BILL NUMBER: SB 418 AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 15, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 26, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 5, 1999 INTRODUCED BY SenatorBowenPolanco FEBRUARY 12, 1999An act to amend Section 381 of the Public Utilities Code,An act to add Section 739.10 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 418, as amended,BowenPolanco .Electrical restructuring: funding of programsUtility companies: gas transportation service: tariff . Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission is responsible for the regulation of public utilities in the state. This bill would require the commission to authorize a public utility gas corporation to impose a tariff for gas transportation service on international customers that excludes the costs for public goods programs and gas restructuring changes, if the commission determines that offering international gas transportation service will provide net benefits to affected customers.Existing law governing electrical restructuring requires the Public Utilities Commission to require that each electrical corporation identify a separate rate component to collect revenues used to fund programs that enhance system reliability and provide in-state benefits, as specified, and low-income electricity customer programs. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes in those provisions. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to provide, in 2002 and thereafter, for the appropriate funding and administration of programs that enhance electrical system reliability and provide in-state benefits.Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:noyes . State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature inSECTION 1. Section 739.10 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read: 739.10. The commission shall authorize a public utility gas corporation to impose a tariff for gas transportation service on international customers that excludes the costs for public goods programs and gas restructuring changes, if the commission determines that offering international gas transportation service will provide net benefits to affected customers in the state.enacting this act to provide, in 2002 and thereafter, for the appropriate funding and administration of programs that enhance electrical system reliability and provide in-state benefits, as described in subdivision (b) of Section 381 of the Public Utilities Code. SEC. 2. Section 381 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read: 381. (a) To ensure that the funding for the programs described in subdivision (b) and Section 382 are not commingled with other revenues, the commission shall require each electrical corporation to identify a separate rate component to collect the revenues used to fund these programs. The rate component shall be a nonbypassable element of the local distribution service and collected on the basis of usage. This rate component shall fall within the rate levels identified in subdivision (a) of Section 368. (b) The commission shall allocate funds collected pursuant to subdivision (a), and any interest earned on collected funds, to programs that enhance system reliability and provide in-state benefits as follows: (1) Cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation activities. (2) Public interest research and development not adequately provided by competitive and regulated markets. (3) In-state operation and development of existing and new and emerging renewable resource technologies defined as electricity produced from other than a conventional power source within the meaning of Section 2805, provided that a power source utilizing more than 25 percent fossil fuel may not be included. (c) The Public Utilities Commission shall order the respective electrical corporations to collect and spend these funds, as follows: (1) Cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation activities shall be funded at not less than the following levels commencing January 1, 1998, through December 31, 2001: for San Diego Gas and Electric Company a level of thirty-two million dollars ($32,000,000) per year; for Southern California Edison Company a level of ninety million dollars ($90,000,000) for each of the years l998, 1999, and 2000; fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) for the year 2001; and for Pacific Gas and Electric Company a level of one hundred six million dollars ($106,000,000) per year. (2) Research, development, and demonstration programs to advance science or technology that are not adequately provided by competitive and regulated markets shall be funded at not less than the following levels commencing January 1, 1998, through December 31, 2001: for San Diego Gas and Electric Company a level of four million dollars ($4,000,000) per year; for Southern California Edison Company a level of twenty-eight million five hundred thousand dollars ($28,500,000) per year; and for Pacific Gas and Electric Company a level of thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) per year. (3) In-state operation and development of existing and new and emerging renewable resource technologies shall be funded at not less than the following levels on a statewide basis: one hundred nine million five hundred thousand dollars ($109,500,000) per year for each of the years 1998, 1999, and 2000, and one hundred thirty-six million five hundred thousand dollars ($136,500,000) for the year 2001. To accomplish these funding levels over the period described in this section, the San Diego Gas and Electric Company shall spend twelve million dollars ($12,000,000) per year, the Southern California Edison Company shall expend no less than forty-nine million five hundred thousand dollars ($49,500,000) for the years 1998, 1999, and 2000, and no less than seventy-six million five hundred thousand dollars ($76,500,000) for the year 2001, and the Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall expend no less than forty-eight million dollars ($48,000,000) per year through the year 2001. Additional funding not to exceed seventy-five million dollars ($75,000,000) shall be allocated from moneys collected pursuant to subdivision (d) in order to provide a level of funding totaling five hundred forty million dollars ($540,000,000). (4) Up to fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) of the amount collected pursuant to subdivision (d) may be used to resolve outstanding issues related to implementation of subdivision (a) of Section 374. Moneys remaining after fully funding the provisions of this paragraph shall be reallocated for purposes of paragraph (3). (5) Up to ninety million dollars ($90,000,000) of the amount collected pursuant to subdivision (d) may be used to resolve outstanding issues related to contractual arrangements in the Southern California Edison service territory stemming from the Biennial Resource Planning Update auction. Moneys remaining after fully funding the provisions of this paragraph shall be reallocated for purposes of paragraph (3). (d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, entities subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission shall extend the period for competition transition charge collection up to three months beyond its otherwise applicable termination of December 31, 2001, so as to ensure that the aggregate portion of the research, environmental, and low-income funds allocated to renewable resources shall equal five hundred forty million dollars ($540,000,000) and that the costs specified in paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of subdivision (c) are collected. (e) Each electrical corporation shall allow customers to make voluntary contributions through their utility bill payments as either a fixed amount or a variable amount to support programs established pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b). Funds collected by electrical corporations for these purposes shall be forwarded in a timely manner to the appropriate fund as specified by the commission. (f) The commission shall determine how to utilize funds for purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (b), provided that only those research and development funds for transmission and distribution functions shall remain with the regulated public utilities under the supervision of the commission. The commission shall provide for the transfer of all research and development funds collected for purposes of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) other than those for transmission and distribution functions and funds collected for purposes of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) to the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission pursuant to administration and expenditure criteria to be established by the Legislature. (g) The commission's authority to collect funds pursuant to this section for purposes of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) shall become inoperative on March 31, 2002. (h) For purposes of this article, "emerging renewable technology" is a new renewable technology, including, but not limited to, photovoltaic technology, that is determined by the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to be emerging from research and development and that has significant commercial potential.