BILL NUMBER: SB 608 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Escutia
FEBRUARY 22, 2005
An act to amend Sections 309.5 and 321 of, and to repeal Section
321.5 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to the Public Utilities
Commission.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 608, as introduced, Escutia. Public Utilities Commission:
Division of Ratepayer Advocates: office of the public advisor.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has
regulatory authority over public utilities and can establish its own
procedures, subject to statutory limitations or directions and
constitutional requirements of due process. Existing law establishes
a division, known as the Office of Ratepayer Advocates, within the
commission to represent the interests of public utility customers and
subscribers within the jurisdiction of the commission. Existing law
requires the commission to provide personnel and resources to the
division sufficient to ensure that customer and subscriber interests
are fairly represented in all significant commission proceedings.
This bill would rename the Office of Ratepayer Advocates as the
Division of Ratepayer Advocates and would provide that the purpose of
the division is to represent and advocate on behalf of the interests
of public utility customers and subscribers in the state. The bill
would require the commission to provide personnel and resources to
the division sufficient to ensure that customer and subscriber
interests are effectively represented in all significant forums,
including state and federal courts and federal agencies. The bill
would require that achieving cost transparency be a goal of the
division.
Existing law authorizes the division to compel the production or
disclosure of information from entities regulated by the commission.
Existing law requires that any objection to any request for
information be decided in writing by the assigned commissioner or the
president of the commission if there is no assigned commissioner.
This bill would authorize the division to compel the production or
disclosure of information from entities subject to specified
divisions of the Public Utilities Code. The bill would require that
any objection to any request for information be decided in writing by
the presiding officer in a proceeding, or if there is no proceeding,
by the executive director of the commission, and would provide for
the award of appropriate sanctions for the withholding of
information.
(2) Existing law requires the commission to establish an office of
the public advisor to assist members of the public and ratepayers
who desire to testify before or present information to the commission
in any hearing or proceeding of the commission open to the public.
Existing law requires a separate office of the public advisor in the
Los Angeles office of the commission, staffed by a minimum of 3
employees.
This bill would delete the requirement that the office of the
public advisor in the Los Angeles office of the commission have a
minimum of 3 employees. The bill would state that the purpose of the
office of the public advisor is to assist members of the public and
ratepayers who desire to testify before or present information to the
commission in any hearing or proceeding of the commission. The bill
would require the public advisor to publicize the commission's
programs for encouraging and supporting participation in the
commission's proceedings.
(3) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or
an order or direction of the commission is a crime.
Because the bill would expand the entities from which the division
of ratepayer advocates can request information, including
unregulated affiliates of public utilities and exempt wholesale
generators, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program by
expanding the definition of a crime.
(4)
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. Section 309.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
309.5. (a) There is within the commission a division
Division of Ratepayer Advocates to represent
and advocate on behalf of the interests of public utility
customers and subscribers within the jurisdiction of the
commission in California . The goal of the
division shall be to obtain cost transparency and
the lowest possible rate for service consistent with reliable
and safe service levels. For revenue allocation and rate design
matters, the division shall primarily consider the interests of
residential and small commercial customers. The amendments
made to this section by Chapter 440 of the Statutes of 2001 are not
intended to expand the representation and responsibilities of the
division. (b) The director of the division shall be
appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Governor, subject to
confirmation by the Senate. The director shall annually appear before
the appropriate policy committees of the Assembly and the Senate to
report on the activities of the division.
(c) The Consistent with Section
307, the commission shall, by rule or order, provide for the
assignment of personnel to, and the functioning of, the division. The
division may employ experts necessary to carry out its functions.
Personnel and resources shall be provided to the division at a level
sufficient to ensure that customer and subscriber interests are
fairly effectively represented in all
significant proceedings forums, including
state and federal courts and federal agencies .
(d) The commission shall develop appropriate procedures to ensure
that the existence of the division does not create a conflict of
roles for any employee or his or her representative
. The procedures shall include, but shall not be limited
to, the development of a code of conduct and procedures for ensuring
that advocates and their representatives on a particular case or
proceeding are not advising decisionmakers on the same case or
proceeding.
(e) The division may compel the production or disclosure of any
information it deems necessary to perform its duties from entities
regulated by the commission subject to
Division 1 (commencing with Section 201) to Division 4.9 commencing
with Section 9600), provided that any objections to any request
for information shall be decided in writing by the assigned
commissioner or by the president of the commission if there is no
assigned commissioner presiding officer in the
proceeding , or by the executive director if there is
no proceeding, including appropriate sanctions for the withholding
of information .
(f) There is hereby created the Public Utilities Commission
Ratepayer Advocate Account in the General Fund. Moneys from the
Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account in the
General Fund shall be transferred in the annual Budget Act to the
Public Utilities Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account. The funds in
the Public Utilities Commission Ratepayer Advocate Account shall be
utilized exclusively by the division in the performance of its duties
as determined by the director . The commission
shall annually submit a staffing report containing a comparison of
the staffing levels for each five-year period.
(g) On or before January 10 of each year, the commission shall
provide to the chairperson of the fiscal committee of each house of
the Legislature and to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee all of
the following information:
(1) The number of personnel years assigned to the Office
Division of Ratepayer Advocates.
(2) The total dollars expended by the Office
Division of Ratepayer Advocates in the prior year, the
estimated total dollars expended in the current year, and the total
dollars proposed for appropriation in the following budget year.
(3) Workload standards and measures for the Office
Division of Ratepayer Advocates.
(h) The division shall agree to meet and confer
in an informal setting with a regulated entity prior to issuing a
report or pleading to the commission regarding alleged misconduct, or
a violation of a law or a commission rule or order, raised by the
division in a complaint. The meet and confer process shall be
utilized as an informal means of attempting
in good faith to reach resolution or consensus
agreement on issues raised by the division
regarding any regulated entity in the complaint proceeding.
SEC. 2. Section 321 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
321. (a) The commission shall establish an
office of the public adviser and shall appoint a public adviser
, including a separate office in the Los Angeles office of the
commission . The commission may employ staff as necessary to
carry out the duties of the office of the public adviser. The office
of the public adviser shall assist members of the public and
ratepayers who desire to testify before or present information to the
commission in any hearing or proceeding of the commission
open to the public . The public adviser shall advise the
commission on procedural matters relating to public participation in
proceedings of the commission. (b) The public advisor and
executive director shall publicize the commission's programs for
encouraging and supporting participation in the commission's
proceedings.
SEC. 3. Section 321.5 of the Public Utilities Code is repealed.
321.5. The commission shall establish a separate office of the
public advisor in the Los Angeles office of the commission. The
commission shall staff the office with a minimum of three employees
to assist in fulfilling the duties of the public advisor.
SEC. 4.
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.