Utility regulators
‘mired in details’
The courtlike state panel and agency that regulate public utilities such as electricity and telephone service lack vision and plans and "trudge through daily operational work mired in process and individual case details," according to the state auditor.
The deficiencies and serious problems in the Public Utilities Commission and the Division of Consumer Advocacy pointed out in management audits in 1975 and 1989 still exist, Auditor Marion Higa said in a report released yesterday.
"Handicapped by the lack of visionary thinking and strategic planning, both agencies grind away at regulatory processes hampered by decades-old management problems and deficiencies," she said.
Higa's report cites poor personnel management planning, resulting in staff shortages and vacancies, and a lack of training and procedural manuals which "may compromise the quality of the agencies' work and result in delay."
As of June, 38 percent of the commission positions were vacant, up from 22 percent in 1999, the report said.
Vacant positions included the administrative director, chief researchers, economists, transportation specialists, auditors, analysts and engineers, it said.
Also criticized was the lack of plans for an effective computer system and failure of the agencies to assess whether their work is meeting the public's needs.
"The commission shirks policy-making responsibilities by failing to evaluate motor carrier regulation, despite several factors in support of deregulation," Higa said.
PUC Chairman Carlito Caliboso said the commission agreed with much of Higa's criticism but noted that it had completed and submitted in its annual report in November a strategic planning process that answers many of the concerns.
The commission's long- and short-term goals now include "broader, policy-oriented objectives" beyond the primary purpose or mission based on the state law that established the commission, Caliboso said.
The Department of Commerce & Consumer Affairs' Division of Consumer Advocacy agrees with the auditor's findings and said it had already begun addressing the issues raised.
