BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 1488
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 4, 2004

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                   Judy Chu, Chair

                     SB 1488 (Bowen) - As Amended:  June 9, 2004 

          Policy Committee:                               
          UtilitiesVote:10-1

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to  
          initiate a proceeding to review its public disclosure  
          practices--both in general and specifically with regard to  
          information submitted to the commission in the investor-owned  
          utilities' electricity procurement plans--to ensure meaningful  
          public participation and open decision making.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          One-time special fund costs (Public Utilities Reimbursement  
          Account) of up to $100,000 for the PUC to review its general  
          practices regarding public disclosure. (The PUC is currently  
          reviewing its treatment of confidential information within the  
          scope of an electricity procurement proceeding. The results of  
          that review would, only in part, be able to applied to a general  
          examination of the commission's disclosure policies.)

           COMMENTS  

          Purpose  . According to the author, this bill is the result of an  
          increased amount of information being redacted by the PUC before  
          disclosure to the public. Unlike other state agencies, the PUC  
          operates under a 1915 statute (Section 583 of the Public  
          Utilities Code) which makes public access to much of the  
          information in its proceedings the exception, rather than the  
          rule. The statute was enacted long before subsequent "open  
          government" reforms, such as the California Public Records Act  
          (PRA) of 1968. Under the PRA, every person has a right to  
          inspect and obtain copies of all state and local government  
          documents and records not exempt from disclosure.  Among the  








                                                                  SB 1488
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          categories of records exempt from disclosure are corporate  
          financial records and proprietary information, including trade  
          secrets.  The PRA also specifically provides that information  
          held by the PUC which is deemed confidential under Section 583  
          is not required to be disclosed.

          The PUC has initiated a process to review the public disclosure  
          process for information in the long-term electricity procurement  
          proceeding, where numerous parties involved representing both  
          ratepayers and competitors want greater disclosure for different  
          reasons. The author believes that, in addition to disclosure  
          within this specific proceeding, the PUC should also revisit its  
          public disclosure practices in general and with regard to the  
          intent of the PRA.

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