2025 Shultz Energy Fellowships: California Public Utilities Commission, Office of Commissioner John Reynolds
Regional-, state-, and city-level efforts are essential in our fight against climate change, especially in the field of energy. Stanford University is committed to helping by integrating its students into energy and climate ecosystems in the West through the Shultz Energy Fellowships program, an energy-related summer fellowship program for undergraduate and graduate students.
Named in honor of former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, one of the most widely admired American public servants of the past half-century, the program offers a suite of paid, energy-related public service fellowships for Stanford students in California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and Hawaii during the summer.
The fellowships run from Monday, June 23 to Friday, August 29, 2025.
Organization/Agency mission or role in state government
California has been a global leader in implementing laws to reduce the causes and impacts of climate change. It also has been a leader in supporting climate research which has forecasted increasing threats and impacts from wildfires in the coming decades.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is one of the most influential regulatory agencies in the state. The CPUC regulates privately owned electric, natural gas, telecommunications, water, railroad, rail transit, and passenger transportation companies, in addition to authorizing video franchises. Our five Governor-appointed Commissioners, as well as our staff, are dedicated to ensuring that consumers have safe, reliable utility service at reasonable rates; protecting against fraud; and promoting the health of California's economy.
As a regulator of the investor-owned utilities (IOUs), the CPUC has oversight of how electricity providers build safe infrastructure, procure renewable resources and deliver affordable and reliable electric service with a commitment to environmental enhancement and a healthy California economy.
Assignment
The Office of Commissioner John Reynolds at the California Public Utilities Commission is seeking support from a Shultz Energy Fellow on the following potential research projects:
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High Electrification/ Vehicle Electrification Research Project: States across the US are grappling with how to plan for increased electric load, driven by data centers as well as individual state climate policies and expanding vehicle electrification. How are other jurisdictions tackling increased costs for transmission and particularly distribution infrastructure to serve this load? This project would include researching and surveying different cost-recovery mechanisms employed by other PUCs, and proposals for how to insulate small commercial/residential customers from capital expenditures that are not used to principally benefit those customer classes. This project may include review of PacifiCorp’s recent regulatory and rates advocacy, and recommendations for lessons learned in how California should efficiently finance new infrastructure.
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Municipalization Research Project: There has been a wave of interest in utility municipalization nationally, from large California cities (San Francisco, San Jose, and San Diego) to the State of Maine, and cities of Louisville, Kentucky, and Clearwater and St Petersburg in Florida. What trends have driven interest in municipalization across the board, and what lessons learned can be gleaned for California, with an eye to protecting affordability and reaching our climate goals?
The office has a telework policy to work remotely from home with approximately once a week in-person team meetings in the CPUC’s San Francisco headquarters.
Potential Mentor
- Suzanne Thompson (Casazza), Legal Advisor and Chief of Staff to Commission Reynolds
2024 CPUC Fellows
- Shambhavi Rathore, MS Environmental Engineering, '25
- Learn more about Shambhavi's experience at the CPUC:
- Merrill Storch, MS Civil and Environmental Engineering, Atmosphere/Energy, '25
- Learn more about Merrill's experience at the CPUC:
- Preferred areas of study include: Economics, Public Policy and Administration, Law, Government, Political Science, Environmental Science, Engineering.
- Interest in energy policy, air pollution/climate pollution policy, environmental justice policy.
- Experience working directly with and performing outreach in disadvantaged communities.
- Knowledge of state initiatives around renewable energy, GHG reduction, environmental justice and disadvantaged communities.
- Attention to detail, professional attitude, and ability to maintain confidentiality.
All Shultz fellows must be enrolled in the spring quarter before their fellowship.
All Shultz fellows must take a one-unit spring workshop course, 'Energy Policy in California and the West' taught by Professor Bruce Cain and Visiting Fellow Felicia Marcus that will provide an in-depth analysis of the role of California state agencies, the Western Interstate Energy Board, and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council in driving energy policy development, technology innovation, and market structures. Course number is CEE 263G / POLISCI 73 / PUBLPOL 73 / ENERGY 73. Schedule: Wednesdays from 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm.
Please note that this opportunity is open to graduate students only. Interested undergraduate students can apply via SIG.
