SAN FRANCISCO — For the first time in more than a decade, the California Public Utilities Commission is hosting the three-day annual meeting of the National Conference of Regulatory Attorneys in San Francisco. And attendees got more than they bargained for on Monday.

Frank Lindh, the CPUC's embattled general counsel, surprised the crowd — and his own staff — with a speech about a "hypothetical" state utility regulator whose staff attorneys needed to learn a lesson about loyalty and good judgment.