BILL NUMBER: SB 1095 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 8, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 6, 1999
INTRODUCED BY Senator Bowen
FEBRUARY 26, 1999
An act to amend Section 373 Sections 216
and 377 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to public
utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1095, as amended, Bowen. Electrical restructuring.
(1) Existing law requires generation assets owned by any public
utility prior to June 1, 1997, and subject to rate regulation by the
Public Utilities Commission, to continue to be subject to regulation
by the commission until those assets have undergone market valuation,
as specified.
This bill, in addition, would require those assets to continue to
be subject to that regulation until the commission has authorized the
disposition of those assets pursuant to prescribed provisions of
law.
(2) Existing law requires the commission to continue to regulate
the nonnuclear generation assets owned by any public utility prior to
January 1, 1997, that are subject to regulation by the commission
until those assets have been subject to market valuation, as
prescribed.
This bill, in addition, would require those assets to continue to
be subject to that regulation until the commission has authorized the
disposition of those assets pursuant to prescribed provisions of
law.
Because, under existing law, a violation of the above provisions
with regard to regulation by the commission would be a crime, this
bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new
crime.
(3) 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.
Existing law governing electrical restructuring authorizes
electrical corporations to apply to the Public Utilities Commission
for an order determining that certain uneconomic costs not be
collected from a particular class of customer or category of
electricity consumption, as prescribed.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes in that
provision. The bill would also state the intent of the Legislature to
ensure that the commission conducts an accurate calculation of
electrical restructuring transition costs to ensure an equitable and
timely conclusion to the transition to the competitive generation of
electricity in California.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:
no yes . State-mandated local program:
no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature to
SECTION 1. Section 216 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
216. (a) "Public utility" includes every common carrier, toll
bridge corporation, pipeline corporation, gas corporation, electrical
corporation, telephone corporation, telegraph corporation, water
corporation, sewer system corporation, and heat corporation, where
the service is performed for, or the commodity is delivered to, the
public or any portion thereof.
(b) Whenever any common carrier, toll bridge corporation, pipeline
corporation, gas corporation, electrical corporation, telephone
corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewer system
corporation, or heat corporation performs a service for, or delivers
a commodity to, the public or any portion thereof for which any
compensation or payment whatsoever is received, that common carrier,
toll bridge corporation, pipeline corporation, gas corporation,
electrical corporation, telephone corporation, telegraph corporation,
water corporation, sewer system corporation, or heat corporation, is
a public utility subject to the jurisdiction, control, and
regulation of the commission and the provisions of this part.
(c) When any person or corporation performs any service for, or
delivers any commodity to, any person, private corporation,
municipality, or other political subdivision of the state, that in
turn either directly or indirectly, mediately or immediately,
performs that service for, or delivers that commodity to, the public
or any portion thereof, that person or corporation is a public
utility subject to the jurisdiction, control, and regulation of the
commission and the provisions of this part.
(d) Ownership or operation of a facility that employs cogeneration
technology or produces power from other than a conventional power
source or the ownership or operation of a facility which employs
landfill gas technology does not make a corporation or person a
public utility within the meaning of this section solely because of
the ownership or operation of such a facility.
(e) Any corporation or person engaged directly or indirectly in
developing, producing, transmitting, distributing, delivering, or
selling any form of heat derived from geothermal or solar resources
or from cogeneration technology to any privately owned or publicly
owned public utility, or to the public or any portion thereof, is not
a public utility within the meaning of this section solely by reason
of engaging in any of those activities.
(f) The ownership or operation of a facility that sells compressed
natural gas at retail to the public for use only as a motor vehicle
fuel, and the selling of compressed natural gas at retail from such a
facility to the public for use only as a motor vehicle fuel, does
not make the corporation or person a public utility within the
meaning of this section solely because of that ownership, operation,
or sale.
(g) Ownership or operation of a facility that has been certified
by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as an exempt wholesale
generator pursuant to Section 32 of the Public Utility Holding
Company Act of 1935 (Chapter 2C (commencing with Section 79) of Title
15 of the United States Code) does not make a corporation or person
a public utility within the meaning of this section, solely due to
the ownership or operation of that facility.
(h) Generation assets owned by any public utility prior to January
1, 1997, and subject to rate regulation by the commission, shall
continue to be subject to regulation by the commission until those
assets have undergone market valuation in accordance with procedures
established by the commission and the commission has authorized
the disposition of those assets pursuant to Section 851 .
(i) The ownership, control, operation, or management of an
electric plant used for direct transactions or participation directly
or indirectly in direct transactions, as permitted by subdivision
(b) of Section 365, sales into the Power Exchange referred to in
Section 365, or the use or sale as permitted under subdivisions (b)
to (d), inclusive, of Section 218, shall not make a corporation or
person a public utility within the meaning of this section solely
because of that ownership, participation, or sale.
SEC. 2. Section 377 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
377. The commission shall continue to regulate the nonnuclear
generation assets owned by any public utility prior to January 1,
1997, that are subject to commission regulation until those assets
have been subject to market valuation in accordance with procedures
established by the commission and the commission has authorized
the disposition of those assets pursuant to Section 851 . If,
after market valuation, the public utility wishes to retain ownership
of nonnuclear generation assets in the same corporation as the
distribution utility, the public utility shall demonstrate to the
satisfaction of the commission, through a public hearing, that it
would be consistent with the public interest and would not confer
undue competitive advantage on the public utility to retain that
ownership in the same corporation as the distribution utility.
SEC. 3. 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.
ensure that the Public Utilities Commission conducts an
accurate calculation of electrical restructuring transition costs to
ensure an equitable and timely conclusion to the transition to the
competitive generation of electricity in California.
SEC. 2. Section 373 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
373. (a) Electrical corporations may apply to the commission for
an order determining that the costs identified in Sections 367, 368,
375, and 376 not be collected from a particular class of customer or
category of electricity consumption.
(b) Subject to the fire wall specified in subdivision (e) of
Section 367, this section and Sections 372 and 374 shall apply if the
commission authorizes a nonbypassable charge prior to the
implementation of an Independent System Operator and Power Exchange
referred to in subdivision (a) of Section 365.