Megan J. Somogyi

Megan Somogyi specializes in the California Public Utilities Commission and California-regulated utilities. She assists clients in a broad array of utility-related matters, including wildfires and power shutoff proceedings, utility certification and rate making, nuclear power plant decommissioning, tariff filings, energy industry rulemakings, administrative litigation, and regulatory compliance.

The CPUC is unique among California regulatory agencies due to its expansive authority over the energy, water, telecommunications, and transportation industries. CPUC regulations and policies impact virtually every sector of the economy and can have significant effects on financial markets. Having an advocate who understands the CPUC’s authority, operations, rules, and the institutional history that guides its current decision-making is invaluable.

Megan represents utility and market-participant clients in utility rate making proceedings; entities seeking certification to provide utility services; regulated utilities seeking to expand existing service offerings, build new infrastructure; or decommission facilities; and cities and counties in matters relating to utility operations, rates, infrastructure, land use, and permitting. Megan also advises clients on California regulatory issues as part of due diligence inquiries and counsels clients in the financial services industry on issues relating to California’s energy markets.

Megan is well-known for her work on behalf of local governments to improve the manner in which electric utilities conduct wildfire mitigation activities and de-energize their power lines to reduce wildfire risk. The CPUC and the large investor-owned utilities have adopted a number of the local governments’ recommended policies and operational initiatives. As a result of this work, Megan is one of the foremost experts in California on the CPUC’s regulation of utility wildfire prevention and proactive de-energization of power lines as it relates to local government emergency management and response.