BILL NUMBER: AB 1890 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 19, 1995
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 25, 1995
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Conroy
FEBRUARY 24, 1995
An act to amend Section 453 of, and to add Section
10009.4 An act to add Section 702.1 to
, the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities,
and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1890, as amended, Conroy. Public utilities: bills
for services restructuring .
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission is vested with
regulatory authority over public utilities.
This bill would permit each gas, electrical, heat, and water
corporation, and each publicly owned utility furnishing light, heat,
water and power, to identify, as a separate amount, on any bill for
services or commodities furnished any customer or subscriber, the
amount to be paid by the customer or subscriber that represents the
costs of complying with a federal, state, or local governmental
mandate, not including any fees imposed by the commission.
This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that
specified requirements be implemented in order to ensure a smooth and
equitable restructuring of the electrical services industry in
California, and would state findings and declarations in that regard.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an
urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature to unbundle the
cost of electricity and to identify the costs incurred by utilities.
It is the further intent of the Legislature to encourage all energy
utilities to identify the amounts charged to customers due to
government mandates.
SEC. 2. Section 453 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
453. (a) No public utility shall, as to rates, charges, service,
facilities, or in any other respect, make or grant any preference or
advantage to any corporation or person or subject any corporation or
person to any prejudice or disadvantage.
(b) No public utility shall prejudice, disadvantage, or require
different rates or deposit amounts from a person because of race,
religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical handicap,
medical condition, occupation, sex, marital status or change in
marital status. A person who has exhausted all administrative
remedies with the commission may institute a suit for injunctive
relief and reasonable attorney's fees in cases of an alleged
violation of this subdivision. If successful in litigation, the
prevailing party shall be awarded attorney's fees.
(c) No public utility shall establish or maintain any unreasonable
difference as to rates, charges, service, facilities, or in any
other respect, either as between localities or as between classes of
service.
(d) No public utility shall include with any bill for services or
commodities furnished any customer or subscriber any advertising or
literature designed or intended (1) to promote the passage or defeat
of a measure appearing on the ballot at any election whether local,
statewide, or national, (2) to promote or defeat any candidate for
nomination or election to any public office, (3) to promote or defeat
the appointment of any person to any administrative or executive
position in federal, state or local government, or (4) to promote or
defeat any change in federal, state, or local legislation or
regulations.
(e) Each gas, electrical, heat, and water corporation may
identify, as a separate amount, on any bill for services or
commodities furnished any customer or subscriber, the amount to be
paid by the customer or subscriber that represents the costs of
complying with a federal, state, or local governmental mandate, not
including any fees imposed by the commission.
(f) The commission may determine any question of fact arising
under this section.
SEC. 3. Section 10009.4 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
10009.4. Each public utility furnishing light, heat, water, and
power may identify, as a separate amount, on any bill for services or
commodities furnished any customer or subscriber, the amount to be
paid by the customer or subscriber which represents the costs of
complying with a federal, state or local governmental mandate.
SEC. 4.
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
(a) The Public Utilities Commission in its Order Instituting
Rulemaking and Order Instituting Investigation (OIR 94-04-031 and OII
94-04-032, commonly referred to as "The Blue Book") set forth a
proposed policy statement on restructuring California's electric
services industry and reforming its regulatory policy.
(b) The Public Utilities Commission determined that the people of
the State of California pay some of the highest energy rates in the
nation.
(c) The high rates paid by California ratepayers are primarily due
to an existing regulatory structure comprised of policies which are
fragmented, outdated, arcane, and overly complex, engendering a lack
of competitiveness among utilities, providing weak incentives to
utilities to operate and invest efficiently, and is administratively
burdensome and acts as a barrier to public participation.
(d) In 1994 the Legislature passed Assembly Concurrent Resolution
143 (Resolution Chapter 148 of the Statutes of 1994) which sets forth
general terms that reflect the state's ongoing policy concerns by
which proposed electric restructuring policies should comply. The
criteria included achieving significant rate reductions, establishing
performance standards for utilities that assure their performance is
among the most efficient in the nation, promoting fair competition
and customer choice, protecting public health and complying with all
federal and state law, reducing regulation costs and burdens, and
insuring safety and reliability of the utility grid.
(e) The primary purposes of the restructuring of the electrical
industry are as follows:
(1) To reduce rates and ensure that the benefits of the
restructuring inure to all classes of California ratepayers.
(2) To foster a competitive electrical services industry and to
implement significant reduction in regulation of utilities.
(3) To enable all utility providers to engage in equitable
competition through guaranteed open, equal, and comparable access to
transmission and distribution systems.
(4) To ensure that all existing contracts will be honored.
(5) To ensure that the costs of public policy programs, including
social, economic, and environmental programs, shall continue to be
supported by all customers and providers.
(6) To ensure that all classes of ratepayers eventually obtain the
ability to exercise choice in the selection of an electrical service
provider.
(7) To ensure that the current standards of safety, reliability,
and service are maintained in a restructured electrical service
industry.
SEC. 2. Section 702.1 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
702.1. (a) To ensure a smooth and equitable restructuring of the
electrical services industry in California, it is the intent of the
Legislature that the following requirements shall be implemented:
(1) The establishment of a five-year transition period for the
restructuring of the electrical industry beginning no later than
January 1, 1997.
(2) All stranded costs as identified by the utilities and the
Public Utilities Commission and approved by the Legislature shall be
paid off no later than January 1, 2003.
(3) Electricity rates for all consumer classes shall not rise
above current levels throughout the transition period. If possible,
electrical rates for all consumers shall be lowered when feasible.
(4) All transition costs shall be recovered by virtue of the
savings generated by the restructuring of the electrical service
industry.
(5) All classes of customers shall share equally in the transition
costs through a charge on the distribution system.
(6) Electrical bills for all classes shall be unbundled, utilizing
line itemization to reveal the various component costs of providing
electrical services.
(7) All public benefit programs currently authorized by the
Legislature or the commission, or both, shall be reevaluated and
reauthorized no later than January 1, 1999.
(8) Charges for public benefit programs currently authorized by
the Legislature or the commission, or both, shall be unbundled and
appear in line item format on electrical bills for all classes of
customer.
(b) For purposes of this section, "public benefit programs" means
all social, economic, and environmental programs currently funded
through rates charged to customers receiving electrical services in
the State of California.
(c) This section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2003.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order for customers or subscribers of utilities to be able to
identify the costs of complying with governmental mandates as soon as
possible, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.
In order to facilitate the transition of the current regulatory
utility structure to a new utility structure which will have a
profound and immediate impact on the people and State of California,
it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.