The CPUC public Internet site (www.cpuc.ca.gov) is an important resource for both consumer and business stakeholders. Users depend on the site to obtain current information on cases before the Commission, to get help in making informed choices about utility services, and to inquire about or file complaints against regulated companies.

In 1998, the California state Legislature enacted Senate Bill (SB) 779, which requires that all CPUC meeting agenda items, final decisions, and related documents be posted on the CPUC Web site. In order to comply with SB 779 and effectively address our own public access agenda, the CPUC deployed a Web Publishing System in June of 2000.

The system is built on off-the shelf software applications, including CyberDOCS/PowerDOCS document management system from Hummingbird International and Transit Central from Intranet Solutions, as well as customized utilities from our integrator, General Networks Corporation.

When a document needs to be published to the Web, CPUC staff retrieve it from our PowerDOCS document management system and route the document internally for review and approval. Once the document is approved, it is automatically published to our Web site in HTML format (which can be viewed in any Web browser) and other formats, like PDF (Adobe Acrobat) and Microsoft Word using Transit Central. CPUC staff are notified by email when their documents are published.

Users who access the CPUC Web site can search for documents by date or date range, industry, title, proceeding number, document content, using a full-text search. The process requires little day-to-day intervention from the Webmaster. CPUC expects to publish over 6,000 documents this year.