BILL NUMBER: SB 1939 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 3, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 13, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 5, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Senators Alarcon , Hughes, and Solis
FEBRUARY 24, 2000
An act to amend Section 385 of, and to add Section 9607 to, the
Public Utilities Code, and to amend Section
Sections 21100 and 22120 of the Water Code, relating to public
utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1939, as amended, Alarcon. Public utilities: electric power
: irrigation districts .
(1) Existing law requires each local publicly owned utility to
establish a nonbypassable usage based charge to fund investments in
specified public purpose programs, including providing services for
low-income electricity customers. The charge is required to be not
less than the lowest expenditure of the 3 largest electrical
corporations in California based on a percentage of revenue.
This bill would require a specified percentage of charge revenues
to be invested in programs servicing low-income electricity
customers. Because a violation of this provision would be a crime,
this bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a
new crime.
(2) The Irrigation District Law generally requires a member
of the board of directors of an irrigation district to be a voter and
a freeholder of the district and a resident of the division that the
director represents at the time of nomination or appointment and
during the director's entire term. That law authorizes an
irrigation district that is governed under that law to sell, dispose
of, and distribute electric power for use outside its boundaries.
This bill would remove that requirement that a director be a
freeholder of the district, and would make a related change. The
bill would require the Public Utilities Commission to certify a
district to sell electricity in the service territory of specified
entities, as prescribed. Because this bill would increase the duties
of local entities by requiring them to obtain commission
certification in order to sell electricity, it would impose a
state-mandated local program.
(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, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund
to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide
and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed
$1,000,000.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains
costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall
be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
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 385 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
385. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), each
385. Each local publicly owned electric utility shall
establish a nonbypassable, usage based charge on local distribution
service of not less than the lowest expenditure level of the three
largest electrical corporations in California on a percent of revenue
basis, calculated from each utility's total revenue requirement for
the year ended December 31, 1994, and each utility's total annual
expenditure under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subdivision (c) of
Section 381 and Section 382, to fund investments by the utility and
other parties in the low-income programs described in subdivision
(b), and in any or all of the following:
(1) Cost-effective demand-side management services to promote
energy efficiency and energy conservation.
(2) New investment in renewable energy resources and technologies
consistent with existing statutes and regulations which promote those
resources and technologies.
(3) Research, development and demonstration programs for the
public interest to advance science or technology which is not
adequately provided by competitive and regulated markets.
(b) Each local publicly owned electric utility shall establish and
fund programs servicing low-income electricity customers comparable
to those established under Section 382. Those programs shall
include, but are not limited to, targeted energy efficiency services,
outreach and education, and rate discounts. The percentage of the
charge established under subdivision (a) allocated to low-income
programs shall be not less than the percentage of charge
revenues allocated to low-income programs in 1999 by the Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power and the Sacramento Municipal Utility
District, and shall be based on a demographic representation of need.
based on an assessment of customer need, with a rate
discount of no less than 15 percent offered to those who qualify.
Unless a local publicly owned electric utility is providing a rate
discount of 15 percent or more for low-income customers on or before
January 1, 2001, that local publicly owned electric utility shall
conduct a needs assessment on or before December 31, 2001.
SEC. 2. Section 9607 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
9607. (a) Notwithstanding Section 9604, for purposes of this
section, "district" means an irrigation district furnishing electric
services formed pursuant to the Irrigation District Law as set forth
in Division 11 (commencing with Section 20500) of the Water Code.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a district may,
to the extent consistent with subdivision (b) of Section 9605,
construct, lease, acquire, or operate facilities for the purpose of
serving retail electric customers located in the service territory of
an electrical corporation providing electric distribution services
as that territory existed on January 1, 2000, or in the service
territory of a local publicly owned electric utility providing
electric distribution services as of January 1, 2000, if the district
has obtained certification, as described in subdivision (c), that
its public purpose, universal service, and consumer protections
programs are comparable to those of the current distribution service
provider.
(c) The district shall request certification from the commission
to serve retail customers located in the service territory of an
electrical corporation and from the local regulatory body of the
local publicly owned electric utility's service territory. The
commission, upon notice and with opportunity to be heard as provided
in Article 1 (commencing with Section 1701) of Chapter 9 of Part 1,
shall issue a decision or resolution certifying the district's
programs, if it determines all of the following:
(1) The district has established and funded public purpose and
low-income programs in accordance with Section 385.
(2) The district will provide universal service to all retail
customers who request service within the territory to be served, at
published tariff rates and on a just, reasonable, and
nondiscriminatory basis, comparable to that provided by the current
distribution service provider.
(3) The district will provide consumer protection and direct
transaction provisions comparable to those established for the
current distribution service provider and service by the district
within the service territory will be consistent with the policies of
this state to prevent or eliminate economic waste as set forth in
Section 8101.
SEC. 3. Section 21100 of the Water Code is amended to read:
21100. Each director shall , except as
otherwise provided in this division, shall be a voter
and a freeholder of the district and a resident of
the division which that he or she
represents at the time of his or her nomination or
appointment and during his or her entire term, except in
the case of a director elected at a formation election ,
he or she shall be a resident and freeholder
in the proposed district at the time of his or her
nomination and a resident of the division which
that he or she represents during his
or her entire term.
In any district having no more than 15 freeholders who are voters
in the district, a person need not be a voter but shall be qualified
to be a director of the district if he is a freeholder of the
district at the time of his nomination or appointment and during his
entire term.
SEC. 4. Section 22120 of the Water Code is amended to read:
22120. Except as provided in Section 9607 of the Public Utilities
Code, a district may sell, dispose of, and distribute electric power
for use outside of its boundaries.
SEC. 4.
SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution for
certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district because in that regard 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.
However, notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if
the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains
other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies
and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7
(commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code. If the statewide cost of the claim for
reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000),
reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund.