BILL NUMBER: SBX1 23 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 14, 2001
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 13, 2001
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 5, 2001
AMENDED IN SENATE FEBRUARY 15, 2001
INTRODUCED BY Senator Soto
(Principal coauthor: Senator Alarcon)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Strom-Martin and Washington)
JANUARY 30, 2001
An act to amend Section Sections 1
240.650 and 1245.250 of the Code of Civil Procedure, to
amend Sections 56131 and 56875 of the Government Code, to add Section
25441.3 to the Public Resources Code, and to amend Sections 11561
and 11652 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to public power
districts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 23, as amended, Soto. Public power districts.
(1) Existing law, relating to the acquisition of property by the
exercise of eminent domain by a public entity, provides that, if the
taking is by a local public entity, the resolution of necessity
conclusively establishes those facts required by law to exercise the
power of eminent domain except in specified situations, including
when the property is electric, gas, or water public utility property.
For electric, gas, or water utility property the resolution of
necessity of the governing body of the local public agency creates a
rebuttable presumption that the required conditions for the exercise
of eminent domain are true, and that the presumption is a presumption
affecting the burden of proof.
This bill would delete the application of the rebuttable
presumption to the taking of electric or gas public utility property.
This bill would prohibit a district or city for 5 years
following acquisition of property for furnishing electric or gas
service, from increasing the fee beyond an annual adjustment for
inflation for attachments of cable corporations or certified
telecommunications carriers to the property.
(2) Existing law establishes the procedures and requirements for
the organization and reorganization of special districts, generally,
in the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of
2000. Existing law also requires that, if a service area that is
furnished gas or electric service by a public utility becomes part
of, or is formed into, a district authorized to furnish gas or
electric service, the district may not furnish that service without
approval of the local agency formation commission and the voters of
an election. Existing law specifically provides for the formation of
municipal utility districts and public utility districts. Existing
law prohibits a public agency being divided in the formation of a
municipal utility district.
This bill would delete the local agency formation commission
approval requirements upon receipt of a specified resolution
with respect to the formation of a proposed district to be
formed for the primary purpose of furnishing gas or electric service
and would prohibit the commission from denying the
annexation or detachment of any existing public utility district or
municipal utility district furnishing gas or electric service
. This bill would prohibit a city being divided in the
formation of a municipal utility district.
(3) Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation
and Development Commission to provide financial assistance to local
jurisdictions for the purpose of staff training and support services
to reduce energy costs.
This bill would require the commission to provide technical
assistance to local jurisdictions and community groups for the
purpose of preparing feasible proposals for the formation of special
districts for the generation, transmission, and distribution of
electricity.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be citied as the Fair
Citizen Access to Public Power Act.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that in order to
furnish the citizens of California with reliable, affordable
electrical power, to ensure sufficient power reserves, to assure
stability and rationality in California's electricity market, to
encourage energy efficiency and conservation as well as the use of
renewable energy resources, and to protect the public health,
welfare, and safety, the state needs to streamline the process for
forming public power districts.
SEC. 3. Section 1240.650 of the Code of Civil Procedure is
amended to read:
1240.650. (a) Where property has been appropriated to public use
by any person other than a public entity, the use thereof by a public
entity for the same use or any other public use is a more necessary
use than the use to which such property has already been
appropriated.
(b) Where property has been appropriated to public use by a public
entity, the use thereof by the public entity is a more necessary use
than any use to which such property might be put by any person other
than a public entity.
(c) Where property which has been appropriated to a public use is
electric, gas, or water public utility property
which the public entity intends to put to the same use, the
presumption of a more necessary use established by subdivision (a) is
a rebuttable presumption affecting the burden of proof, unless the
acquiring public entity is a sanitary district exercising the powers
of a county water district pursuant to Section 6512.7 of the Health
and Safety Code.
SEC. 4. Section 1245.250 of the Code of Civil Procedure is
amended to read:
1245.250. (a) Except as otherwise provided by statute, a
resolution of necessity adopted by the governing body of the public
entity pursuant to this article conclusively establishes the matters
referred to in Section 1240.030.
(b) If the taking is by a local public entity, other than a
sanitary district exercising the powers of a county water district
pursuant to Section 6512.7 of the Health and Safety Code, and the
property is water public utility property, the resolution of
necessity creates a rebuttable presumption that the matters referred
to in Section 1240.030 are true. This presumption is a presumption
affecting the burden of proof.
(c) If the taking is by a local public entity and the property
described in the resolution is not located entirely within the
boundaries of the local public entity, the resolution of necessity
creates a presumption that the matters referred to in Section
1240.030 are true. This presumption is a presumption affecting the
burden of producing evidence.
(d) For the purposes of subdivision (b), a taking by the State
Reclamation Board for the Sacramento and San Joaquin Drainage
District is not a taking by a local public entity.
(e) For a period of five years following the acquisition of
property to furnish electric or gas service, the district board, or
the city council, of the district or city furnishing gas or electric
service, shall not increase the annual recurring fee for attachments
by cable corporations or certified telecommunications carriers to
that property above the amount in effect at the time of the
acquisition, except for prospective annual adjustments for inflation,
based upon changes in the Consumer Price Index.
SEC. 4.
SEC. 5. Section 56131 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
56131. (a) (1) The executive officer shall file with the Public
Utilities Commission a certified copy of any proposal for a change of
organization or a reorganization which provides, as a part of the
change of organization or reorganization, that gas or electric
service, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 56129, be furnished
by a district within any of the territory affected by the change of
organization or reorganization.
(2) After that filing, the Public Utilities Commission shall cause
an investigation to be made and may conduct any hearings in
connection with the proposal. Upon completion of the investigation
and not later than 60 days after the date of the filing, the Public
Utilities Commission shall make a report to the commission.
(3) The secretary of the Public Utilities Commission shall
immediately file a certified copy of that report with the executive
officer.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 56375 or any other provision of this
division, the commission may not disapprove a change of organization
or reorganization that would result in the formation of a special
district to be formed for the primary purpose of furnishing gas or
electric service as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 56129, if
the commission has received a resolution in support of the proposal
adopted by the legislative body of each city that would be included
within the proposed district and, in the case of a district that
would include unincorporated territory, a resolution in support of
that proposal adopted by the county board of supervisors.
SEC. 5.
SEC. 6. Section 56875 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
56875. (a) If any sufficient petition or resolution of
application shall propose, as a part of the petition or resolution of
application, that the district shall furnish gas or electric
service, as provided in Sections 56129 to 56131, inclusive, a
certified copy of the report of the Public Utilities Commission shall
be on file with the executive officer prior to setting that petition
or resolution for public hearing by the commission.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if the report of the Public
Utilities Commission is not available within the 60-day time limit
set by Section 56131, the executive officer may set the petition or
resolution for public hearing without the report.
SEC. 6.
SEC. 7. Section 11561 of the Public Utilities Code is
amended to read:
11561. Any territory, whether incorporated or unincorporated,
whether contiguous or noncontiguous, may be included in a municipal
utility district. No city shall be divided in the formation of a
district.
SEC. 7.
SEC. 8. Section 11652 of the Public Utilities Code is
amended to read:
11652. If the majority of the votes cast at the election is in
favor of forming the district, the board of supervisors shall order
and declare the district created and established.
SEC. 8.
SEC. 9. Section 25441.3 is added to the Public Resources
Code, to read:
25441.3. The commission shall provide technical assistance to
local jurisdictions and community groups for the purpose of preparing
feasible proposals for the formation of special districts for the
generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity.