About the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)

The CPUC’s core values create an environment where everyone belongs, contributes, and thrives by setting standards that guide inclusive behavior and builds a culture of integrity, and excellence. We build stronger relationships, make better decisions, and achieve greater outcomes with a united purpose, working with CPUC employees, commissioners, volunteers, and Californians to provide affordable, clean, and reliable utility services.

These core values promote engagement, collaboration, productivity, and retention which are key to our success. They uphold a standard of who we are and aspire to be at the Commission by taking fair, inclusive, and equitable actions to drive meaningful change. These ideals are integrated into every aspect of the agency’s work with careful thought about people feeling valued, seen, and heard. The values apply to all CPUC employees and commissioners as a shared mission.

Accountability: Operating with transparency and accepting responsibility for our actions.

We hold ourselves accountable when we:

• Take ownership and get the job done, showing leadership and courage.
•  Provide transparency to enable public scrutiny.
• Admit our mistakes and learn from them.
• Evaluate project processes and outcomes to identify areas for improvement.
• Meet commitments by engaging the necessary resources and working collaboratively with other groups.

Excellence: Striving to achieve exceptional performance by consistently delivering quality work in a timely manner.

We strive for excellence when we:

• Take pride in our work and continually seek to improve and welcome new challenges.
• Produce well-reasoned, evidence-based decisions, resolutions, and other work products.
•  Work with initiative and creativity across programs and divisions to achieve agency objectives.
•  Contribute to providing an open, fair, timely, and inclusive process.

Inclusion: Respecting everyone’s perspectives and experiences in our workplace and the communities we serve for all to thrive.

We become inclusive when we: 

• Listen with intent. Seek out different viewpoints that may challenge our own. Listen to understand, not just to respond.
• Create space for all voices. Invite all member to participate, and ensure ideas are acknowledged and credited.
• Show respect in every interaction. Treat colleagues, customers, partners, and community members with dignity, empathy, and professionalism.
• Be curious, not assumptive. Ask questions, learn from one another, and remain open to perspectives shaped by different backgrounds and experiences. Act with fairness. Make decisions that are equitable and transparent, and consider how policies, processes, programs, and behaviors affect others.

Integrity: Behaving in an open, honest, trustworthy manner, both professionally and personally.

We act with integrity when we:

• Conduct our work objectively and place the public interest above personal interest.
•  Behave professionally, displaying good character and high ethical principles.
• Treat everyone with courtesy and dignity, build relationships based on trust, and respect others’ time.

Open Communication: Exchanging information, thoughts and concerns in an open, timely manner.

We communicate effectively when we:

• Listen to, and communicate with, others with an open mind, caring attitude, and respectful tone.
•  Solicit input from those with relevant expertise before making decisions.
•  Acknowledge limitations and request assistance when necessary.
• Respond to internal and external stakeholders with relevant and timely information.

Stewardship: Serving as responsible caretakers of the human, financial, information, and natural resources entrusted to us.

We engage in responsible stewardship when we:

• Act with a commitment to the health and safety of Californians and the preservation of the natural environment.
• Design and implement public policies that promote California’s environmental sustainability goals.
• Allocate resources to high-priority objectives that deliver real value to Californians.
• Seek and employ contributions from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.

This statement is intended to capture the values of the Commission and to remind us all to conduct ourselves in ways that makes us worthy of trust and respect. The values do not supersede or replace the policies and laws to which each employee is subject, nor do they alter any Memorandum of Understanding. To the extent that there is a conflict, the memorandum of understanding, policy, or law will govern.

The California Public Utilities Commission betters the lives of all Californians through our recognized leadership in innovative communications, energy, transportation, and water policies and regulation.

Read about our strategic planning initiative.