Prevailing Wages Energy Analyst - JC-395837

Energy Division/Customer Generation and Demand Response Branch/ Customer Generation Section:

The Energy Division is seeking an analyst to work on customer generation programs, with an emphasis on prevailing wage issues and consumer protection matters in the deployment of distributed energy resources. This position would serve a critical function for the CPUC by implementing new processes and rules to comply with AB 2143 (Carillo 2022) that requires the CPUC by December 31, 2023, to implement a new records retention system of prevailing wage documentation linked to specific qualified renewable electrical generation projects and any associated battery storage taking service on Net Energy Metering or Net Billing tariffs. This role will help oversee a third-party expert consultant to outreach to required reporters to accept and conduct quality controls of payroll information and ensure the information is received by the CPUC to meet legislative requirements.

 

Additionally, this role will support customers by interfacing, researching, and resolving complex customer generation inquiries related to eligibility, potential contractor fraud issues, bill disputes with the utilities, and interconnection challenges to integrating customer-sited solar and storage deployment. In addition to frequent consumer support activities, the position will also support other required consumer protection aspects in the clean energy space such as instituting a standardized solar bill savings estimate calculation methodology and continued work on a recovery fund for victims of solar fraud.

To complement the AB 2143 work outlined above, the position will also support prevailing wage components and consumer protection matters in the ongoing net billing tariff proceeding. The incumbent will likely need to facilitate ongoing meetings and other communication efforts with sister agencies such as the Department of Industrial Relations, Contractors State License Board (CSLB) and the California Workforce Development Board. Additional interagency work with CSLB and California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation (DFPI, formerly the Department of Business Oversight), will continue quarterly to discuss progress and best practices to protect California solar consumers. This position will act as the CPUC point person on this joint agency solar task force. The incumbant will oversee two semi-annual consumer protection audits involving the large electric investor-owned utilities and CSLB, annual and ad hoc revisions to the Solar Consumer Protection Guide, and implementation of Assembly Bill 1070 (2017, Gonzalez).

AB 2143 also requires the CPUC to prepare annual reports on the growth of distributed energy resources (DERs) in disadvantaged and low-income communities for residential customers. The incumbent would support the procurement, contracting and management of a one-time, third-party consultant needed to develop a reporting methodology and information analysis protocol that will ensure ongoing compliance with the new DER reporting requirements.

Under the general direction of the Program and Project Supervisor and as part of a team, the analyst will work on both policy development as well as program implementation, and collaborate with other Energy Division groups to ensure consistency and coordination across programs and policy. The analyst will conduct original research on complex and technical problems; will take responsibility in managing work products and timelines for a CPUC proceeding; organize stakeholder meetings and workshops; summarize positions on policy proposals; assist Administrative Law Judges with developing a record and drafting proceeding documents; and conduct legislative analysis on proposed bills. Incumbent must have knowledge of customer generation programs and market trends. The analyst will be expected to work with the utilities, other state agencies and outside stakeholders to ensure program administration activities are conducted in a manner consistent with Commission decisions and directives, as well as yield results that advance state policy, and ratepayer interests.

Eligibility Information can be found in the Public Utilities Regulatory Analyst Class Specifications