The Chief Counsel’s Office is responsible for providing a broad range of regulatory, counseling, adjudicative, transactional, litigation, and other legal services on all legal matters and issues that arise in the scope of the CEC carrying out its responsibilities. These include power plant licensing (including for renewable energy projects eligible for the Opt-In Certification Program), energy forecasting, energy efficiency (including appliance and building energy efficiency standards), clean transportation, renewable energy programs, the California Environmental Quality Act, and the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. The Chief Counsel’s Office also manages Public Record Act requests. The attorneys of the Chief Counsel’s Office are organized into four units.
Attorneys advise CEC staff and commissioners on permitting proceedings for renewable energy projects under the Opt-in Certification Program, including compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act and other laws, and advise staff that serve as an independent party in thermal power plant license certification proceedings. They advise on post-certification amendments, an exemption process for eligible small power plants, and compliance and enforcement matters, including appliance energy efficiency standards and building energy efficiency standards. Attorneys also coordinate the commission’s management of Public Records Act requests and confidentiality requests.
Attorneys serve as hearing officers who work closely with an appointed committee of commissioners or a presiding commissioner to manage the conduct of formal proceedings, including administrative hearings, and advise on implementing decisions. They advise the commission on compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act; the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act and conflicts of interest laws; clean transportation, transportation fuels and energy reliability matters; development of the Integrated Energy Policy Reports; and regulation of the petroleum industry. Attorneys also advise on energy matters before other state and federal agencies, where they additionally represent the CEC in such proceedings.
Matthew Pinkerton is the Assistant Chief Counsel for the Hearing and Advisory Unit within the Chief Counsel’s Office and has been with the CEC since 2020. He first served as an attorney in the Transactions Unit and subsequently led the Advocacy and Compliance Unit. Pinkerton previously worked at other state departments, including the Department of Toxic Substances Control and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as well as the Sacramento Regional Transit District, where he held several different roles. He moved to the United States in 2006 and earned a J.D. from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law.
Attorneys assist the commission on rulemakings and provide legal support to implement commission regulations and programs in the following areas: building and appliance efficiency, renewable energy, and decarbonization. Attorneys also provide legal advice and support on legislative analysis, participation in US Department of Energy rulemakings and coordination of the Chief Counsel’s law clerk programs.
Allan Ward II is the Senior Assistant Chief Counsel for the Regulatory and Advisory Unit within the Chief Counsel’s Office. He first started working at the CEC in 2001 and has served as Assistant Chief Counsel and Acting Chief Counsel. He earned a B.A. in Geography from Boston University and a J.D. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law.
Attorneys support the Energy Commission’s programs to award contracts, grants, and loans in such areas as clean transportation, which includes increasing the number of electric vehicle chargers, hydrogen refueling stations, and electric school buses in California; energy efficiency; research, development, and demonstration projects related to electricity, natural gas, and geothermal energy; renewable energy, including offshore wind; and improved ventilation and plumbing in schools.
Christina Evola is the Assistant Chief Counsel of the Transactions Unit within the Chief Counsel’s Office and has been with the CEC since 2020. Prior to joining the CEC, Christina worked as an attorney for philanthropic organizations benefiting the environment, climate change resilience, and healthy communities. Christina also served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Chief Judge Frances Tydingo-Gatewood, as a research attorney for the Supreme Court of Guam, as an assistant attorney general in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, and litigated transactional, antitrust, and wildfire class and mass actions in Southern California. Christina earned a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Nevada Las Vegas graduating cum laude, and a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law.
Lisa M. DeCarlo is the Deputy Chief Counsel within the Chief Counsel’s Office. The Deputy Chief Counsel helps the Chief Counsel lead and manage the office and is responsible for directing and coordinating work within the Hearing and Advisory Unit, the Regulatory and Advisory Unit, and the Transactions Unit, as well as the Legal Administrative Unit, which is comprised of non-attorney legal professionals.
DeCarlo has been with the CEC since 1999 and has served in different roles within the Chief Counsel’s Office, including as Assistant Chief Counsel and Acting Chief Counsel. She earned a B.A. in Environmental Analysis and Design from UC Irvine, graduating cum laude, and a J.D. from George Washington University School of Law.