BILL ANALYSIS
AB 811
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 811 (Keeley)
As Amended April 19, 1999
Majority vote
UTILITIES AND COMMERCE 11-0
APPROPRIATIONS 21-0
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|Ayes:|Wright, Pescetti, |Ayes:|Migden, Brewer, Ashburn, |
| |Campbell, Cardenas, | |Campbell, Corbett, Davis, |
| |Florez, Frusetta, Kuehl, | |Granlund, Hertzberg, |
| |Maddox, Papan, Reyes, | |Kuehl, Ackerman, Papan, |
| |Wesson | |Aroner, Runner, Shelley, |
| | | |Steinberg, Thomson, |
| | | |Wesson, Wiggins, Wright, |
| | | |Zettel, Longville |
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SUMMARY : Requires the California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC) to establish a Power Exchange
(PX) credit based on actual energy usage, as specified.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Specifies that the PX credit shall consist of PX energy cost
and the actual hourly recorded usage of the customer for each
hour in the billing period.
2)Requires CPUC to implement a methodology whereby the PX energy
credit for a customer with a meter capable of recording hourly
data is calculated based on the actual hourly data for that
customer.
3)Prohibits this methodology from resulting in any shifts in
cost between customer classes.
EXISTING LAW requires:
1)All rules made by a public utility affecting or pertaining to
its charges or services to the public shall be just and
reasonable.
2)CPUC to recover uneconomic costs associated with electric
restructuring, including transition costs, as defined, to be
allocated as prescribed.
AB 811
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3)Individual customers not experience rate increases as a result
of the allocation of transition costs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Minor, absorbable costs to CPUC to staff a
proceeding regarding this methodology.
COMMENTS : The PX credit is calculated based on the average load
profiles of each customer rate class. The statistical load
profiles are determined based on average historical data updated
on a regular basis. The load profile is an estimate of how much
energy is purchased at any given hour by each customer class.
This bill would require CPUC to establish a PX credit for
customers with real-time meters based on actual hourly data
recorded by the customer's meter. This would create a PX credit
based on actual usage rather than customer class averages.
Real-time, or time-of-use meters, measures energy usage as it is
being used, enabling an exact reading of how much energy was
used at any given time. More traditional meters, used by the
vast majority of customers, indicate total energy consumption
but do not indicate when the energy was consumed.
According to the California Manufacturers Association (CMA), the
existing PX credit adopted by CPUC "creates winner and losers by
using a rate class average" which penalizes businesses "that
have no option but to operate during peak times of the day."
According to Southern California Edison, this bill
"appropriately provides for the proper methodology for
calculating the PX energy credit for customers with hourly
meters."
Existing law requires that rates charged to customers must "be
just and reasonable." CPUC has broad authority to set rates for
customers of public utilities. This bill would establish a
rate-making methodology for customers using real-time energy
meters. While the Legislature should be at the forefront of
setting public policy, a questions remains as to whether it is
prudent to statutorily prescribe rate-making methodologies.
Analysis Prepared by : Joseph Lyons / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083
AB 811
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FN: 0000937