Bio

Peter Allen has experience as an attorney in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. He has been a prosecutor, an administrative law judge, and a consumer advocate, and has a strong background in energy and environmental law and policy.

A California native, Peter was educated in California public schools, and received his bachelor's degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz and his law degree (with honors) from the University of San Diego.  He has lived in both northern and southern California, and currently lives in the Bay Area with his wife and two daughters.

During high school and college and after graduation from college, Peter worked in camera stores and photo labs.  After graduating from law school, Peter began his legal career litigating major securities fraud cases.  He then became a prosecutor with the San Diego City Attorney's office.  Peter began representing the citizens of San Diego on utility issues - both energy and telecommunications - in 1991. 

In 1992, he continued to advocate for utility ratepayers when he began to work for the non-profit consumer group TURN in San Francisco.  After a hiatus from the law, he returned in 1998 to be an attorney with the California Public Utilities Commission, where he advised the Commission on environmental issues, represented California before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and tried to avert what became known as the California Energy Crisis.

During and after the energy crisis, Peter worked for the CPUC as an administrative law judge and attorney on a broad range of issues, including: drafting the first decisions implementing California's landmark law requiring utilities to procure significant amounts of renewable energy; trying to get the utilities to purchase electricity under long-term forward contracts (before the energy crisis); allocating $30 billion in electric generation contract costs among California's utilities; ordering a $1 billion refund to ratepayers paid via a prompt one-time bill credit; preventing PG&E from giving its massive ratepayer-funded hydroelectric system to its unregulated affiliate; questioning Enron's ability to provide utility service to military bases in California; and investigating electric generator misconduct during the energy crisis.

In addition to his work on energy issues, Peter has worked on telecommunications issues, including: supervising an investigation into DSL blling practices by SBC (now AT&T), resulting in a $27 million fine; supervising an investigation into deceptive marketing practices and termination fees by Cingular Wireless (now AT&T), resulting in a $12 million fine; preventing Qwest from trenching and laying fiber optic cable through a Native American burial site; and attempting to improve the quality and consistency of environmental reviews of telecommunications construction projects.

In 2007, Peter left the CPUC to work for the historic law firm Thelen LLP, focusing on energy regulatory issues for a range of clients, including renewable and conventional energy companies.  Upon the firm's untimely demise in 2008, Peter returned to the CPUC, as an attorney and as interim director of the Commission's Divison of Policy and Planning.

Currently, Peter is working on issues relating to electric transmission siting, electric vehicles, renewable energy, the California Environmental Quality Act, and combined heat and power.

In addition to his professional work, Peter is an internationally-exhibited artist and photographer, an amateur musician, a volunteer junior sailing instructor, and an adoptive parent.

Click here for Peter Allen's resume.