SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — On Wednesday this week, Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced the following appointments: First, Michael Picker, 62, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the California Public Utilities Commission. Picker has been Senior Advisor for Renewable Energy in the Office of the Governor since 2009; he will resign this position prior to taking the oath of office.
He was principal at Lincoln Crow Strategic Communications from 2000 to 2009 and a consultant at Kaufman Campaign Consultants from 2000 to 2002. Picker was deputy treasurer in the Office of the California State Treasurer from 1998 to 1999 and chief of staff to Sacramento Mayor Joe Serna Jr. from 1992 to 1999. He was deputy assistant for toxic substance control in the Office of the Governor from 1981 to 1982 and a stop environmental cancer organizer at the Campaign for Economic Democracy from 1978 to 1982. He has been a member of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District Board of Directors since 2012; he will resign this position prior to taking the oath of office. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $131,952. Picker is a Democrat.
Ashutosh Bhagwat, 49, of Moraga, has been reappointed to the California Independent System Operator Board of Governors, where he has served since 2011. Bhagwat has been a professor of law at the University of California, Davis School of Law since 2011. He was a professor of law at the University of California, Hastings College of Law from 1994 to 2011 and an associate at Sidley and Austin from 1992 to 1994.
Bhagwat was a law clerk for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy at the U.S. Supreme Court from 1991 to 1992 and for Judge Richard A. Posner at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit from 1990 to 1991. He was a research assistant at the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors from 1986 to 1987. Bhagwat earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $20,000, in addition to per diem meeting preparation and attendance costs. Bhagwat is a Democrat.
Angelina Galiteva, 47, of Fountain Valley, has been reappointed to the California Independent System Operator Board of Governors, where she has served since 2011. Galiteva has been principal at New Energy Options Inc. since 2003. She was executive director of strategic planning at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power from 1997 to 2003 and a member of the California Independent System Operator and California Power Exchange, Office of the Trustee from 1996 to 1997.
Galiteva was a power analyst at the New York Power Authority from 1994 to 1996. She is founder of the Renewables 100 Policy Institute and chair of the World Council for Renewable Energy. Galiteva earned a Master of Law degree and a Juris Doctor degree from Pace University School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $20,000, in addition to per diem meeting preparation and attendance costs. Galiteva is a Democrat.
