SACRAMENTO — Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that California Public Utilities Commission President Marybel Batjer will be retiring effective ­­­­­December 30, 2021 and named Senior Advisor to the Governor for Energy Alice Reynolds to serve as the next president of the Commission.

Batjer has served as president of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) since 2019 and was named chair of a new Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Reinvention Strike Team by the Governor. Batjer previously served as the first-ever Secretary of the California Government Operations Agency.

“Marybel stepped up early in my Administration to lend her decades of experience in government administration to better serve Californians. With her exemplary leadership, smarts, humility and commitment to public service, she has made our state stronger. She has been key to improvements at the DMV, to helping protect victims and ratepayers and pushing utilities to embrace needed reforms. I thank Marybel for her distinguished service to the people of our state and wish her well in her next chapter.”

Reynolds will begin her new role as President of the CPUC effective December 31, 2021.

“As my lead energy policy expert, Alice has been indispensable in our work to move California toward a cleaner, affordable and reliable energy future, navigate the bankruptcy of the state’s largest investor-owned utility and accelerate the state’s progress toward meeting our clean energy goals, among other critical issues. I look forward to her leadership as President of the California Public Utilities Commission,” said Governor Newsom.

Alice Busching Reynolds, 55, of Sacramento, has been Senior Advisor to the Governor for Energy since 2019. She served as Senior Advisor for Climate, the Environment and Energy in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. from 2017 to January 2019, Deputy Secretary for Law Enforcement and General Counsel at the California Environmental Protection Agency from 2011 to 2017 and Deputy Attorney General at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 2002 to 2011. Reynolds was an Attorney at Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal LLP from 1998 to 2001 and at Furth, Fahrner and Mason from 1995 to 1998. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $228,964. Reynolds is a Democrat.

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