The secret life of Michael Peevey - Page 8

California's top energy regulator rolls with power company executives behind the scenes

Michael Peevey, California's top utility regulator, attended several trips last year with utility executives.

Weinrub said he viewed proponents of green energy as falling into two camps: Moneyed interests motivated by a growing new market sector, and activists motivated by environmental and social justice causes. Major green investment firms "want to de-carbonize capitalism," he observed. "But everything else stays the same."

Peevey is considered a major driver behind the state's climate change legislation, and he's highly regarded for his dedication to green energy. Yet as long as the interlocking dynamic between energy regulators and California's largest utilities goes unchallenged, change will only come in a way that's as comfortable, profitable, and manageable for the state's top polluters as they wish. And in a state with an aging energy infrastructure that's vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, that pace isn't nearly quick enough.