Finalist: Ismael Bautista

Senior Counsel
Southern California Gas Company
UCLA School of Law

Ismael Bautista is senior counsel at the Southern California Gas Company (So-CalGas), the nation’s largest natural gas utility, where he provides invaluable strategic advice and counsel to mid- and senior-level management on matters ranging from clean energy projects to supplier diversity; he also represents the company before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). He has been instrumental in supporting SoCalGas’s sustainability strategy which includes a bold commitment to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in its operations and delivery of energy by 2045, mirroring California’s own climate change goals. He has been his company’s lead counsel in key matters and projects supporting such objectives.

For instance, Bautista represents SoCalGas in the CPUC’s Biomethane Proceeding focused on (1) establishing procurement targets for renewable gas, which would displace traditional natural gas, and (2) whether hydrogen should be blended into the gas system.