BILL NUMBER: SB 1159 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 214
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 28, 1999
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JULY 27, 1999
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JULY 15, 1999
PASSED THE SENATE MAY 24, 1999
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, 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 2
years from the date of that confirmation, and to make those records
available, upon request, to the customer and the 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.
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 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
voluntarily choosing to change the entity that supplies me with
electric power."
(2) The acknowledgment 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 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.