BILL NUMBER: SB 608 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 31, 2005
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 amended, 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
proceedings and 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. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure the protection
and advancement of ratepayer interests with respect to public utility
matters.
(b) The Office of Ratepayer Advocates is an independent division
of the Public Utilities Commission that advocates solely on behalf of
public utility ratepayers.
(c) The goal of the Office of Ratepayer Advocates is to advocate
on behalf of ratepayers to obtain the lowest possible rates for
public utility service consistent with safe and reliable service
levels, and to ensure that utility customers have access to the best
possible information about their options and choices.
(d) In order to support this goal, it is necessary to clarify the
role of the Office of Ratepayer Advocates and to provide it with the
necessary tools to accomplish its goal.
SECTION 1.
SEC. 2. Section 309.5 of the Public Utilities Code is
amended to read:
309.5. (a) There is within the commission a Division of Ratepayer
Advocates to represent and advocate on behalf of the interests of
California public utility customers and subscribers
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.
(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) Consistent with Section 307 The
director shall develop a budget for the division which shall be
subject to final approval of the commission. In accordance with the
approved budget , 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 effectively represented in all significant
forums, including state and federal courts and federal agencies.
proceedings and forums. The director may appoint an
attorney who shall represent the division, and shall report to and
serve at the pleasure of the director.
(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. 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
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 presiding
officer in the proceeding, or by the executive director if there is
no proceeding, including appropriate sanctions for the withholding of
information.
(e) The division may compel the production or disclosure of any
information it deems necessary to perform its duties from any entity
regulated by the commission, 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.
(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
director 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 Division of
Ratepayer Advocates.
(2) The total dollars expended by the 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 Division of Ratepayer
Advocates.
(h) The division shall 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 in good faith to reach
agreement on issues raised by the division regarding any regulated
entity in the complaint proceeding.
SEC. 2.
SEC. 3. Section 321 of the Public Utilities Code is
amended to read:
321. (a) The commission shall establish an office of the public
adviser advisor and shall appoint a
public adviser advisor , 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 advisor
. The office of the public adviser
advisor 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. The public
adviser advisor 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.
SEC. 4. Section 321.5 of the Public Utilities Code is
repealed.
SEC. 4.
SEC. 5.
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.