BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 583|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 583
Author: Leslie (R)
Amended: 6/19/03 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/10/03
AYES: Bowen, Battin, Dunn, McClintock, Murray, Sher,
Vasconcellos
ABSENT/ABSTAINING/NOT VOTING: Morrow, Alarcon
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 4/24/03 (Passed on Consent) - See
last page for vote
SUBJECT : Generation facilities: regulation
SOURCE : PacifiCorp
Sierra Pacific Power Company
DIGEST : This bill exempts specified electric generation
facilities located outside California to be disposed of
upon approval by the Public Utility Commission.
ANALYSIS : Under existing law, the California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC) must authorize the sale of
property owned by a public utility that is "necessary or
useful in the performance of its duties to the public"
(Section 851 of the Public Utilities Code).
Existing law further prohibits the sale of any public
CONTINUED
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utility-owned power plant until January 1, 2006, and
requires the CPUC to continue to regulate utility
generation facilities and ensure they remain dedicated to
service for the benefit of California ratepayers (Section
377 of the Public Utilities Code).
This bill exempts from Section 377 the disposition of any
electric generation facility, or an interest in a facility
for the generation of electricity, located outside the
state and owned by a utility with 60,000 or fewer service
connections in California, and is not necessary to serve
that public utility's customers in this state may be
disposed of upon approval of the CPUC to existing
procedures in existing law in Sections 851 and 853 of the
Public Utility Code.
Background
Section 851 of the Public Utilities Code requires any
public utility to secure CPUC authorization prior to
disposing of any property "necessary or useful in the
performance of its duties to the public." In the case of
an application to sell a power plant, CPUC review under
Section 851 would entail a public interest finding and
environmental review under the California Environmental
Quality Act.
AB 6X (Dutra), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2001, flatly
prohibited the sale of any public utility-owned power plant
until January 1, 2006, and required, in any event, that
utility generation assets remain subject to CPUC regulation
and dedicated to service for the benefit of California
ratepayers.
Sierra Pacific Power (SPP) is a Nevada-based electric
utility which serves most of northern Nevada and a small
part of California around Lake Tahoe. PacificCorp is an
Oregon-based electric utility which serves Del Norte and
Siskiyou Counties in northern California. Although their
primary places of business are outside the state, to the
extent SPP and PacificCorp operate as public utilities in
California, they are subject to CPUC regulation, including
a requirement that the CPUC approve divestiture of utility
property pursuant to Section 851. SPP and PacificCorp are
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the only utilities that meet the bill's criteria (own
generation out-of-state and have fewer than 60,000
customers in state.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/2/03)
PacifiCorp (co-source)
Sierra Pacific Power Company (co-source)
California Public Utilities Commission
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Aghazarian, Benoit, Berg, Bermudez, Bogh, Calderon,
Campbell, Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cogdill, Cohn,
Corbett, Correa, Cox, Daucher, Dutra, Dymally, Firebaugh,
Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg, Hancock, Harman, Jerome
Horton, Houston, Jackson, Keene, Kehoe, Koretz, La Malfa,
La Suer, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Liu, Longville,
Lowenthal, Maddox, Maldonado, Matthews, Maze, McCarthy,
Montanez, Mountjoy, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nakano, Nation,
Negrete McLeod, Nunez, Oropeza, Pacheco, Parra, Pavley,
Plescia, Reyes, Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Runner, Salinas,
Samuelian, Spitzer, Steinberg, Strickland, Vargas,
Wiggins, Wolk, Wyland, Yee, Wesson
RJG/NC:sl 7/2/03 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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