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Consumer advocate seeks clearer agency roles; PUC and DOE caution about stripping investigatory authority
Summary
The Office of the Consumer Advocate asked legislators to reassign investigatory and policy duties to the Department of Energy and limit the Public Utilities Commission to adjudicative roles; the PUC and DOE warned that the proposed change would strip essential investigative authority and raise costs and enforcement risks.
The Office of the Consumer Advocate asked the committee to clarify statutory roles between the Department of Energy and the Public Utilities Commission with House Bill 535, arguing that the 2021 reorganization left ambiguous authority and resulted in procedural inefficiencies that increase costs for ratepayers.
Consumer Advocate Donald Kreese told the committee that experience since the split has shown the DOE and the PUC “talking past each other,” and he recommended statutory language that narrows the commission’s role to adjudication and assigns investigatory and policy authority to the Department of Energy. Kreese cited several pending dockets where he said procedural uncertainty, differences in evidentiary handling and slow resolution raised costs.
PUC representatives opposed the proposal. Senior adviser Alexander Spadell and Commissioner Mark Delafano said the commission’s long‑standing investigatory and supervisory authorities (in place since 1911) are central to its ability to regulate public utilities and that removing them without a compensatory record‑making function would hamper the commission’s capacity to determine if settlements are "just and reasonable." Delafano also warned the bill would invert burdens on settlement approval and leave the commission without staff or statutory tools to develop a record showing a settlement was contrary to law.
The Department of Energy told the committee it is neutral on the bill but raised implementation concerns. Deputy Commissioner Chris Elms noted the legislature deliberately included overlapping duties and safeguards in the 2021 reorganization; DOE testimony said completely removing PUC authorities without a careful transition would increase costs and risk leaving enforcement gaps — for example in DigSafe (underground damage prevention) and pipeline safety — because the DOE currently resolves many matters informally that would become adjudicated proceedings under HB 535.
The committee did not vote on the bill at the hearing. Lawmakers asked for more specific fiscal information and flagged the need to examine the practical staffing and procedural consequences of any statutory change.
