BILL NUMBER: SB 1207	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 9, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Fuller

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2012

   An act  to amend Section 739.1 of the Public Utilities Code,
  relating to public utility rates.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1207, as amended, Fuller.  Electricity: rates.
  California Alternate Rates for Ener   gy
program. 
   Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations
 and gas corporations  , as defined. Existing law authorizes
the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public
utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and
reasonable.  The Public Utilities Act requires the commission, in
establishing residential electric and gas rates, to assure that the
rates are sufficient to enable the electrical or gas corporation to
recover a just and reasonable amount of revenue from residential
customers as a class, while observing the principle that electricity
and gas services are necessities, for which a low  
affordable rate is desirable while observing that conservation is
desirable. The act requires the commission to establish a program of
assistance to low-income electric and gas customers, referred to as
the California Alternate Rates for Energy or CARE program. 
   This bill would  state the intent of the Legislature to
enact legislation that would require fair and equitable statewide
electric rates   authorize an electrical or gas
corporation to require proof of income eligibility for those CARE
program participants whose electricity or gas usage exceeds 400% of
baseline usage and to remove a CARE program participant from the
program if the program participant's monthly electricity or gas usage
exceeds 600% of baseline usage for a period exceeding 120 days. The
bill would authorize   an electrical or gas corporation to
back bill a CARE program parti   cipant for the difference
between the CARE rates they paid and the rate they would have paid if
they were not participating in the CARE program when the utility
determines the customer does not meet the income eligibility
requirements for program participation and the participant fails to
provide proof of income eligibility within 90 days after receiving
notice of the determination of ineligibility from the utility. The
bill would authorize the commission to establish reasonable
limitations on an electrical or gas corporation's authority to
require back payment pursuant to this authorization. The bill would
authorize an electrical or gas corporation to declare a CARE program
participant to be ineligible for program participation for a period
of 2 years if the utility determines that the program participant is
bypassing the meter when using electricity or gas  .
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 739.1 of the   Public
Utilities Code   is amended to read: 
   739.1.  (a) As used in this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (1) "Baseline quantity" has the same meaning as defined in Section
739.
   (2) "California Solar Initiative" means the program providing
ratepayer funded incentives for eligible solar energy systems adopted
by the commission in Decision 05-12-044 and Decision 06-01-024, as
modified by Article 1 (commencing with Section 2851) of Chapter 9 of
Part 2 and Chapter 8.8 (commencing with Section 25780) of Division 15
of the Public Resources Code.
   (3) "CalWORKs program" means the program established pursuant to
the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Act
(Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code).
   (4) "Public goods charge" means the nonbypassable separate rate
component imposed pursuant to Article 7 (commencing with Section 381)
of Chapter 2.3 and the nonbypassable system benefits charge imposed
pursuant to the Reliable Electric Service Investments Act (Article 15
(commencing with Section 399) of Chapter 2.3).
   (b) (1) The commission shall establish a program of assistance to
low-income electric and gas customers with annual household incomes
that are no greater than 200 percent of the federal poverty guideline
levels, the cost of which shall not be borne solely by any single
class of customer. The program shall be referred to as the California
Alternate Rates for Energy or CARE program. The commission shall
ensure that the level of discount for low-income electric and gas
customers correctly reflects the level of need.
   (2) The commission may, subject to the limitation in paragraph
(4), increase the rates in effect for CARE program participants for
electricity usage up to 130 percent of baseline quantities by the
annual percentage increase in benefits under the CalWORKs program as
authorized by the Legislature for the fiscal year in which the rate
increase would take effect, but not to exceed 3 percent per year.
   (3) Beginning January 1, 2019, the commission may, subject to the
limitation in paragraph (4), establish rates for CARE program
participants pursuant to this section and Sections 739 and 739.9,
subject to both of the following:
   (A) The requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 382 that the
commission ensure that low-income ratepayers are not jeopardized or
overburdened by monthly energy expenditures.
   (B) The requirement that the level of the discount for low-income
electricity and gas ratepayers correctly reflects the level of need
as determined by the needs assessment conducted pursuant to
subdivision (d) of Section 382.
   (4) Tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 CARE rates shall not exceed 80
percent of the corresponding tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 rates charged
to residential customers not participating in the CARE program,
excluding any Department of Water Resources bond charge imposed
pursuant to Division 27 (commencing with Section 80000) of the Water
Code, the CARE surcharge portion of the public goods charge, any
charge imposed pursuant to the California Solar Initiative, and any
charge imposed to fund any other program that exempts CARE
participants from paying the charge.
   (5) Rates charged to CARE program participants shall not have more
than three tiers. An electrical corporation that does not have a
tier 3 CARE rate may introduce a tier 3 CARE rate that, in order to
moderate the impact on program participants whose usage exceeds 130
percent of baseline quantities, shall be phased in to 80 percent of
the corresponding rates charged to residential customers not
participating in the CARE program, excluding any Department of Water
Resources bond charge imposed pursuant to Division 27 (commencing
with Section 80000) of the Water Code, the CARE surcharge portion of
the public goods charge, any charge imposed pursuant to the
California Solar Initiative, and any other charge imposed to fund a
program that exempts CARE participants from paying the charge. For an
electrical corporation that does not have a tier 3 CARE rate that
introduces a tier 3 CARE rate, the initial rate shall be no more than
150 percent of the CARE baseline rate. Any additional revenues
collected by an electrical corporation resulting from the adoption of
a tier 3 CARE rate shall, until the utility's next periodic general
rate case review of cost allocation and rate design, be credited to
reduce rates of residential ratepayers not participating in the CARE
program with usage above 130 percent of baseline quantities.
   (c) The commission shall work with  the public utility
 electrical and gas corporations to establish penetration
goals. The commission shall authorize recovery of all administrative
costs associated with the implementation of the CARE program that the
commission determines to be reasonable, through a balancing account
mechanism. Administrative costs shall include, but are not limited
to, outreach, marketing, regulatory compliance, certification and
verification, billing, measurement and evaluation, and capital
improvements and upgrades to communications and processing equipment.

   (d) The commission shall examine methods to improve CARE
enrollment and participation. This examination shall include, but
need not be limited to, comparing information from CARE and the
Universal Lifeline Telephone Service (ULTS) to determine the most
effective means of utilizing that information to increase CARE
enrollment, automatic enrollment of ULTS customers who are eligible
for the CARE program, customer privacy issues, and alternative
mechanisms for outreach to potential enrollees. The commission shall
ensure that a customer consents prior to enrollment. The commission
shall consult with interested parties, including ULTS providers, to
develop the best methods of informing ULTS customers about other
available low-income programs, as well as the best mechanism for
telephone providers to recover reasonable costs incurred pursuant to
this section.
   (e) (1) The commission shall improve the CARE application process
by cooperating with other entities and representatives of California
government, including the California Health and Human Services Agency
and the Secretary of California Health and Human Services, to ensure
that all gas and electric customers eligible for public assistance
programs in California that reside within the service territory of an
electrical corporation or gas corporation, are enrolled in the CARE
program. To the extent practicable, the commission shall develop a
CARE application process using the existing ULTS application process
as a model. The commission shall work with public utility electrical
and gas corporations and the Low-Income Oversight Board established
in Section 382.1 to meet the low-income objectives in this section.
   (2) The commission shall ensure that an electrical corporation or
gas corporation with a commission-approved program to provide
discounts based upon economic need in addition to the CARE program,
including a Family Electric Rate Assistance program, utilize a single
application form, to enable an applicant to alternatively apply for
any assistance program for which the applicant may be eligible. It is
the intent of the Legislature to allow applicants under one program,
that may not be eligible under that program, but that may be
eligible under an alternative assistance program based upon economic
need, to complete a single application for any commission-approved
assistance program offered by the public utility.
   (f) The commission's program of assistance to low-income electric
and gas customers shall, as soon as practicable, include nonprofit
group living facilities specified by the commission, if the
commission finds that the residents in these facilities substantially
meet the commission's low-income eligibility requirements and there
is a feasible process for certifying that the assistance shall be
used for the direct benefit, such as improved quality of care or
improved food service, of the low-income residents in the facilities.
The commission shall authorize utilities to offer discounts to
eligible facilities licensed or permitted by appropriate state or
local agencies, and to facilities, including women's shelters,
hospices, and homeless shelters, that may not have a license or
permit but provide other proof satisfactory to the utility that they
are eligible to participate in the program.
   (g) It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission ensure
CARE program participants are afforded the lowest possible electric
and gas rates and, to the extent possible, are exempt from additional
surcharges attributable to the energy crisis of 2000-01. 
   (h) (1) In addition to random audits of eligibility, an electrical
or gas corporation may require proof of income eligibility for those
CARE program participants whose electricity or gas usage exceeds 400
percent of baseline usage.  
   (2) An electrical or gas corporation may remove a CARE program
participant from the program if the program participant's monthly
electricity or gas usage exceeds 600 percent of baseline usage for a
period exceeding 120 days.  
   (3) If an electrical or gas corporation determines that a CARE
program participant does not meet the income eligibility requirements
for program participation and the participant fails to provide proof
of income eligibility within 90 days after receiving notice of the
determination of ineligibility, the electrical or gas corporation may
require back payment for the difference between the CARE program
rate and the rate that the subscriber would have been required to pay
if they were not a CARE program participant. The commission may
establish reasonable limitations on an electrical or gas corporation'
s authority to require back payment pursuant to this paragraph. 

   (4) An electrical or gas corporation may declare a CARE program
participant to be ineligible for program participation for a period
of two years if the utility determines that the program participant
is bypassing the meter when using electricity or gas.  
  SECTION 1.    It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation that would require fair and equitable statewide
electric rates.