Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Poizner pulled himself out of the running Wednesday for a seat on the California Public Utilities Commission, conceding that his financial holdings were too big and complex to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
Poizner, a 48-year-old moderate Republican from Los Gatos, said he planned to run for state insurance commissioner next year instead.
In announcing that he was withdrawing his name from consideration, Poizner said he couldn't come up with a financial plan that would protect his extensive assets without creating conflicts that would prevent him from voting on telecommunications issues at the utilities commission, which routinely handles sensitive energy and telecom matters.
"I couldn't serve there without recusing myself" on many votes, Poizner said.
According to a statement of economic interests filed in late 2003, Poizner held millions of dollars of investments in a variety of telecom companies.
Much of his wealth came from his role as founder of SnapTrack Inc., a cellphone technology company. Poizner sold the company to Qualcomm Inc. for $1 billion in 2000.
Poizner's personal views favoring alternative energy development and modest deregulation of the electricity market are in line with those of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In December, when the governor announced his intention to nominate Poizner to the PUC, Poizner said that he "hoped to serve as a unifying force and consensus builder" on the five-member commission.
The panel, until recently, has been riven with dissension that Schwarzenegger aimed to heal with the appointment of Poizner and another new member, environmental attorney Dian Grueneich, who took her seat in January.
Poizner's withdrawal from contention leaves the PUC one member short at a time when the four sitting commissioners are busy trying to ensure that California has enough electricity to avoid blackouts on hot afternoons during the summer.
The commission, which has its offices in San Francisco, also is the focus of a long-running struggle between consumer advocates and cellphone companies over a proposed telecom bill of rights.
The protections, which were adopted by the commission last May but shelved on a 3-1 vote in January, would address complaints of false advertising and confusing billing practices.
Consumer activist Michael Shames, director of the Utility Consumers Action Network in San Diego, said he was relieved that Poizner and Schwarzenegger had given up on the nomination.
