BILL ANALYSIS
SB 68 X2
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 68 X2 (Battin)
As Amended June 7, 2001
2/3 vote. Urgency
SENATE VOTE :39-0
ENERGY 16-0 APPROPRIATIONS 20-0
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|Ayes:|Wright, Pescetti, Briggs, |Ayes:|Migden, Bates, Alquist, |
| | | |Aroner, Washington, |
| |Bill Campbell, John | |Corbett, Correa, Daucher, |
| |Campbell, Cancimilla, | |Goldberg, Maldonado, |
| |Diaz, Dickerson, Florez, | |Robert Pacheco, Papan, |
| |Leonard, Reyes, Richman, | |Pavley, Runner, Simitian, |
| |Steinberg, Vargas, Wesson | |Thomson, Wesson, Wiggins, |
| |Zettel | |Wright, Zettel |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC) to consider, when establishing priorities in a rotating
blackout, the potential effect of extreme temperatures on the
health and safety of residential customers. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Requires CPUC to make a determination of the potential effect
of extreme temperatures on the health and safety of
residential customers when establishing priorities among the
categories of customers of electrical corporation, and to do
all of the following:
a) Consult with medical experts;
b) Take into account the potential health, safety, and
reliability effects on other customers resulting from
potentially more frequent and longer blackouts;
c) Only provide additional outage exemptions to those
customers when the temperature is extreme; and,
d) Consider whether alternatives to a complete exemption
from rolling blackouts, such as reduced outage duration or
an outage at a different time of day, are appropriate.
EXISTING LAW requires CPUC to:
SB 68 X2
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1)Establish priorities among the types of customers of every
electric and gas corporation, and among the uses of
electricity or gas by such customers.
1)Determine which customers and uses provide the most important
public benefit and serve the greatest public need, and
categorize those customers and uses in descending priority.
When establishing those priorities, CPUC must include a
determination of:
a) The customers and uses of electricity and gas, which
provide the most important public benefits and serve the
greatest public need; and,
b) The economic, social, and other effects of a temporary
discontinuance in electricity and gas service to those
customers and uses.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Two months ago, CPUC issued a decision revising the
list of "essential customers" who are exempt from rotating
outages. The list includes essential public services such as
police, fire, hospitals, government agencies essential to the
national defense, and specified customers who agree to reduce
their usage during rotating outages.
The electric grid is divided into distribution circuits. When
an "essential customer" is exempted from a rotating blackout,
every other customer on that circuit is exempted as well.
Statewide, approximately 50% of the load is exempt from rolling
blackouts.
This bill requires CPUC to consider, when establishing
priorities in a rotating blackout, the potential effect of
extreme temperatures on the health and safety of residential
customers. CPUC would not be required to exempt these
customers, but simply to consider the effect on the health and
safety of customers who live in extreme temperatures.
Adding customers to the list of essential customers would
decrease the amount of load available for rotating outages.
This would increase both the frequency and duration of outages
for non-exempt customers. (Currently, rolling blackouts
typically last between one and two hours for most customers.)
Additionally, any of these customers may already have petitioned
SB 68 X2
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CPUC for an exemption based on health and safety issues. There
has been a process in place at CPUC to accommodate special needs
and balance these against overall grid reliability and equity
among customers. This bill asks the Legislature to effectively
override the policy decision already made at CPUC in this regard
and to require the agency to review policies and exemptions or
special accommodations, when it has already done so in light of
system constraints.
Increasing the number of exempt customers could threaten the
reliability of the grid. CPUC currently requires utilities to
have 40% of their load available to participate in rolling
blackouts. (As noted above, approximately 50% of circuits are
presently available for this purpose.) If CPUC, pursuant to
this bill, elected to exempt customers living in areas of
extreme temperatures from rotating outages, the number of exempt
customers could potentially rise above the utilities' current
40% of load requirement.
Overexposure to heat can prove deadly, especially for the
elderly. In 1995, Chicago experienced a heat wave that resulted
in 465 deaths. These deaths occurred as a result of prolonged
exposure to heat. Rolling blackouts, on the other hand,
typically last between one and two hours. The limited duration
of rotating outages limits a customer's exposure to extreme
heat. Disconnection of electric service, on the other hand,
poses a more significant threat to the health of customers in
areas of extreme heat. Legislation enacted in the First
Extraordinary Session [AB X1 3 (Wright), Chapter 11, Statutes of
2001] prohibits utilities from disconnecting customers that are
in compliance with payment arrangements offered by a gas or
electric utility.
Analysis Prepared by : Joseph Lyons / E. C. & A. / (916)
319-2083
FN: 0002168