Public Utilities Commission v. Superior Court of San Francisco County

—This writ petition raises the narrow question whether a petition to compel the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to produce documents under the California Public Records Act (Gov. Code, § 6250 et seq.; PRA) can properly be filed in superior court, or whether Public Utilities Code section 1759 (section 1759) bars the superior court from exercising jurisdiction over such a lawsuit. We conclude the latter, and will issue a writ of mandate commanding the superior court to set aside and vacate its order overruling a demurrer on this ground and to enter an order sustaining the demurrer without leave to amend.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Real party in interest Michael J. Aguirre (Aguirre) filed a petition for writ of mandamus and complaint for injunctive and declaratory relief in San Francisco Superior Court against the CPUC for failing to comply with the PRA, Government Code sections 6250 through 6276.48 (Complaint). The superior court summarized the allegations in the Complaint, “The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station was closed after it leaked radiation in 2012. The [CPUC] regulated the plant. Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDGE)…