BILL NUMBER: SB 1159 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 1999
INTRODUCED BY Senator Sher
FEBRUARY 26, 1999
An act to amend Section 366.5 of the Public Utilities Code,
relating to public utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1159, as amended, Sher. Electrical restructuring: electric
service: changes.
(1) Existing law prohibits any change in the aggregator or
supplier of electric power for any small commercial customer from
being made until the change has been verified, as prescribed.
This bill would require specific procedures for a confirmation of
change made via a telephone transaction, an Internet transaction, or
a written transaction. The bill would require an aggregator or
provider of electric power to keep a record of a confirmation for
two 2 years from the date of that
confirmation, and to make those records available , upon
request, to the customer and the commission
Public Utilities Commission in the course of
certain commission investigations. Because a violation of these
provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated
local program by creating a new crime.
The bill would authorize the commission to require
third-party verification for all residential changes described above
if certain findings are made.
(2) 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 366.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
366.5. (a) No change in the aggregator or supplier of electric
power for any small commercial customer may be made until one of the
following means of confirming the change has been completed:
(1) Independent third-party telephone verification.
(2) Receipt of a written confirmation received in the mail from
the consumer after the consumer has received an information package
confirming the agreement.
(3) The customer signs a document fully explaining the nature and
effect of the change in service.
(4) The customer's consent is obtained through electronic means,
including but not limited to, computer transactions.
(b) No change in the aggregator or provider of electric power for
any residential customer may be made over the telephone until the
change has been confirmed by an independent third-party verification
company, as follows:
(1) The third-party verification company shall meet each of the
following criteria:
(A) Be independent from the entity that seeks to provide the new
service.
(B) Not be directly or indirectly managed, controlled, or
directed, or owned wholly or in part, by an entity that seeks to
provide the new service or by any corporation, firm, or person who
directly or indirectly manages, controls, or directs, or owns more
than 5 percent of the entity.
(C) Operate from facilities physically separate from those of the
entity that seeks to provide the new service.
(D) Not derive commission or compensation based upon the number of
sales confirmed.
(2) The entity seeking to verify the sale shall do so by
connecting the resident by telephone to the third-party verification
company or by arranging for the third-party verification company to
call the customer to confirm the sale.
(3) The third-party verification company shall obtain the customer'
s oral confirmation regarding the change, and shall record that
confirmation by obtaining appropriate verification data. The record
shall be available to the customer upon request. Information
obtained from the customer through confirmation shall not be used for
marketing purposes. Any unauthorized release of this information is
grounds for a civil suit by the aggrieved resident against the
entity or its employees who are responsible for the violation.
(4) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), an aggregator or
provider of electric power shall not be required to comply with
these provisions when the customer directly calls an aggregator or
provider of electric power to change service providers. However, an
aggregator or provider of electric power shall not avoid the
verification requirements by asking a customer to contact an
aggregator or provider of electric power directly to make any change
in the service provider.
(c) No change in the aggregator or provider of electric power for
any residential customer may be made via an Internet transaction, in
which the customer accesses the website of the aggregator or
provider, unless both of the following occur with respect to
confirming the change:
(1) In addition to any other information gathered in the course of
the transaction, the customer shall be asked to read and respond to
a separate screen that states, in easily legible text, the following:
"I acknowledge that in entering this transaction I am voluntarily
choosing to change the entity that supplies me with my electric
power."
(2) The separate screen shall offer the customer the option to
complete or terminate the transaction.
(d) (1) No change in the aggregator or provider of
electric power for any residential customer may be made via a written
transaction unless the change has been confirmed, as provided in
this subdivision. In order to comply with this subdivision, in
addition to any other information gathered in the course of the
transaction, and in addition to any other signature required, the
customer shall be asked to sign a separate line, contained
within a box set off from the rest of the document, under the
shall be asked to sign and date a document separate
from that written transaction, containing the following words
printed in ten point type or larger:
"I acknowledge that in signing this contract or agreement, I am
a voluntarily choosing to change the entity that
supplies me with electric power."
(2) The acknowledgement document described in paragraph (1) may
not be included with a check or in connection with a sweepstakes
solicitation.
(e) Any aggregator or provider of electric power offering
electricity service to residential and small commercial customers
that violates the verification procedures described in this
section shall be liable to the switches the electric
service of a customer without the customer's consent shall be liable
to the aggregator or provider of electric power offering
electricity services previously selected by the customer in an amount
equal to all charges paid by the customer after the violation
and shall refund to the customer any amount in excess of the amount
that the customer would have been obligated to pay had the customer
not been switched .
(f) An aggregator or provider of electric power shall keep a
record of the confirmation of a change pursuant to subdivision (b),
(c), or (d) for two years from the date of that confirmation, and
shall make those records available , upon request, to the
customer and to the commission in the course of a commission
investigation of a customer complaint or an investigation pursuant to
subdivision (c) of Section 394.2.
(g) Public agencies are exempt from this section to the extent
they are serving customers within their jurisdiction.
(h) Notwithstanding subdivisions (c) and (d), the commission
may require third-party verification for all residential changes to
electric service providers if it finds that the application of
subdivisions (c) and (d) results in the unauthorized changing of a
customer's electric service provider.
(i) An electrical corporation is exempt from this section
for customers that default to the service of the electrical
corporation.
SEC. 2. 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.