BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1488|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1488
Author: Bowen (D)
Amended: 4/26/04
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 5-1, 3/23/04
AYES: Bowen, Alarcon, Dunn, Sher, Vasconcellos
NOES: Battin
NO VOTE RECORDED: Morrow, McClintock, Murray
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-2, 4/20/04
AYES: Escutia, Cedillo, Kuehl, Sher
NOES: Morrow, Ackerman
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ducheny
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Public Utilities Commission: public information
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill aligns the records practices of the
State Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with the Public
Records Act (PRA), in favor of public disclosure, and
states that all information furnished by a public utility,
or its subsidiary, affiliate or holding company, shall be
made public unless a provision of the PRA or the PUC
requires it to be withheld.
ANALYSIS : Unlike other state agencies, whose records are
generally open for public inspection, the PUC operates
CONTINUED
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under a statute that affords the public access to its
records only when specifically permitted by the PUC.
The section creating the presumption against public
inspection has its origin in a law enacted in 1915.
Despite the "open government" reforms in California such as
the PRA (enacted in 1968), the statutory standard for
public access to utility filings with the PUC has not
fundamentally changed since 1915.
The PRA gives every person the right to inspect and obtain
copies of all state and local government documents not
exempt from disclosure. Exemptions include corporate
financial records and corporate proprietary information,
including trade secrets. The PRA also specifically
provides that information held by the PUC which is deemed
confidential under Section 583 of the Public Utilities Code
is not required to be disclosed.
In January 2004, the Legislature adopted SCA 1 (Burton),
which proposes to make access to records and public
meetings of government officials and agencies a
constitutional right of each citizen. To be enacted, SCA 1
also must be approved by voters and is pending on the
November 2004 statewide ballot. If enacted, SCA 1 would
not repeal or nullify Section 583 or any other existing law
that creates an exception to the right of access to public
records.
Existing law requires public utilities to furnish to the
PUC information necessary for the PUC to carry out its
regulatory duties.
Existing law requires that records of every state agency be
made available for public inspection upon request, with
certain exceptions and subject to procedures.
Existing law establishes a presumption against public
disclosure by providing that no information furnished by a
public utility, or its subsidiary, affiliate or holding
company, shall be made public unless a provision of the
Public Utilities Act or the PUC requires it to be made
public.
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This bill changes the presumption to favor public
disclosure by providing that all information furnished by a
public utility, or its subsidiary, affiliate or holding
company, shall be made public unless a provision of the PRA
or the PUC requires it to be withheld.
This bill empowers the PUC to designate certain categories
of information as confidential, if it finds that the public
interest served by not disclosing the information clearly
outweighs the public interest served by the disclosure of
information. Existing statutory exemptions for disclosure
under the PRA, including financial records and proprietary
information, will continue to apply.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/11/04)
(prior versions of the bill)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
Clean Power Campaign
Environment California
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/11/04)
(prior versions of the bill)
AT&T
California Association of Competitive Telecommunications
Companies
California Cable & Telecommunications Association
California Telephone Association
Pacific Gas & Electric Company
Pac West
SBC
Sempra Energy
Southern California Edison
Sprint Communications Company
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
the PUC is the only state agency not subject to the
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presumption established by the PRA that information in a
state agency's control is public, unless specifically
exempted from disclosure.
The presumption of confidentiality applied to records of
the PUC originated in 1915 and is inconsistent with the
standard applicable to all other state agencies.
By creating the presumption that utility information should
be kept from the public, current law operates as an
impediment to the practice of open government at the PUC.
This bill is part of an effort to improve the transparency
of the PUC process and otherwise enable effective public
participation in PUC proceedings.
This bill conforms Section 583 to the PRA by changing the
presumption that utility information held by the PUC is
confidential to a presumption that it is public. The PUC
is empowered by the bill to protect legitimately
confidential information by affirmatively deciding that it
should not be disclosed.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Opponents argue that the bill
does not adequately protect market sensitive information
and utilities may respond by withholding relevant
information from the PUC.
Some utilities are concerned that if the presumption of
confidentiality under Section 583 is reversed, the public
will have access to information before the PUC determines
whether the information is of the kind that ought to be
kept confidential.
NC:mel 5/12/04 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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