BILL ANALYSIS 1
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SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
MARTHA M. ESCUTIA, CHAIRWOMAN
SB 608 - Escutia Hearing Date:
April 5, 2005 S
As Amended: March 31, 2005 FISCAL B
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DESCRIPTION
Current law establishes within the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC) a division to represent the interests of
public utility customers and subscribers known as the Office of
the Ratepayer Advocate (ORA). The ORA Director is a pleasure
appointment of the Governor, subject to Senate confirmation.
Current law establishes within the CPUC an office of the public
advisor to assist the public who desire to testify or present
information to the CPUC.
This bill :
Changes the name of the division to the Division of
Ratepayer Advocates (DRA).
Authorizes the division Director to appoint an attorney
to represent the division, who reports to and serves at the
pleasure of the Director.
Requires the division Director to develop a budget for
the DRA, which is subject to final approval by the
commission.
BACKGROUND
In 1996 the Legislature created the Office of the Ratepayer
Advocate to represent consumer interests at the CPUC (SB 960
(Leonard), Chapter 856, Statutes of 1996). This legislation
formalized an organizational structure created by the CPUC that
established a consumer advocacy function separate from the
CPUC's decision-making apparatus. The Legislature strengthened
the consumer advocacy function by making the ORA Director a
Governor's appointment and dealt with conflict of interest
concerns by requiring the creation of appropriate rules.
Concerns have been raised about shortcomings in the statutes
which hamper ORA's effectiveness. Those concerns, reflected in
the testimony of the ORA Director in the March 1, 2005 hearing
of this committee, include ORA's lack of a separate budget and
spending authority and ORA's lack of control over its attorneys.
Prior to the 1996 legislation ORA had 210 employees. Currently,
ORA has 116 employees.
COMMENTS
This bill attempts to strengthen the ORA by giving the ORA
Director more control over the resources necessary to perform
the work.
Under this bill the ORA Director will negotiate a budget with
the CPUC and thereafter have control over that budget. Under
current practice the ORA budget is subsumed under the CPUC's
budget, giving the CPUC flexibility to shift resources between
ORA and the other CPUC divisions to meet workload demands. That
flexibility will be lost, or at least subject to renegotiation,
under the provisions of this bill. Requiring the ORA Director
to negotiate her budget with the CPUC compromises ORA's
independence and gives the Commission ongoing leverage over ORA
decisions. While this bill improves ORA's independence by
giving the ORA Director spending authority, it falls short of
true independence. The author and committee may wish to
consider deleting the provision requiring ORA to negotiate its
budget with the CPUC and instead have the ORA negotiate its
budget directly with the Department of Finance.
Currently ORA is represented by lawyers who serve under the
CPUC's General Counsel, who in turn reports to the CPUC
President. This bill attempts to resolve that conflict by
authorizing the ORA Director to appoint an attorney to represent
the division that shall report and serve at the pleasure of the
Director. If the goal is to provide ORA with truly independent
legal representation then further changes are necessary. The
author and committee may wish to consider clarifying that all
attorneys representing ORA shall report to and be directed by
the Director.
This bill enhances the CPUC's public outreach efforts by
explicitly requiring the public advisor and the CPUC's executive
director to publicize CPUC programs for encouraging and
supporting participation in Commission proceedings.
POSITIONS
Sponsor:
Author
Support:
None on file
Oppose:
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Randy Chinn
SB 608 Analysis
Hearing Date: April 5, 2005