed focus on reducing costs and improving productivity as extreme heat, the risk of wildfires and improvements to the power grid place new demands on the system,” Newsom’s office said in <a href=""https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/02/18/governor-newsom-names-new-california-public-utilities-commission-president-to-launch-new-phase-in-effort-to-protect-consumers-from-escalating-utility-costs/"">press release</a>. </p> <p>Reynolds’ focus in the position, the release said, will include reducing utility bills through oversight, ensuring that money spent on infrastructure doesn’t get stuck in affordability and ensuring that “utilities deliver results for ratepayers — without slowing down the progress of clean energy in California.”</p> <p>California has a mandatory goal of reaching 100% carbon-free energy by 2045. At the same time, the state’s residents pay the second-highest electricity rates in the US after Hawaii. <a href=""https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/11/electric-bills-will-not-reflect-historically-low-profit-margins/"">according to the latest data</a> from the US Energy Information Administration</p> <p>Reynolds was appointed by Newsom to the Utilities Commission first in 2021 and again in 2022. Before that, he was a managing advisor to the autonomous vehicle company Cruise. Reynolds was criticized in 2023 for his time on Cruise, when safety incidents led the International Brotherhood of Crew to <a href=""https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/transit/teamsters-call-for-cpuc-commissioner-john-reynolds-to-resign/article_70015bb4-83e2-11ee-aaf3-ff2f2ef39ed1.html"">called for his resignation</a> and for regulators to revoke Cruise’s autonomous vehicle permits. The commission oversees aspects of autonomous vehicle regulation in California.</p> <p>Outgoing President Reynolds was appointed to the commission’s leadership position in late 2021 after three years as Newsom’s senior energy adviser. Newsom called her “one of my most trusted advisers on energy policy” in his announcement.</p> <p>Newsom also this week appointed Christine Harada to the board to fill the vacant commissioner seat. Most recently, Harada served as deputy secretary of the California Government Operations Agency and was a senior advisor in former President Joe Biden’s Office of Management and Budget. </p> <p>This article was <a href=""https://calmatters.org/economy/2026/02/cpuc-gets-new-president-amid-cost-cutting/"">originally published on CalMatters</a> and is republished under <a href=""https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives</a> license.</p> <p> Copy the HTML
