BILL ANALYSIS
Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
521 (Bowen)
Hearing Date: 5/5/03 Amended: 4/1/03
Consultant: Lisa Matocq Policy Vote: E, U & C
8-0
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 521 (1) requires the Office of Ratepayer
Advocate (ORA), within the Public Utilities Commission
(PUC), to primarily consider the interests of residential
and small commercial customers when dealing with rate
design and revenue allocation matters, and (2) expands
eligibility for "intervenor compensation", as specified.
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2003-04 2004-05
2005-06 Fund
PUC Probably under $100 annually, and offset
Special*
by fee revenues
ORA No fiscal impact Special**
*Utilities' Reimbursement Account (URA)
**Ratepayer Advocate Account
STAFF COMMENTS: Current law establishes the ORA to
represents the interests of public utility customers. This
bill emphasizes the interests of residential and small
commercial customers with regard to revenue allocation and
rate design matters. Although the emphasis would change,
ORA's workload would essentially remain the same as they
would continue to review rate design and revenue allocation
for all customer classes. Therefore, there is no fiscal
impact to ORA.
Under current law, a representative or organization
authorized to represent the interests of residential
customers is eligible to receive "intervenor compensation"
for participating or intervening in PUC proceedings.
Intervenor compensation may include reasonable advocate's,
witness and other specified fees. The PUC makes a
determination regarding the amount of compensation, if any,
and orders the utility to pay it. In 2001, a total of $1.3
million was paid in intervenor compensation. Applicants
for compensation must meet certain eligibility criteria,
such as the applicant must have substantially contributed
to the proceeding, and must have incurred a significant
financial hardship. This bill makes organizations
representing small commercial customers who receive bundled
electric service eligible for intervenor compensation,
subject to the same eligibility criteria.
It is unknown how many additional applications for
intervenor compensation will be generated by this bill, but
increased costs to the PUC to review the applications are
probably under $100,000 annually. URA revenues are derived
from an annual fee imposed on public utilities. Therefore,
any increased costs to the PUC should be offset by fee
revenues.