COVID-19 is unlike any crisis California has seen before, Edward Randolph, deputy executive director at the CPUC, said at the workshop. The agency has seen a lot of parties bring up individual problems, indicating that the customer-focused clean energy sector is facing a host of issues.
But while the agency is looking to identify solutions to the crisis, it is also prioritizing cost control. Anything that requires utilities to spend money today will ultimately end up on ratepayer bills, Randolph noted. The CPUC is already seeing the potential for rate increases of 20% and higher over the next three or four years, driven largely by wildfire mitigation costs.
