BILL NUMBER: SB 201 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Speier
FEBRUARY 8, 2001
An act to amend and repeal Section 309.5 of the Public Utilities
Code, relating to public utilities, and making an appropriation
therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 201, as introduced, Speier. Public Utilities Commission:
division to represent interests of customers and subscribers.
Existing law establishes a division within the Public Utilities
Commission to represent the interests of public utility customers and
subscribers in commission proceedings. Existing law provides for a
director of the division appointed by and serving at the pleasure of
the Governor, subject to Senate confirmation. Existing law provides
for the Public Utilities Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account in the
General Fund and requires that money from the Public Utilities
Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account in the General Fund be
transferred in the annual Budget Act to the Public Utilities
Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account for performance of the duties
of the division. Existing law provides for the repeal of those
provisions on January 1, 2002, and the replacement of those
provisions on that date with provisions requiring the commission to
create an organization or division within the commission to represent
the interests of public utility customers and subscribers in
commission proceedings.
This bill would delete the repeal of the provisions that provide
for the division, the director of the division, and the Public
Utilities Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account, and would repeal the
provisions that were to become operative January 1, 2002. The bill
would require that the director of the division be paid a salary
equal to 90% of the salary received by commissioners of the Public
Utilities Commission.
The bill would transfer an unspecified amount from the Public
Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account in the General
Fund to the Public Utilities Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account
and appropriate that amount to the division for expenditure for
enhancement of consumer and ratepayer advocacy before the commission.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 309.5 of the Public Utilities Code, as amended
by Chapter 1005 of the Statutes of 1999, is amended to read:
309.5. (a) There is within the commission a division to represent
the interests of public utility customers and subscribers in
commission proceedings. The goal of the division shall be to obtain
the lowest possible rate for service consistent with reliable and
safe service levels.
(b) The director of the division shall be appointed by and serve
at the pleasure of the Governor, subject to confirmation by the
Senate. The director shall annually appear before the appropriate
policy committees of the Assembly and the Senate to report on the
activities of the division. The director shall be paid a salary
equal to 90 percent of the salary received by commissioners.
(c) The commission shall, by rule or order, provide for the
assignment of personnel to, and the functioning of, the division.
The division may employ experts necessary to carry out its functions.
Personnel and resources shall be provided to the division at a
level sufficient to ensure that customer and subscriber interests are
fairly represented in all significant proceedings.
(d) The commission shall develop appropriate procedures to ensure
that the existence of the division does not create a conflict of
roles for any employee or his or her representative. The procedures
shall include, but shall not be limited to, the development of a code
of conduct and procedures for ensuring that advocates and their
representatives on a particular case or proceeding are not advising
decisionmakers on the same case or proceeding.
(e) The division may compel the production or disclosure of any
information it deems necessary to perform its duties from entities
regulated by the commission provided that any objections to any
request for information shall be decided by the assigned commissioner
or by the president of the commission if there is no assigned
commissioner.
(f) There is hereby created the Public Utilities Commission
Ratepayer Advocate Account in the General Fund. Moneys from the
Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account in the
General Fund shall be transferred in the annual Budget Act to the
Public Utilities Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account. The funds in
the Public Utilities Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account shall be
utilized exclusively by the division in the performance of its
duties. The annual budget for the division shall be separately
identified in the commission's annual budget request. The commission
shall annually submit a staffing report containing a comparison of
the staffing levels for each five-year period.
(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2002,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that is enacted before January 1, 2002, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 2. Section 309.5 of the Public Utilities Code, as added by
Section 4 of Chapter 856 of the Statutes of 1996, is repealed.
309.5. The commission shall create an organization or division
within the commission to represent the interests of public utility
customers and subscribers in commission proceedings. The commission
shall, by rule or order, provide for the assignment of personnel to
and the functioning of the organization or division.
This section shall become operative on January 1, 2002.
SEC. 3. The sum of ____ dollars ($____) is hereby transferred from
the Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account in
the General Fund to the Public Utilities Commission Ratepayer
Advocate Account and appropriated to the division of the Public
Utilities Commission specified in Section 309.5 of the Public
Utilities Code for expenditure for enhancement of consumer and
ratepayer advocacy before the Public Utilities Commission.