Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Alice Busching Reynolds

28. Alice Busching Reynolds

Amazingly, Alice Busching Reynolds isn’t a household name, but she probably deserves to be. She is the president of the California Public Utilities Commission, the powerful, San Francisco-based regulatory body with jurisdiction over the state’s huge investor-owned utilities and natural gas operations, railroads, telecommunications, private water companies, and much more. Such hot-button political issues as PG&E’s bankruptcy battle and net metering come within the PUC’s purview, as do more arcane topics such as its June study into heat pumps. Reynolds was one of Newsom’s most important appointments, replacing Newsom trouble-shooter Marybel Batjer, who stepped down two years ago. Reynolds served former Gov. Jerry Brown as chief counsel, climate advisor and a top CalEPA enforcer, and spent a decade in the state attorney general’s office, specializing in coastal resources, environmental access and public trust lands. Before joining the AG’s office, Reynolds was in private practice in San Francisco. She has a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law.

Updated Aug. 15, 2023