States: California enacts laws reforming utilities commission

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) Sept. 29 signed into law a package of bills to bolster the transparency, accountability and oversight of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), following several scandals in recent years in which a commissioner and several staffers engaged in illegal and unethical communications with utility officials who they are charged with regulating. “These important reforms cannot wait another year,” Brown said in a signing message with the enactment of the bills. “To that end, I am...