Newsom Installs John Reynolds as CPUC President, Framing Affordability and Wildfire Spending Oversight as Top Priorities

Governor Gavin Newsom announced the designation of current CPUC Commissioner John Reynolds as the next President of the agency, succeeding Alice Reynolds, who will step down later this month and join the California Independent System Operator’s Governing Board.

John Reynolds' designation requires Senate confirmation. He has served as Commissioner since 2022 and held multiple staff roles at the agency from 2013–2018.

Newsom also appointed Christine Harada as a new CPUC Commissioner and highlighted the recent selection of Leuwam Tesfai as Executive Director, framing the leadership changes as part of an affordability and reliability agenda focused on:

• Lowering utility bills;
• Strengthening wildfire safety investments;
• Modernizing the grid; and
• Advancing the state’s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2045.

The administration emphasized continued oversight of utility spending, rate reforms, and major investments in grid hardening and storage, alongside a new law providing up to $60 billion in electricity bill refunds through 2045.

INSTANT ANALYSIS

This leadership transition places a Newsom-aligned insider atop the CPUC at a moment when affordability pressure is colliding with aggressive clean-energy procurement and wildfire spending.

Expect continuity rather than disruption: stronger scrutiny of utility capital plans, heightened focus on rate impacts, and sustained emphasis on grid hardening, storage deployment, and liability mitigation. For regulated utilities and load-serving entities, the practical effect is a Commission likely to press harder on cost justification and performance metrics while still advancing reliability and decarbonization mandates.

Alice Reynolds’ move to the CAISO Governing Board brings closer policy alignment between the CPUC and the grid operator, which could smooth coordination on procurement, transmission planning, and reliability rules but may also concentrate influence within the Governor’s energy apparatus.

Christine Harada’s appointment adds federal permitting experience, suggesting attention to infrastructure delivery.

CRI readers should anticipate an affordability-framed regulatory phase of the Commission with assertive oversight of wildfire and grid investments, not a retreat from the state’s long-term clean-energy buildout.