Alice Busching Reynolds was appointed to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) as President by Governor Gavin Newsom on Nov. 22, 2021, effective Dec. 31, 2021. She was confirmed as a CPUC Commissioner by the State Senate on August 17, 2022.
Prior to her appointment, President Reynolds served for three years as Governor Gavin Newsom’s senior advisor for energy. From 2011 to January 2019, she served in the administration of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., most recently as the Governor’s senior advisor for climate, the environment and energy and previously as chief counsel and deputy secretary for law enforcement at the California Environmental Protection Agency. During her time at CalEPA, she coordinated statewide multi-agency environmental enforcement actions and led the creation of the agency’s environmental justice task force and refinery safety task force. President Reynolds began her public service career in 2002, serving approximately 10 years as a deputy attorney general in the California Attorney General’s Office, where she litigated cases involving protection of public trust lands, coastal resources and public access, and other environmental issues. Prior to entering public service, President Reynolds was a lawyer in private practice in San Francisco.
President Reynolds holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a juris doctor degree from Santa Clara University School of Law where she graduated magna cum laude.