(a) No person shall be a member of the commission who, during the two years prior to appointment on the commission, received any substantial portion of his or her income directly or indirectly from any electric utility, or who engages in sale or manufacture of any major component of any facility. A member of the commission shall not be employed by any electric utility, applicant, or, within two years after he or she ceases to be a member of the commission, by any person who engages in the sale or manufacture of any major component of any facility.

(b) Except as provided in Section 25202, the members of the commission shall not hold any other elected or appointed public office or position.

(c) The members of the commission and all employees of the commission shall comply with all applicable provisions of Section 19251 of the Government Code.

(d) A person who is a member or employee of the commission shall not participate personally and substantially as a member or employee of the commission, through decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation, or otherwise, in a judicial or other proceeding, hearing, application, request for a ruling, or other determination, contract, claim, controversy, study, plan, or other particular matter in which, to his or her knowledge, he or she, his or her spouse, minor child, or partner, or any organization, except a governmental agency or educational or research institution qualifying as a nonprofit organization under state or federal income tax law, in which he or she is serving, or has served as officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee while serving as a member or employee of the commission or within two years prior to his or her appointment as a member of the commission, has a direct or indirect financial interest.

(e) A person who is a partner, employer, or employee of a member or employee of the commission shall not act as an attorney, agent, or employee for any person other than the state in connection with any judicial or other proceeding, hearing, application, request for a ruling, or other determination, contract, claim, controversy, study, plan, or other particular matter in which the commission is a party or has a direct and substantial interest.

(f) The provisions of this section shall not apply if the Attorney General finds that the interest of the member or employee of the commission is not so substantial as to be deemed likely to affect the integrity of the services which the state may expect from the member or employee.

(g) Any person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a felony and shall be subject to a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code, or both that fine and imprisonment.

(h) The amendment of subdivision (d) of this section enacted by the 1975–76 Regular Session of the Legislature does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory of, existing law.

(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 559. (AB 109) Effective April 4, 2011. Operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68.)