CPUC workshop examines how to adapt large-utility safety-culture framework for small utilities

The California Public Utilities Commission’s Safety Policy Division hosted a workshop to consider how the safety‑culture assessment framework adopted for large investor‑owned utilities should be adapted for small and multi‑jurisdictional gas and electric utilities and independent gas storage operators. Ben Menzies, an advisor to Commissioner Darcy Houck, opened the session and said safety culture “is a top priority for the commission,” noting the proceeding aims to produce assessments that are reasonable, feasible and promote accountability.

Carolina of the Safety Policy Division presented the framework the commission adopted and described its main features: goals and guiding principles, working definitions of safety and safety culture, a normative framework adapted from U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and INPO traits, a comprehensive assessment cycle intended once every four years, interim self‑improvement evaluations, and a safety‑culture working group for collaborative refinement. Carolina emphasized that the CPUC’s definition treats safety culture as a subset of…