BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 859
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 28, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mike Feuer, Chair
SB 859 (Padilla) - As Amended: May 31, 2011
As Proposed to be Amended
SENATE VOTE : 35-3
SUBJECT : DMV RECORDS: ELECTRIC VEHICLES
KEY ISSUE : SHOULD ELECTRIC UTILITIES HAVE LIMITED ACCESS TO DMV
VEHICLE RECORDS REGARDING THE LOCATION OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES SO
THAT THEY CAN MAKE NECESSARY PLANS FOR INCREASED GRID DEMAND
ASSOCIATED WITH HOME CHARGING OF PLUG-IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES WITH
APPROPRIATE PRIVACY PROTECTIONS?
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.
SYNOPSIS
Under existing law, residence address information in Department
of Motor Vehicles' (DMV) records is confidential and may not be
disclosed to any person except to a court, law enforcement or
other government agency, or if the disclosure is subject to
certain exemptions. This bill would allow confidential home
address information in DMV records to be disclosed to an
electrical corporation or public utility if the utility, under
penalty of perjury, requests and uses the information only for
the limited purpose of identifying where electric vehicles are
located so that the utility can make appropriate adjustment for
the distribution of power in the hoped-for event that plug-in
electric vehicles become more common in coming years. The bill
has no opposition.
SUMMARY : Provides limited access to electric vehicle records.
Specifically, this bill allows the DMV to disclose confidential
home address information to an electrical corporation or public
utility if the utility or its agent, under penalty of perjury,
requests and uses the information only for specified purposes
and without using or revealing the name of the electric vehicle
owner or utility customer.
EXISTING LAW :
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1)Provides that all people have inalienable rights, including
the right to pursue and obtain privacy. (Cal. Const. art. I,
sec. 1.)
2)Provides that any residence address in DMV records is
confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person except a
court, law enforcement or other government agency, or as
specified in Vehicle Code Sections 1808.22 and 1808.23. (Veh.
Code Sec. 1808.21.)
3)Provides that residential addresses may be disclosed to a
vehicle manufacturer if the manufacturer or its agent, under
penalty of perjury, requests and uses the information only for
the purpose of safety, warranty, emission, or product recall
if the manufacturer offers to make and makes any changes at no
cost to the vehicle owner. (Veh. Code Sec. 1808.23(a).)
4)Provides that any residential addresses released by DMV may
not be used for direct marketing or solicitation for the
purchase of any consumer product or service. (Veh. Code Sec.
1808.23(d).)
5)Requires any person who has access to confidential or
restricted DMV information to establish procedures to protect
the confidentiality of those records. Existing law specifies
that if any confidential or restricted information is released
to any agent of a person authorized to obtain information, the
person shall require the agent to take all steps necessary to
ensure confidentiality and prevent the release of any
information to a third party. No agent shall obtain or use
any confidential or restricted records for any purpose other
than the reason the information was requested. (Veh. Code
Sec. 1808.47.)
COMMENTS : Under this bill, electrical corporations or local
publicly-owned utilities would be able to obtain home address
information for electric vehicle owners from the DMV in order to
determine electric vehicle charge points. The sponsor indicates
that this information will help the electrical corporations or
local publicly-owned utilities anticipate and plan for increased
grid demand associated with home charging of plug-in electric
vehicles (PEVs). The sponsor contends that being able to plan
for and accommodate increased electricity demand will help to
avert potential grid overload that could result in localized
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outages and rate fluctuations especially given that at least 1
million PEVs are anticipated to be in use in California in the
next ten years.
This bill safeguards PEV owners' privacy by ensuring that the
utilities do not use the information obtained from DMV for any
marketing purposes; that electric vehicle owners are notified
that their residence information is required by law to be shared
with electrical corporations or local publicly-owned utilities;
and that electrical corporations or local publicly-owned
utilities are precluded from selling, sharing, or further
disclosing residence information of electric vehicle owners.
In support of the bill, the author writes:
Over the next ten years at least 1 million PEVs are expected
to hit the road in California. As PEVs enter California
markets, utilities, municipal governments, PEV charging
service providers, and other organizations are working
together on infrastructure rollouts to support charging at
homes and in public, and to ensure that PEV charging
integrates smoothly into the electricity grid.
ÝT]he deployment of PEVs will place new demands on the state's
electric system, but managed properly, that demand can benefit
ratepayers and car owners alike. If that service is not
managed efficiently, it will cost all ratepayers in the form
of higher electric rates and diminish the environmental
benefits of PEVs by increasing greenhouse gas and other
emissions associated with the generation of electricity.
However, a well-planned electric vehicle charging
infrastructure can ensure that the distribution grid has the
capacity necessary to handle the charging of the vehicles and
can also shift a significant amount of charging to off-peak
times. The result is that the need for the new building of
new power plants is minimized and the utilization of existing
plants is increased.
Regardless of where charging occurs - in public or at home -
it is important to avoid adverse impacts on the electricity
grid and associated costs for utility customers.
Consequently, utilities must actively participate in a
data-driven public infrastructure planning process to help
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avoid distribution-level impacts of PEV charging. To ensure
that they have the data necessary to facilitate this planning,
a multi-prong strategy is being developed to outreach with
owners of PEVs at several different points including time of
purchase and when a building permit is pulled to install a PEV
charger. However, there are many ways that a PEV car may come
into a new neighborhood including a move by a PEV owner or the
purchase of a PEV from a private party. This bill is
necessary to facilitate the tracking of these cars and the
potential charging impact on the distribution grid.
The sponsor, California Electric Transportation Coalition
(CalETC), writes that the bill would allow "DMV to provide
needed information to utilities for the sole purpose of
maintaining grid safety, reliability and efficiency. The
utilities would not be allowed to use the DMV information for
any marketing purposes but would have access to essential
information that will help to ensure that localized transformer
impacts associated with plug-in electric vehicles are addressed
prior to adverse consequences, including potential localized
outages due to electricity demand increases. The DMV data is
particularly useful as this data is the single most reliable in
terms of tracking plug-in electric vehicle sale and resale. Any
and all costs associated with collecting the data will be borne
by utilities; these costs are anticipated to be minimal."
The sponsor indicates that several electric vehicle
manufacturers have entered into a memorandum of understanding
with utilities to provide the utilities with the home address
information of purchasers of new electric vehicles. Consumers
may opt-out of the sharing of this information.
Author's Technical Amendments. The author wishes to add
Assembly Member Blumenfield as a co-author. In addition, to
address drafting errors, the author appropriately proposes the
following clarifying amendments:
(4) An electrical corporation as defined in Section 218 of the
Public Utilities Code or a local publicly owned electric utility
as defined in Section 224.3 of the Public Utilities Code, if the
corporation or utility, or its agent, under penalty of perjury,
requests and uses the information only for the purposes of
identifying where an electric vehicle is registered
tracking electric vehicle charging points . All of the following
shall apply to
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this paragraph:
(A) The department may disclose to the electrical corporation
or
local publicly owned utility only the type of vehicle and
address of
the electric vehicle owner. The department shall not disclose
the
name of the electric vehicle owner.
(B) Within 15 days of receiving residence address information
from
the department pursuant to this section, an electrical
corporation or
local publicly owned utility shall provide a clear, express
disclosure to the electric vehicle owner that his or her
residence
address information is required by law to be shared with the
corporation or utility. The disclosure shall not contain
marketing information or a solicitation for the purchase of
goods or
services.
(C) Confidential home address and type of vehicle
information of electric vehicle
owners disclosed pursuant to this paragraph shall only be used
for
the purpose of identifying where an electric vehicle is
registered
and shall not be used or disclosed for any other purpose,
including
for purposes of identifying the individual or individuals
residing at
the address, or to any other person.
(D) The electrical corporation or local publicly owned
utility and its agents
shall not sell, share, or further disclose, including to any
subsidiaries, residence address or type of vehicle information
of electric vehicle
owners obtained pursuant to this paragraph or name information
determined
by matching residence information against the corporation or
utility's customer records .
(b) Residential addresses released shall not be used for
direct
marketing or solicitation for the purchase of any consumer
product or
service.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Electric Transportation Coalition (sponsor)
California Municipal Utilities Association
Environmental Defense Fund
National Resources Defense Council
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Sacramento Municipal Utility District
San Diego Gas and Electric Company
Southern California Edison
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Kevin G. Baker / JUD. / (916) 319-2334