BILL NUMBER: AB 1421 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 18, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 8, 1999
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 25, 1999
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 26, 1999
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 15, 1999
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 1999
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Wright
FEBRUARY 26, 1999
An act to amend Section 365.5 of, to add
Sections 328.1, 328.2, and 374.5 to, and to repeal and add Section
328 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1421, as amended, R. Wright. Gas and electric service.
(1) Existing law permits the Public Utilities Commission to
investigate the restructuring of natural gas services, as specified,
but prohibits the commission, prior to January 1, 2000, from enacting
any gas industry restructuring decisions and from enforcing any
natural gas restructuring decisions for core customers as considered
in Rulemaking 98-01-011 enacted after July 1, 1998, but prior to
August 25, 1998.
This bill would repeal that provision, and, instead, would require
the commission to require each gas corporation to provide bundled
basic gas service, as defined, to all core customers in its service
territory unless the customer chooses or contracts to have natural
gas purchased and supplied by another entity. The bill would specify
that a public utility gas corporation shall continue to be the
exclusive provider of revenue cycle services, as defined, in its
service territory, except as specified, and would require the
commission to require the distribution rate to continue to include
after-meter services, as defined. The bill would make related
legislative findings and declarations.
(2) Existing law relating to electrical restructuring states that
nothing in those provisions prevents the commission from exercising
its authority to investigate a process for the certification and
regulation of the rates, charges, terms, and conditions of default
service, and if the commission determines that a process for the
certification and regulation of default service is in the public
interest, existing law requires the commission to submit its findings
and recommendations to the Legislature for approval.
This bill would state that nothing in the electrical
restructuring provisions of existing law prevents the commission from
considering additional or modified unbundling of electric
distribution services and would require the commission to report its
findings and recommendations on that subject to the Legislature, as
specified.
The bill would require electrical corporations serving
certain agricultural customers to conduct research to determine the
typical simultaneous peak load of those customers and report the
results of the research to the customers and the commission not later
than a specified date. The bill would require the commission to
consider the results of the research when setting future electric
distribution rates for those customers.
(3) Because a violation by a public utility of a requirement of
the commission is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated
local program by creating new crimes.
(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 328 of the Public Utilities Code is repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 328 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
328. The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:
(a) In order to ensure that all core customers of a gas
corporation continue to receive safe basic gas service in a
competitive market, each existing gas corporation should continue to
provide this essential service.
(b) No customer should have to pay separate fees for utilizing
services that protect public or customer safety.
SEC. 3. Section 328.1 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
328.1. As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Basic gas service" includes transmission, storage for
reliability of service, and distribution of natural gas, purchasing
natural gas on behalf of a customer, revenue cycle services, and
after-meter services.
(b) "Revenue cycle services" means metering services, billing the
customer, collection, and related customer services.
(c) "After-meter services" includes, but is not limited to, leak
investigation, inspecting customer piping and appliances, carbon
monoxide investigation, pilot relighting, and high bill
investigation.
(d) "Metering services" includes, but is not limited to, gas meter
installation, meter maintenance, meter testing, collecting and
processing consumption data, and all related services associated with
the meter.
SEC. 4. Section 328.2 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
328.2. The commission shall require each gas corporation to
provide bundled basic gas service to all core customers in its
service territory unless the customer chooses or contracts to have
natural gas purchased and supplied by another entity. A public
utility gas corporation shall continue to be the exclusive provider
of revenue cycle services to all customers in its service territory,
except that an entity purchasing and supplying natural gas under the
commission's existing core aggregation program may perform billing
and collection services for its customers under the same terms as
currently authorized by the commission, and except that a supplier of
natural gas to noncore customers may perform billing and collection
for natural gas supply for its customers. The gas corporation shall
continue to calculate its charges for services provided by that
corporation. If the commission establishes credits to be provided by
the gas corporation to core aggregation or noncore customers who
obtain billing or collection services from entities other than the
gas corporation, the credit shall be equal to the billing and
collection services costs actually avoided by the gas corporation.
The commission shall require the distribution rate to continue to
include after-meter services.
SEC. 5. Section 365.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
365.5. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that in regulating
electric distribution services, it is important to protect consumers,
particularly low-income and fixed-income consumers, preserve
electric system safety and reliability, conserve energy, encourage
renewable energy generation, and protect good California jobs.
Therefore, if the commission investigates further unbundling of
electric distribution services, it should evaluate carefully the
consequences of that further unbundling, including unbundling revenue
cycle services, and report back to the Legislature before taking
that action.
(b) Nothing in this chapter prevents the commission from
exercising its authority to do all of the following:
(1) Investigate a process for certification and regulation of the
rates, charges, terms, and conditions of default service.
(2) Consider additional or modified unbundling of electric
distribution services.
If the commission determines that a process for certification and
regulation of default service or additional or modified unbundling of
electric distribution services, including, but not limited to,
departing from the level of revenue cycle services unbundling and the
costing methodology ordered by the commission in Decisions 97-05-039
and 98-09-070, is in the public interest, the commission shall
submit its findings and recommendations to the Legislature for
approval.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 7550.5 of the Government Code, not
later than September 1, 2000, the commission shall submit to the
Legislature a report regarding the development of retail competition
in the electric industry.
SEC. 6.
SEC. 5. Section 374.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code,
to read:
374.5. Any electrical corporation serving agricultural customers
that have multiple electric meters shall conduct research based on a
statistically valid sample of those customers and meters to determine
the typical simultaneous peak load of those customers. The results
of the research shall be reported to the customers and the commission
not later than July 1, 2001. The commission shall consider the
research results in setting future electric distribution rates for
those customers.
SEC. 7.
SEC. 6. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB 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 XIIIB of the California Constitution.