BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 1201
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   June 30, 2004

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                   Judy Chu, Chair

                   SB 1201 (Torlakson) - As Amended:  June 9, 2004 

          Policy Committee:                               
          UtilitiesVote:12-0

          Urgency:     Yes                  State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill provides the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART)  
          with the additional option of  receiving power from a publicly  
          owned electric utility (municipal utility). 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible fiscal impact.

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  . Until 1994, BART purchased electricity from PG&E.  
          Beginning in 1994, BART received, under a 10-year contract, an  
          allocation of federal reclamation project power from the Central  
          Valley Project through the Western Area Power Administration  
          (WAPA). SB 184 (Kopp), Chapter 681/Statutes of 1995 enabled BART  
          to receive its allocation of federal preference power at its  
          multiple delivery points in the Bay Area via PG&E's transmission  
          and distribution system without paying many of the costs  
          associated with retail service. BART, which is now seeking  
          another preference power contract from WAPA to replace the  
          current contract (expiring in 2006), is sponsoring this urgency  
          bill to give it another supply option (municipal utilities) if  
          contracting with WAPA is not feasible. 

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081