Fiona Mooney, Environmental Systems Engineering ‘25
Undergraduate Fellow, Office of Chair David Hochschild
California Energy Commission
The California Energy Commission is responsible for creating California’s energy policy and planning for the future, playing a major role in decarbonization. The agency is comprised of five commissioners appointed by the governor and over 700 staff, working on energy policy and regulations, research and development funding, collecting data and reporting on the state’s energy systems and challenges facing it, and more. I am working for the Office of Chair David Hochschild, who is the lead commissioner for International and Subnational Affairs, Military, Nuclear & Security, Strategic Communications, Legislative Affairs, and the SB 100 report.
A typical day starts with a check-in meeting with my CEC supervisor/mentor, Terra Weeks (a past Shultz Fellow at the CEC herself) or a staff meeting with the Chair’s Office. I have gone to Sacramento twice so far and plan to return for the August Business Meeting, but am working remotely most days. I check my email and Microsoft Teams app for any updates and get to work on my projects. Currently, I am working on a memo for a study done on the impacts of the CADEMO offshore wind project on local California economies and employment. Researching this, I have learned the tangible ways offshore wind projects can provide economic opportunity and the importance of including a variety of stakeholders in planning processes. I also am involved in the IEPR- the Integrated Energy Policy Report, which the CEC annually publishes and provides an assessment of the state of energy in California. Providing support for the IEPR research and drafting process has been a very insightful opportunity that has allowed me to learn about many different aspects of the energy industry and the role state policy plays.
When I have been in person at the office, I’ve enjoyed getting lunch with coworkers or attending the Shultz lunch discussions and hearing from my classmates. Throughout the day, I also typically attend a variety of meetings, both relevant to the projects I’m working on and some outside the scope but shadowing Terra Weeks or Katerina Robinson, the Chief of Staff to Chair Hochschild. Topics include the gas system, building decarbonization, and interconnection processes, and are with other CEC employees, stakeholders, or other agencies, such as the CPUC. Through this I have gotten to see the variety of roles and responsibilities within the CEC.
Working on the IEPR report and sitting in on meetings, I have seen the importance of the coordination of efforts to decarbonize and ensure reliability. The CEC works with many other agencies such as the California Public Utilities Commission and California Air Resources Board to coordinate transmission and distribution systems as well as the expansion of clean energy to ensure reliability while working towards decarbonization.
So far I have enjoyed my time at the CEC and am looking forward to learning more from the agency’s incredible employees throughout the summer.
