BILL NUMBER: SB 201 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 440
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 3, 2001
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 2, 2001
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 12, 2001
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 4, 2001
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 19, 2001
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 14, 2001
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 5, 2001
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 4, 2001
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 1, 2001
INTRODUCED BY Senator Speier
FEBRUARY 8, 2001
An act to amend and repeal Section 309.5 of the Public Utilities
Code, relating to public utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 201, Speier. Public Utilities Commission: division to
represent interests of customers and subscribers.
Existing law establishes a division within the Public Utilities
Commission to represent the interests of public utility customers and
subscribers in commission proceedings. Existing law provides for a
director of the division appointed by and serving at the pleasure of
the Governor, subject to Senate confirmation. Existing law provides
for the Public Utilities Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account in the
General Fund and requires that money from the Public Utilities
Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account in the General Fund be
transferred in the annual Budget Act to the Public Utilities
Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account for performance of the duties
of the division. Existing law provides for the repeal of those
provisions on January 1, 2002, and the replacement of those
provisions on that date with provisions requiring the commission to
create an organization or division within the commission to represent
the interests of public utility customers and subscribers in
commission proceedings.
This bill would delete the repeal of the provisions that provide
for the division, the director of the division, and the Public
Utilities Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account, and would repeal the
provisions that were to become operative January 1, 2002. The bill
would instead provide that the division represent the interests of
public utility customers and subscribers, but no longer limit that
representation to commission proceedings. This bill would also set
forth the procedures for making and resolving objections to demands
for the production or disclosure of information made by the division,
as specified.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 309.5 of the Public Utilities Code, as amended
by Chapter 1005 of the Statutes of 1999, is amended to read:
309.5. (a) There is within the commission a division to represent
the interests of public utility customers and subscribers within the
jurisdiction of the commission. The goal of the division shall be
to obtain the lowest possible rate for service consistent with
reliable and safe service levels. The amendments made to this
section during the 2001 portion of the 2001-02 Regular Session are
not intended to expand the representation and responsibilities of the
division.
(b) The director of the division shall be appointed by and serve
at the pleasure of the Governor, subject to confirmation by the
Senate. The director shall annually appear before the appropriate
policy committees of the Assembly and the Senate to report on the
activities of the division.
(c) The commission shall, by rule or order, provide for the
assignment of personnel to, and the functioning of, the division.
The division may employ experts necessary to carry out its functions.
Personnel and resources shall be provided to the division at a
level sufficient to ensure that customer and subscriber interests are
fairly represented in all significant proceedings.
(d) The commission shall develop appropriate procedures to ensure
that the existence of the division does not create a conflict of
roles for any employee or his or her representative. The procedures
shall include, but shall not be limited to, the development of a code
of conduct and procedures for ensuring that advocates and their
representatives on a particular case or proceeding are not advising
decisionmakers on the same case or proceeding.
(e) The division may compel the production or disclosure of any
information it deems necessary to perform its duties from entities
regulated by the commission provided that any objections to any
request for information shall be decided in writing by the assigned
commissioner or by the president of the commission if there is no
assigned commissioner.
(f) There is hereby created the Public Utilities Commission
Ratepayer Advocate Account in the General Fund. Moneys from the
Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account in the
General Fund shall be transferred in the annual Budget Act to the
Public Utilities Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account. The funds in
the Public Utilities Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account shall be
utilized exclusively by the division in the performance of its
duties. The annual budget for the division shall be separately
identified in the commission's annual budget request. The commission
shall annually submit a staffing report containing a comparison of
the staffing levels for each five-year period.
(g) The division shall agree to meet and confer in an informal
setting with a regulated entity prior to issuing a report or pleading
to the commission regarding alleged misconduct, or a violation of a
law or a commission rule or order, raised by the division in a
complaint. The meet and confer process shall be utilized as an
informal means of attempting to reach resolution or consensus on
issues raised by the division regarding any regulated entity in such
a complaint proceeding.
SEC. 2. Section 309.5 of the Public Utilities Code, as added by
Section 4 of Chapter 856 of the Statutes of 1996, is repealed.