Graduate Student Internships with the Division of Ratepayer Advocates of the California Public Utilities Commission
Summer 2008 Internships at the Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA) of the California Public Utilities Commission for UC Berkeley Interns and Graduate Student Researchers
Internships available in the water and energy branches of the Division of Ratepayer Advocates
California Public Utilities Commission http://www.cpuc.ca.gov
Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA) http://www.dra.ca.gov/index.htm
DRA is an independent division within the California Public Utilities Commission that advocates for reasonable rates on behalf of customers of
regulated electric, gas, telephone, and water utilities. DRA's director, Dana Appling, directs a staff of 125 employees composed of analysts,
engineers, economists, and accountants. DRA has a team of lawyers who represent the division in hearings at the Commission.
DRA analyzes utility requests for rate increases, new service offerings and mergers. We investigate service quality issues, large outages, accidents, and inappropriate activities by utilities. DRA participates in rulemaking and investigation proceedings initiated by the Commission to ensure ratepayers' views are considered. From time to time, DRA initiates its own complaint against utilities when it believes there is a pervasive problem with a utility's practices.
DRA has internships available in both the water and energy industry areas. Interns will employ research and analytical skills and present findings and recommendations in written reports. The projects below highlight the type of issues DRA and the CPUC are grappling with, but actual projects can be worked out with DRA Water Branch or the DRA Electricity Prices and Consumer Programs Branch and may be related to a specific example where one or more of the following issues come into play. With mutual agreement with the project sponsor, students may dedicate a percentage of their time to working on a white paper or other report that both provides university credit and is useful to DRA.
Skills desired for all internships:
. Excel spreadsheet modeling
. Experience in developing databases
. Excellent writing skills
. Ability to work independently
. Familiarity with US Census data
. Understanding of finance, accounting, engineering, economics and/or policy
To Apply for Water internships:
Send a one to two page resume or CV with the file title
. In the CV, describe in a paragraph your interest and background as it relates to one or more of the above projects.
If you would like to apply for one of these water internship positions,
please send your cv to Dan Kammen and directly to Diana Brooks:
Diana Brooks
dsb@cpuc.ca.gov