BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                              1
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                SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
                               DEBRA BOWEN, CHAIRWOMAN
          

          AB 4XX -  Cardoza                                 Hearing Date:   
          June 26, 2001              A
          As Introduced: May 15, 2001                  Non-FISCAL       B
                                                                        X
                                                                        2
                                                                        
                                                                        4

                                      DESCRIPTION
          
           This bill  requires electrical corporations and public entities  
          that provide electricity to immediately notify the Commissioner  
          of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and affected local law  
          enforcement agencies in the event a planned blackout is  
          scheduled to take place in their jurisdictions.  The  
          notification shall be provided as soon as the time and location  
          of the outage is known and it's required to include the specific  
          outage location, grid or block numbers, and the next anticipated  
          affected area.

                                      BACKGROUND
           
          Concerns over rolling blackouts have prompted a review of the  
          processes for providing customers with better blackout  
          information.  On June 5, 2001, the Governor issued Executive  
          Order D-38-01 to require the California Independent System  
          Operator (ISO) to provide 48- and 24-hour blackout projections,  
          require utilities to provide specific blackout information to  
          public safety agencies and customers, and require the utilities  
          to update their rotating outage action plans as required by the  
          California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).  Collectively,  
          these actions provide the information required in this bill.

          Rotating outage information is now available on most customer  
          bills.  Several utility web sites also include specific  
          information about rotating blocks and sub-blocks, down to the  
          street level.  

                                       COMMENTS

          1)I'm Tellin' Ya What I Told Ya & Now I'm Tellin' Ya Again  .   










            Providing law enforcement agencies with timely, specific  
            information about imminent and prospective blackouts is  
            critical to ensuring public safety.  Under the Governor's  
            Executive Order D-38-01 and CPUC rules, the information  
            requested by this bill is already being provided to law  
            enforcement officials.  This bill effectively codifies the  
            existing practice, meaning electricity providers will always  
            have to provide this information in future years, without  
            having to be directed by a future Executive Order or future  
            CPUC order to provide it.

           2)That Was The X Version, Not The XX Version  .  Many of the  
            support letters for the bill make reference to a non-existent  
            provision that would make anyone who commits property offenses  
            during blackouts guilty of looting.  In the First  
            Extraordinary session, AB 30X (Cardoza) contained language  
            similar to that, along with the provisions now found in AB 4XX  
            (Cardoza).  This bill doesn't contain any references to crimes  
            committed during blackouts.  AB 30X died when the First  
            Extraordinary session was adjourned in May.


































           3)Technically Speaking  .  The phrase "public entity that provides  
            electric power" on Page 2, Lines 3-4, should be replaced with  
            "local publicly-owned electric utility," which is the term of  
            art for municipal utilities, city utility districts, and  
            irrigation districts that provide power.
           
                                   ASSEMBLY VOTES
           
          Assembly Floor                     (71-0)

                                      POSITIONS
           
           Sponsor:
           
          California State Sheriff's Association
          Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department

           Support:
           
          Butte County Sheriff
          California Chamber of commerce
          California Peace Officers' Association
          California State Associations of Counties
          County of Contra Costa Office of the Sheriff
          County of Inyo Sheriff's Department
          County of Kern Sheriff's Department
          County of San Bernardino Sheriff's Department
          Crime Victims United of California
          Government Relations Oversight Committee
          Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs Association
          Los Angeles Police Protective League
          Placer County Sheriff Coroner-Marshall
          Riverside Sheriff's Association
          San Diego County Sheriff's Department
          Sempra Energy
          Shasta County Sheriff
          County of Sonoma Sheriff's Department

           Oppose:
           
          None on file














          Randy Chinn 
          AB 4XX Analysis
          Hearing Date:  June 26, 2001