BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 47
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   July 11, 2001

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                              Carole Migden, Chairwoman

                     SB 47 (Bowen) - As Amended:  June 19, 2001 

          Policy Committee:                              Utilities and  
          Commerce     Vote:                            16-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill: 

          1)Requires Senate confirmation for the five members of the  
            Independent System Operator's (ISO's) governing board.

          2)Increases board members' terms from one year to three years  
            and staggers the terms.  (Specifically, for the initial  
            appointments, one shall be for one year, two for two years,  
            and two for three years.)

          3)Deletes the Electricity Oversight Board's (EOB) authority to  
            decline confirmation of ISO board appointments.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible absorbable costs to the Senate for confirmation  
          proceedings.

           COMMENTS  

           Background and Purpose  .  The ISO was established by AB 1890  
          (Brulte), Chapter 854, Statutes of 1996, as a public benefit,  
          nonprofit corporation.  The ISO's purpose is to ensure efficient  
          use and reliable operation of the state's electricity  
          transmission system.  Originally, the ISO's governing board was  
          appointed by EOB, according to classes of stakeholders.  SB 96  
          (Peace), Chapter 510, Statutes of 1999 revised the governance  
          structure of ISO as well as EOB's authority.  That bill limited  
          both the EOB's confirmation powers to customer representatives  
          of the ISO board and its authority to serve as an appellate  








                                                                  SB 47
                                                                  Page  2

          board only for matters exclusively within the state's  
          jurisdiction. 

          This year, the legislature enacted AB X1 5 (Kelley), which  
          replaced the ISO's 26-member stakeholder board with a  
          five-member board composed of Governor's appointees.  The five  
          new members were confirmed by EOB on January 23, 2001.  SB 47,  
          which requires Senate confirmation of ISO board members, in lieu  
          of EOB confirmation, follows up on AB X1 5, which was an urgency  
          measure.  (An urgency measure cannot be the vehicle to remove  
          confirmation duties of a state office, such as the EOB.)

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)319-2081