BILL NUMBER: ABX1 3 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 27, 2001
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 16, 2001
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Wright
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Romero)
JANUARY 9, 2001
An act to add Section 739.4 to the Public Utilities Code, relating
to public utilities, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 3, as amended, Wright. California Alternate Rates for Energy
or CARE program.
(1) Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to
establish a program of assistance to low-income electric and gas
customers, which is referred to as the California Alternate Rates for
Energy or CARE program.
This bill would require the commission to adopt regulations to
deem a customer enrolled in the CARE program after the effective date
of the bill, but before August 1, 2001, to be enrolled as of that
effective date, to impose certain requirements on electrical and gas
corporations to facilitate better penetration rates for the CARE
program, and protect low-income and senior households from
unwarranted disconnection of necessary electric and gas services, and
to conduct targeted outreach about the program. Because a
violation of an order of the commission is a crime under existing
provisions of law, this bill would create a state-mandated local
program by expanding the definition of a crime.
(2) Existing law makes a violation of provisions of the Public
Utilities Act a crime.
This bill, by imposing new requirements on regulated utilities,
would expand the scope of that crime, and thus impose a
state-mandated local program.
(3)
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to
reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs
mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for
making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
(4)
(3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect
immediately as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) Commencing in the summer of 2000 and continuing to the
present, wholesale prices for electricity have skyrocketed in
California.
(2) Since November 2000, natural gas prices have increased
significantly.
(3) The extraordinarily high costs of electricity and natural gas
are threatening the economic well-being of the state.
(4) Low-income and senior households, who spend a disproportionate
portion of their income on energy costs, have been particularly
affected.
(5) The energy burden borne by low-income and senior customers is
greater than the energy burden of most other households in
California. California low-income households spend approximately 10
percent of their incomes on energy bills, compared to the average
energy burden of 2.9 percent for a median-income household.
(6) Under the California Alternate Rates for Energy program
(CARE), low-income customers are eligible to receive gas and electric
services at a discounted rate.
(b) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to protect
low-income and senior customers from the impacts of skyrocketing
energy rates and to enact legislation to increase the CARE
penetration rate, to look at other means to expand the program to all
eligible low-income and low-income senior customers, and
to encourage energy conservation by all customer classes.
SEC. 2. Section 739.4 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
739.4. (a) The commission shall immediately adopt regulations to
deem a customer enrolled in the CARE program after the effective date
of the act that added this section, but before August 1, 2001, to be
enrolled as of that effective date , notwithstanding Sections
453, 743, and 532 .
(b) The commission shall require all electrical and gas utilities
through which CARE program rates are available to do all of the
following , in multilingual formats to the extent printed and
recorded information is provided, to facilitate better
penetration rates for the CARE program and to protect low-income and
senior households from unwarranted disconnection of necessary
electric and gas services:
(1) Require all electric and gas utilities to provide an outgoing
message on all calls to business offices and customer service lines
that briefly describes the CARE program in standard language approved
by the commission, and that provides a phone number for customers to
call to subscribe to the program or for further information.
(2) Require all electric and gas utilities to provide information
to customers about the CARE program and facilitate subscription to
CARE, on all calls in which customers are making payment
arrangements, on all collections calls, and on all calls for
reconnection of service.
(3) (A) Require all electric and gas utilities to provide
information about the CARE program and attempt to qualify customers
for CARE before effecting any disconnection of service for nonpayment
or inability to pay energy bills in full, and prohibit disconnection
of energy services to low-income and low-income senior
households for delinquencies of up to six months where partial
payments have been received. As used in this paragraph, "partial
payment" means at least 40 percent of the billed amount, inclusive of
previous balances, for each month of delinquency. This paragraph
shall apply on a one-time basis only for individual customers.
(B) Prohibit disconnection of a residential customer whose rates
have increased 15 percent or more since November 1, 2000, if payment
arrangements are made to provide payment of 50 percent of the billed
monthly amount, inclusive of previous balances, on a payment plan not
to exceed 120 days in duration.
(C) Require that residential customers facing disconnection or who
contact the utility to make payment arrangements be advised of the
levelizing payment program that allows them to pay a monthly average
rate based on 12 months usage. Require the utility to advise
residential customers to enroll about
enrollment in the levelizing payment program in conjunction
with completion of payment arrangements, payment under terms of
subparagraph (B), or at the customer's request absent those
arrangements.
(D) Nothing in this paragraph is intended to reduce the revenues
of any utility extending payment arrangements subject to the terms of
the paragraph.
(E) This paragraph shall become inoperative April 1, 2002.
(4) Require all electric and gas utilities to provide information
on customer bills, presented in a conspicuous manner on a front
facing page, that indicates that a customer may be eligible for the
CARE program, briefly describes the program, and provide a
subscription form in the bill envelope. The section of the bill page
with the CARE information shall be detachable and include
instructions for customers to mail the subscription request back in
with the customer's bill payment. CARE program. This
notice shall be provided quarterly in customer bills.
(c) The commission shall conduct targeted outreach about the
program using census block data to effectively target low-income and
senior households throughout the state.
(d) CARE program funds shall be used for the purposes of paragraph
(3) of subdivision (b) and outreach pursuant to subdivision (c).
Energy corporations may recover all reasonable costs of
implementing this act.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the
only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
SEC. 4. 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 that low-income and senior customers are protected from
the extraordinarily high electricity and gas prices, it is necessary
that this act take effect immediately.