Energy Division

About the CPUC Energy Division

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) regulates privately owned utilities -- Our commissioners and staff are dedicated to ensuring that Californians have safe, reliable utility service at reasonable rates, protecting against fraud and promoting the health of California’s economy. (See About the CPUC) Within the CPUC, the Energy Division support the commission’s regulation of investor-owned utilities in the energy sector – including electric, natural gas, steam and petroleum pipeline companies.

Energy Division develops and administers energy policy and programs to serve the public interest, advises the Commissioners, and ensures compliance with the Commission decisions and statutory mandates. With approximately 300 staff of analysts, engineers, and administrative personnel, the Energy Division team provides objective and expert analyses that promote reliable, safe, and environmentally sound energy services at lowest reasonable rates for the people of California. We support Commissioners, advisors, and Administrative Law Judges by reviewing utility filings, conducting research, and preparing resolutions for consideration by the Commission.

Examples of Key Energy Division Program and Policy Areas

• Energy Division staff oversee California’s nation-leading efforts related to clean energy – including renewable energy, storage, energy efficiency, distributed energy resources, and demand response.

• Through General Rate Cases and other ratemaking proceedings, our staff review all utility proposals related to capital investments and grid operations, as well as proposals related to customer rates known as tariffs.

• Our staff oversee policies related to customer programs such as energization and income-qualified programs and rate structures, including rate discount programs, bill payment assistance program, weatherization, and energy retrofit programs.

• Energy Division staff administer programs related to ensuring grid reliability, including resource adequacy, integrated resource planning for generation and transmission planning, distribution grid planning and modernization, interconnection of new resources, as well as microgrids and resiliency. 

• California ratepayers are represented by Energy Division staff in proceedings at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), in particular related to transmission ratemaking, transmission planning, wholesale market design, and federal reliability standards.

• Through gas proceedings, our natural gas teams focus on gas infrastructure investments, gas safety, and natural gas ratemaking.

• Energy Division’s building and vehicle electrification teams support decarbonization of the building and transportation sectors.

• Our division supports the entire Commission’s environmental permitting work as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), in particular for transmission and broadband permitting.

• The Energy Division implement a number of climate initiatives, including work related to research and development programs, the California Climate Credit, and climate resiliency.  

Every part of this work contributes to California’s statewide goals: building a reliable, affordable, and carbon‑free electric grid while supporting community resilience and equitable access to clean energy.

To learn more about Energy Division’s work, please visit our CPUC Annual Reports page, which highlights major accomplishments and ongoing initiatives.

See the Energy Division Functional Organizational Chart and Personnel Organizational Chart

Jobs in the Energy Division:

• Learn more about recruiting in the Energy Division
• Learn more about internships in the Energy Division

Contact Us

• Energy Division Inbox for General Inquiries
• Look up a staff member in our staff directory  
• Look up the CPUC address
• For media inquiries, contact our External Affairs Division: Terrie Prosper, tdp@cpuc.ca.gov  
• Contact our Office of Governmental Affairs Liaison for Legislation-related questions: Leo Stiles, lsi@cpuc.ca.gov
• Contact our International Liaison for questions related to international partnerships or delegations: Clint Chan, ccd@cpuc.ca.gov
• Contact our Speakers Bureau to request a speaker at your event
• Contact the Public Advisor's office for information about how to participate in our proceedings
• Contact the Consumer Affairs Branch for information about how to file a informal complaint  

Lead Staff

Deputy Executive Director for Energy and Climate Policy

• Le-Quyen Nguyen, ln4@cpuc.ca.gov

Office of Distributed Energy Resources, Natural Gas & Retail Energy Rates

• Director - Kerry Fleisher, kf5@cpuc.ca.gov

Office of Electricity Supply, Planning & Cost

• Director - Molly Sterkel, mts@cpuc.ca.gov

Office of Distributed Energy Resources, Natural Gas & Retail Energy Rates 

Energy Efficiency Branch | Jeorge Tagnipes, jst@cpuc.ca.gov

• Emerging Trends Section, Hal Kane, hk1@cpuc.ca.gov
• Procurement & Portfolio Management Section, Coby Rudolph, jao@cpuc.ca.gov
• Evaluation Analytics Section, Jonathan Taffel, jtf@cpuc.ca.gov
• Planning & Forecasting Section, Leanne Hoadley, lhy@cpuc.ca.gov

Building Decarbonization & Gas Policy Branch | Bruce Kaneshiro, bsk@cpuc.ca.gov

• Renewable Gas & CTA Oversight Section, Jason Orta, oj1@cpuc.ca.gov
• Building Decarb & Renewable Gas Section, Nick Zanjani, nkz@cpuc.ca.gov
• Natural Gas Policy and Reliability Section, Jean Spencer, js5@cpuc.ca.gov
• Gas & Oil Pipeline Costs and Rates Section, Devla Singh, dsc@cpuc.ca.gov

Customer Generation & Demand Response Branch | Dan Buch, db1@cpuc.ca.gov

• EPA for All / DER Analysis Section, Vacant
• Demand Response Section, Maryam Mozafari, mm5@cpuc.ca.gov
• Customer Generation Section, Tory Francisco, tnf@cpuc.ca.gov

Electric Rates Branch | Khalil Johnson, kjo@cpuc.ca.gov

• Electric Retail Rates Section, Paul Phillips, psp@cpuc.ca.gov
• Rates Discount Section, Ankit Jain, aj7@cpuc.ca.gov
• Rates Analysis Section, Achintya Madduri, pmu@cpuc.ca.gov

Distribution Planning Branch | Matthew Coldwell, mtc@cpuc.ca.gov

• Interconnection & Distribution Engineering Section, Caitlin Pollock, cp9@cpuc.ca.gov
  
• Grid Planning, Energy Storage & Non-Wires Alternatives Section, Gabriel Petlin, gp1@cpuc.ca.gov  
• Grid Resiliency & Microgrids Section, Jason Ortego, jo4@cpuc.ca.gov
• Transportation Electrification Section, Em Traux, em.traux@cpuc.ca.gov

Office of Electricity Supply, Planning & Costs

Electric Costs & Retail Choice Branch | Michele Kito, mk1@cpuc.ca.gov 

• Electric Costs and Accountability Section, Franz Cheng, fcc@cpuc.ca.gov
• Electric General Rate Case Section, Jason Symonds, jso@cpuc.ca.gov
• Retail Choice Section, Dina Mackin, dm1@cpuc.ca.gov
• Utility Costs and Compliance Section, David Zizmor, dz1@cpuc.ca.gov
• Energy Cost Reporting & Tracking Section, Karin Sung, ksn@cpuc.ca.gov

Electric Planning & Market Design Branch | Nathan Barcic, nb1@cpuc.ca.gov

• Integrated Resource Planning Section - Planning Track, Amin Younes, ayu@cpuc.ca.gov
• Integrated Resource Planning Section - Program Compliance, Christine Root, cro@cpuc.ca.gov
• Integrated Resource Planning Section - Transmission and Interconnection, Neil Raffan, nr2@cpuc.ca.gov
  
• Resource Adequacy and Procurement Oversight Section, Jaime Rose Gannon, jrg@cpuc.ca.gov
• Energy Resource Modeling Section, Donald Brooks, dbr@cpuc.ca.gov

CEQA and FERC Branch | Paula Gruendling, pg1@cpuc.ca.gov

• Infrastructure Planning & CEQA Section, Roxanne Henriquez, rhe@cpuc.ca.gov
• CEQA Broadband Section, Quint Chemnitz, qc1@cpuc.ca.gov
  
• CEQA Energy & Permitting Section, Michelle Wilson, mwi@cpuc.ca.gov
• FERC Cost Recovery Section, Simon Hurd, sh6@cpuc.ca.gov

Climate Initiatives, Renewables, & Administration Branch | Judith Ikle, jci@cpuc.ca.gov

• Renewables Procurement Section, Cheryl Lee, cnl@cpuc.ca.gov
• Climate and Equity Initiatives Section, Cheryl Cox, cxc@cpuc.ca.gov
• Budget & Tariff Section, Matthew Iribarne, mti@cpuc.ca.gov
• Personnel & Administration Section, Delia Drake, ddr@cpuc.ca.gov
• Budget & Administration Section, Medea Tsitskishvili, mtk@cpuc.ca.gov