A Day (Two Actually) at the California PUC
Maryam Ebke is Deputy Executive Director at the CPUC, where she has served as assistant chief administrative law judge since 2011. She has held several positions at the CPUC since 1990, including administrative law judge and interim director of the Division of Strategic Planning. Previously, Ebke was a mechanical engineer at Flack and Kurtz Engineers and at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP.
Liza Malashenko is Director, Safety and Enforcement at the CPUC. She is a senior management executive with more than a ten-year history of directing programs in the energy, utilities, transportation and technology industries.
Lee Palmer is Deputy Director, Safety and Enforcement Division of the CPUC. Lee oversees the Safety and Enforcement Division's Office of Utility Safety and Reliability. Prior to joining the CPUC, Lee served with the California Military Department as the Branch Chief for International Affairs. He has served as an officer in the California National Guard.
PUF's Steve Mitnick: You've said the commission treats safety as a priority. What exactly does that mean?
Maryam Ebke: I oversee safety enforcement and consumer protection. My position was created almost two years ago. It elevates safety issues to the executive level.
Prior to this, the executive director oversaw the Safety and Enforcement and the Consumer Protection and Enforcement Divisions. When they created this position, they created a new deputy executive director just to oversee those two divisions.
That was done to heighten the importance of safety. For the past few years we've been trying to make sure that the impact of safety is noted in every part of our proceedings.
PUF: Is there a reason that safety rose to the top as a priority?