BILL NUMBER: AB 1348	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Sharon Runner

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2005

   An act to add Section 761 to the Public Utilities Code, relating
to electricity.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1348, as introduced, Sharon Runner.   Electricity: voluntary
time-of-use tariff rates.
   Existing law authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to fix the
rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those
rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law requires
electrical corporations furnishing electricity to an agricultural
producer to prepare and file tariffs providing for optional off-peak
demand service, including the availability of time-differentiating
meters or other measurement devices.
   This bill would require the commission to require every electrical
corporation to file tariffs by March 1, 2006, that provide a
voluntary unbundled time-of-use tariff rate, as defined, for eligible
customers, as defined.
   Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an
order or direction of the commission is a crime.
   The provisions of this bill would be part of the act and an order
or other action of the commission would be required to implement its
provisions. Because a violation of the bill's provisions or of an
implementing order or decision of the commission would be a crime,
this bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating new
crimes.

  The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares that voluntary
time-of-use rates for commercial and industrial customers is one
means to reduce electricity consumption during periods of peak
demand, to reward private investment in solar and other renewable
energy technologies, to stabilize California's electrical
infrastructure, reduce air pollution, increase energy independence,
and enhance the diversification of California's energy mix.
  SEC. 2.  Section 761 is added to the  Public Utilities Code , to
read:
   761.  (a) As used in this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:(1) "Eligible customer" means a commercial or
industrial customer of an electrical corporation with a billed
electricity usage of less than 1,000 kilowatts for three consecutive
months or a commercial or industrial customer that generates 25
percent or more of the electricity used by the customer from a solar
energy system or other ultraclean and low-emission distributed
generation source.
   (2) "Solar energy system" means a photovoltaic solar collector or
other photovoltaic solar energy device that has a primary purpose of
providing for the collection, and distribution of solar energy for
the generation of electricity.
   (3) "Ultraclean and low-emission distributed generation" means an
electricity generation source that uses technology that meets the
definition of an "ultra-clean and low-emission distributed generation"
in subdivision (a) of Section 353.2.
   (4) "Unbundled time-of-use tariff rate" means a rate that
allocates the cost of electricity and distribution costs on a per
kilowatthour basis for different time periods, without a demand
charge.
   (b) The commission shall require that every electrical corporation
by March 1, 2006, file tariffs that provide a voluntary unbundled
time-of-use tariff rate for eligible customers.
   (c) Eligible customers that elect to take service under a
voluntary time-of-use tariff rate of an electrical corporation shall
have a meter that measures electricity usage on a real time basis.
   (d) Eligible customers that generate electricity using a solar
energy system or using ultraclean and low -emission distributed
generation are eligible for net energy metering. Eligible customers
that generate electricity using a solar energy system or using
ultraclean and low-emission distributed generation shall have a
metering system capable of separately measuring electricity flow in
both directions. Eligible customers that generate electricity using a
solar energy system or using ultraclean and low-emission distributed
generation shall be credited for the electricity and distribution
components of the time-of-use tariff rates, for the net amount of
electricity contributed during periods when the eligible customer
contributes electricity to the electrical distribution system.
  SEC. 3.
  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of
Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs
that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be
incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.