BILL NUMBER: SB 521 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 23, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 1, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Senator Bowen
FEBRUARY 20, 2003
An act to amend Sections 309.5 and 1802 of, and to add Section
1802.3 to, the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 521, as amended, Bowen. Public Utilities Commission:
customers.
(1) Existing law creates a division within the Public Utilities
Commission to represent the interests of public utility customers and
subscribers within the jurisdiction of the commission.
This bill would provide that for revenue allocation and rate
design matters, the division would be required to primarily consider
the interests of residential and small commercial customers.
(2) Existing law provides compensation for reasonable advocate's
fees, reasonable expert witness fees, and other reasonable costs to
public utility customers for participation or intervention in any
proceeding of the commission. Existing law defines "customer" in
part to include any representative of a group or organization
authorized pursuant to its articles of incorporation or bylaws to
represent the interests of residential electrical, gas, telephone,
telegraph, or water corporation customers.
This bill would also include within the definition of "customer"
any representative of a group or organization authorized pursuant to
its articles of incorporation or bylaws to represent the interests of
small commercial customers , as defined by a certain peak
demand threshold, who receive bundled electric service from an
electrical corporation. The bill would prohibit a representative of
a group representing the interests of small commercial customers who
receive bundled electric service from an electrical corporation from
being eligible for an award of compensation if the representative has
a conflict arising from prior representation before the commission.
The bill would authorize the commission to modify or change the
definition of "small commercial customer," to promote participation
in commission proceedings by organizations representing small
businesses.
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. Section 309.5 of the Public Utilities Code 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. For revenue allocation and rate
design matters, the division shall primarily consider the interests
of residential and small commercial customers. The amendments made
to this section by Chapter 440 of the Statutes of 2001 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 commission shall annually submit a staffing report
containing a comparison of the staffing levels for each five-year
period.
(g) On or before January 10 of each year, the commission shall
provide to the chairperson of the fiscal committee of each house of
the Legislature and to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee all of
the following information:
(1) The number of personnel years assigned to the Office of
Ratepayer Advocates.
(2) The total dollars expended by the Office of Ratepayer
Advocates in the prior year, the estimated total dollars expended in
the current year, and the total dollars proposed for appropriation in
the following budget year.
(3) Workload standards and measures for the Office of Ratepayer
Advocates.
(h) 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 the
complaint proceeding.
SEC. 2. Section 1802 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
1802. (a) As used in this article:
(a) "Compensation" means payment for all or part, as
determined by the commission, of reasonable advocate's fees,
reasonable expert witness fees, and other reasonable costs of
preparation for and participation in a proceeding, and includes the
fees and costs of obtaining an award under this article and of
obtaining judicial review, if any.
(b) "Customer" means any participant representing consumers,
customers, or subscribers of any electrical, gas, telephone,
telegraph, or water corporation that is subject to the jurisdiction
of the commission; any representative who has been authorized by a
customer; or any representative of a group or organization authorized
pursuant to its articles of incorporation or bylaws to represent the
interests of residential customers, or small commercial customers
who receive bundled electric service from an electrical corporation,
but does not include any state, federal, or local government agency,
any publicly owned public utility, or any entity that, in the
commission's opinion, was established or formed by a local government
entity for the purpose of participating in a commission proceeding.
(b) (1) "Customer" means any of the following:
(A) A participant representing consumers, customers, or
subscribers of any electrical, gas, telephone, telegraph, or water
corporation that is subject to the jurisdiction of the commission.
(B) A representative who has been authorized by a customer.
(C) A representative of a group or organization authorized
pursuant to its articles of incorporation or bylaws to represent the
interests of residential customers, or to represent small commercial
customers who receive bundled electric service from an electrical
corporation.
(2) "Customer" does not include any state, federal, or local
government agency, any publicly owned public utility, or any entity
that, in the commission's opinion, was established or formed by a
local government entity for the purpose of participating in a
commission proceeding.
(c) "Expert witness fees" means recorded or billed costs incurred
by a customer for an expert witness.
(d) "Other reasonable costs" means reasonable out-of-pocket
expenses directly incurred by a customer that are directly related to
the contentions or recommendations made by the customer that
resulted in a substantial contribution.
(e) "Party" means any interested party, respondent public utility,
or commission staff in a hearing or proceeding.
(f) "Proceeding" means an application, complaint, or
investigation, rulemaking, alternative dispute resolution procedures
in lieu of formal proceedings as may be sponsored or endorsed by the
commission, or other formal proceeding before the commission.
(g) "Significant financial hardship" means either that the
customer cannot afford, without undue hardship, to pay the costs of
effective participation, including advocate's fees, expert witness
fees, and other reasonable costs of participation, or that, in the
case of a group or organization, the economic interest of the
individual members of the group or organization is small in
comparison to the costs of effective participation in the proceeding.
(h) "Small commercial customer" means any nonresidential
customer with a maximum peak demand of less than 50 kilowatts. The
commission may establish rules to modify or change the definition of
"small commercial customer," including use of criteria other than a
peak demand threshold, if the commission determines that the
modification or change will promote participation in proceedings at
the commission by organizations representing small businesses,
without incorporating large commercial and industrial customers.
(i) "Substantial contribution" means that, in the judgment
of the commission, the customer's presentation has substantially
assisted the commission in the making of its order or decision
because the order or decision has adopted in whole or in part one or
more factual contentions, legal contentions, or specific policy or
procedural recommendations presented by the customer. Where the
customer's participation has resulted in a substantial contribution,
even if the decision adopts that customer's contention or
recommendations only in part, the commission may award the customer
compensation for all reasonable advocate's fees, reasonable expert
fees, and other reasonable costs incurred by the customer in
preparing or presenting that contention or recommendation.
SEC. 3. Section 1802.3 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
1802.3. A representative of a group representing the interests of
small commercial customers who receive bundled electric service from
an electrical corporation shall not be eligible for an award of
compensation pursuant to this article if the representative has a
conflict arising from prior representation before the commission.
This conflict may not be waived.
SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The intervenor compensation program allows for participation
by organizations representing small businesses so that those
businesses have a voice at the commission.
(b) The commission will evaluate and may revise the 50 kilowatt
peak demand threshold, if doing so will further the purposes of the
act adding this section.
(c) If the commission revises the threshold for a small commercial
customer, it may consider criteria other than electricity demand,
including number of employees.
(d) When the commission evaluates implementation of this expanded
program, the commission should ensure that large commercial and
industrial customers are not inadvertently included in the program.
(e) The act adding this section does not alter the commission's
implementation of the requirement of intervenor compensation that may
be granted only if the participation resulted in a substantial
contribution to the proceeding, and only if intervention without an
award of fees or costs imposes a significant financial hardship.