BILL ANALYSIS
Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
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| |201(Speier) |
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|Hearing Date: 5/21/01 |Amended: 5/1/01 |
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|Consultant: Lisa Matocq |Policy Vote: E, U & C 5-1 |
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 201:
transfers an unspecified amount from the Public Utilities
Commission (PUC) Utilities' Reimbursement Account (URA)
to the PUC Ratepayer Advocate Account (RAA) and
appropriates that amount to the division for expenditure
of enhanced consumer and ratepayer advocacy,
requires the salary of the director of the division of
Ratepayer Advocate to be 90% of the salary of a PUC
commissioner (an increase of probably less than $2,000
annually), and
makes changes to the Office of Ratepayer Advocate (ORA),
within the PUC, as specified.
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2001-02 2002-03
2003-04 Fund
Enhanced ratepayer Unknown costs - unspecified transfer of
Special*
advocacy funds
*Transfers an unspecified amount from the URA to the RAA.
STAFF COMMENTS: This bill probably meets the criteria for
referral to the Suspense File. Current law, until January
1, 2002, establishes a division within the PUC to represent
the interests of public utility customers in commission
proceedings . This bill specifies that the ORA shall
represent the interests of public utility customers
(regardless of whether or not it relates to commission
proceedings), which arguably expands the ORA's authority.
Effective January 1, 2002, the ORA provisions are repealed
and replaced with a requirement that the PUC establish a
division to represent the interests of customers in
commission proceedings, and authority to assign staff. It
is unclear how the ORA would change effective January 1,
2002. This bill repeals the sunset and deletes the
provisions that would otherwise take effect January 1,
2002, and establishes a permanent, and, arguably, expanded
program.
Existing law also requires that moneys from the URA be
transferred in the annual budget act to the RAA to cover
the costs of the program. The URA receives about $60
million annually from fee revenues. The funds may be used
for specified purposes including the PUC's budget. The
Governor's Budget includes $13.4 million for the ORA. To
the extent that additional moneys are transferred from the
URA to the RAA, it could result in decreased funding for
other PUC operations, or increased fees to cover the costs
associated with enhanced advocacy. STAFF RECOMMENDS that
the bill be amended to specify the transfer amount.