BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 1650|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1650
          Author:   Portantino (D)
          Amended:  8/21/12 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE ENERGY, UTIL. & COMMUNIC. COMMITTEE  :  10-0, 7/3/12
          AYES:  Padilla, Fuller, Corbett, De León, DeSaulnier, 
            Kehoe, Pavley, Rubio, Strickland, Wright
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Berryhill, Emmerson, Simitian

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  7-0, 8/16/12
          AYES:  Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Dutton, Lieu, Price, 
            Steinberg
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  78-0, 5/30/12 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Public utilities:  emergency and disaster 
          preparedness

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill requires the Public Utilities 
          Commission (PUC) to establish standards for disaster and 
          emergency preparedness plans within an existing procedure.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law authorizes the PUC to regulate 
          electric, gas, and water corporations and to determine 
          whether rates charged are just and reasonable and whether 
          service provided is adequate.

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          Existing law requires the PUC to establish emergency 
          response standards for gas corporations.

          Current decisions of PUC adopt General Orders requiring gas 
          and electric corporations to develop disaster and emergency 
          preparedness plans.

          Existing law requires all public water systems, including 
          water corporations, with 10,000 or more service connections 
          to review and revise disaster preparedness plans in 
          conjunction with related agencies, including, but not 
          limited to, local fire departments and the California 
          Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA).

          This bill requires electrical corporations and water 
          companies regulated by the PUC to develop, adopt and update 
          an emergency and disaster preparedness plan.

           Background
           
          The San Gabriel Valley was hit hard in early December 2011 
          by devastating winds that knocked out power to more than 
          400,000 customers, some of them for more than a week.  In a 
          preliminary report after investigation of the outages, the 
          PUC stated that in some cases, Southern California Edison's 
          equipment did not meet safety standards and that the 
          utility was slow to restore power to homes and businesses.  
          Local utilities also had trouble with communications plans. 
           Numerous public officials, including first responders, 
          have recommended to the PUC that electric utilities consult 
          with local agencies to better prepare for disasters.

          The PUC's General Order 166 requires each electric utility 
          to annually file an updated emergency response plan.  The 
          order contains general requirements that the utility 
          communicate with local governments and provide notice of 
          its annual emergency response exercise, but it does not 
          require regular public meetings.  It requires training and 
          planning for deployment of personnel in anticipation of an 
          event that may result in a "major outage," however, it does 
          not currently require deployment in the event of 
          anticipated severe weather.  Moreover, the outages due to 
          the November 2011 southern California windstorm would not 
          have triggered deployment of the emergency response plans.

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          In both the Southern California windstorm outage and the 
          widespread outage that occurred in the Pacific Southwest 
          region in September 2011, drinking water supplies were 
          impaired due to lack of electricity at pumping stations.  
          In San Diego, California, bottled water supplies were 
          distributed as a public health safeguard due to a sewage 
          spill in the vicinity of drinking water suppliers, although 
          the water supply was later tested and found to be safe.

          The PUC regulates water corporations and classifies them 
          according to number of service connections, including 9 
          Class A corporations with more than 10,000 service 
          connections, five Class B corporations with 2,000 to 10,000 
          service connections, 25 Class C water corporations with 500 
          to 2,000 service connections, and 102 corporations with 
          less than 500 service connections.  The PUC currently does 
          not require emergency response plans for water 
          corporations.  However, Government Code Section 8607.2 
          requires all public water systems with 10,000 or more 
          service connections to review and revise disaster 
          preparedness plans in conjunction with related agencies, 
          including, but not limited to, local fire departments and 
          the CalEMA, and requires that these plans examine and 
          review pumping station and distribution facility operations 
          during an emergency, water pressure at both pumping 
          stations and hydrants, and whether there is sufficient 
          water reserve levels and alternative emergency power such 
          as backup and portable generators.

           Comments
           
          According to the author's office, this bill responds to an 
          apparent lack of emergency preparedness by utilities that 
          became evident when the December 2011 windstorm in San 
          Gabriel Valley knocked out electric power for an extended 
          period.  Adopting an emergency and disaster preparedness 
          plan, with input from the public and local agencies, would 
          better protect the public from disaster because, as the 
          author states, "We all know the 'Big One' is coming- it's 
          just a matter of when - and we need to be prepared."

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes   
          Local:  Yes

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          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, $250,000 
          from the Public Utilities Reimbursement Account in 2012-13 
          and 2013-14 for a utility engineer and a limited term 
          administrative law judge to develop standards and conduct a 
          rule making in order to revise the commission's General 
          Order 166 relating to emergency plans; and $110,000 from 
          the Public Utilities Reimbursement Account annually to 
          review emergency plans, update standards, consult with 
          utility staff and local officials and attend public 
          meetings.

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/21/12)

          Public Utilities Commission
          Southern California Edison

           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  8/21/12)

          California Water Association (unless amended)
          PacifiCorp (unless amended)


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  78-0, 5/30/12
          AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill 
            Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, 
            Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, 
            Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth 
            Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, 
            Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger 
            Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, 
            Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, 
            Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, 
            Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, 
            Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, 
            Torres, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. 
            Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED: Fletcher, Valadao


          RM:d  8/21/12   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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