William Bagley to Quit His Post on State PUC

State Public Utilities Commissioner William T. Bagley said he is quitting the post he has held for two years to return to his law practice and possibly a state Court of Appeal appointment.

The 56-year-old Republican, a former state assemblyman from San Rafael, had been saying since he was appointed to the PUC by Gov. George Deukmejian in 1983 that his stint would be short.

Bagley said Friday that his departure, which will take place “in a month or so,” had nothing to do with a television report here that charged he had “conflicts” of interest--a report he called “inane and absurd.”

‘Common Knowledge’

“It has been common knowledge here that I was leaving,” said Bagley, whose departure was first reported Thursday morning. “I told the governor I would stay for a couple years and a couple years is up. . . .

“I can double my income overnight by going back to the law firm. It is either the bench or it’s back to the law firm.” That decision will be made in the next month or so.

KRON television said in a report Thursday night that Bagley is on the board of directors of the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance (CEEB), a lobby group funded in part by Southern California Edison Co. and other major utilities.

“There’s no question CEEB has a legislative program. They do nothing vis-a-vis the PUC,” Bagley said, noting that the board has 60 members and that he had made no secret of his membership in the group.

Permission for Increases

Officers of Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric--which must obtain permission for rate increases from the PUC--also serve on the organization’s board of directors, the television station noted.

The television station also reported that Bagley is a shareholder in Salt Lake City-based Garb Oil, which through a subsidiary has a contract to sell electricity to Edison. Garb is planning to build a plant in Rialto that will extract energy from burning automobile tires.

The report said Garb benefited from PUC decisions. Bagley, however, said the deal between Edison and Garb was struck before he joined the commission. He noted that his only “interest” in Garb is stock, which he purchased for about $4,500 while he was a lawyer for the company before he joined the PUC. He said he is losing money on the stock deal.

Bagley was a state assemblyman from 1960 to 1975, and he ran unsuccessfully for state controller against Kenneth Cory in 1974. He was a lobbyist after he left the Legislature.

On the PUC, Bagley, who is known for his jocular, back-slapping style, was “intuitive and insightful,” said Robert Gnaizda of the Public Advocates law firm, a consumer-oriented firm that has handled several matters before the commission.

“He is a practical person. The left and the right could feel comfortable with him,” Gnaizda said.