The chairman of Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission has a curious penchant for jetting off to utilities’ conferences around the country – travel paid for by the very industries he regulates.
An examination by The Denver Post of Gregory Sopkin’s travel records shows he has taken almost 30 such trips during just 3 1/2 years as head of the PUC.
The practice may not violate Colorado law, but it certainly raises questions about whose interests he is representing.
Post reporter Chuck Plunkett found that the point of some of these conferences was to teach industry representatives how to win rate-case increases. Many of the meetings were held at posh resort hotels, with room rates running to $500 a night.
It is neither proper nor in the best interest of Coloradans for Sopkin to be so chummy with those he regulates. The conflict has been raised before about Sopkin, a lawyer who used to represent Xcel Energy before he was appointed to the PUC.
In 2004, industry watchdogs criticized Sopkin’s involvement in a policy group that had financial ties to PUC regulated industries. Sopkin defended his activities then, as he does now. In a letter to The Post, Sopkin describes his conference attendance as a learning experience. “Each time I give a speech, I must thoroughly research the subject matter, which keeps me up to date on the issues of the day,” Sopkin wrote.
Could we suggest independent study?
The potential conflicts in Sopkin’s travel practices are obvious. In May, Sopkin spoke in Miami at a conference for utility executives called “Rate Case 101: How to Produce a Successful Rate Case.” In 2005, the Electrical Power Supply Association, a trade group, treated Sopkin to an expenses-paid trip to a conference at the Washington, D.C., Ritz-Carlton. The invitation said Sopkin could “offer significant insight” about competitive procurement rules for Colorado and the “possibility of a re-examination” of them.
Neither Colorado laws nor PUC regulations prohibit Sopkin from traveling on the industry’s dime, but other states have found it wise to end this potential conflict.
Illinois forbids its utility commissioners from accepting travel from anyone they regulate. New York allows only outside groups not regulated by the state to pay for travel – and then only at the modest rates the state itself would pay.
Given Sopkin’s enthusiastic abuse of Colorado’s honor system, the state legislature may need to lay down the law.
