Amended in Senate September 3, 2013

Amended in Senate August 12, 2013

Amended in Senate June 25, 2013

Amended in Senate June 11, 2013

Amended in Assembly May 8, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 14, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 66

Introduced by Assembly Member Muratsuchi

(Coauthors: Senators Hill and Pavley)

January 7, 2013

An act to add Section 2774.1 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 66, as amended, Muratsuchi. Electricity: system reliability.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. The Public Utilities Act authorizes the commission to ascertain and fix just and reasonable standards, classifications, regulations, practices, measurements, or service to be furnished, imposed, observed, and followed by specified public utilities, including all electrical corporations. If the commission finds after a hearing that the rules, practices, equipment, appliances, facilities, or service of any public utility, or of the methods of manufacture, distribution, transmission, storage, or supply employed by the public utility, are unjust, unreasonable, unsafe, improper, inadequate, or insufficient, the act requires that the commission determine and, by order or rule, fix the rules, practices, equipment, appliances, facilities, service, or methods to be observed, furnished, constructed, enforced, or employed. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.

This bill would require the commission to require an electrical corporation to include in annual reliability reports, required by a specified decision of the commission, that are due after July 1, 2014, information on the reliability of service to end use customers that identifies the frequency and duration of interruptions in services and indicates areas with both the most frequent and longest outages, using begin delete geographic regions end delete begin insert local areas end insert determined by the commission. The bill would require the commission to use the information to require cost-effective remediation of reliability deficiencies if the report, or more than one report, identifies repeated deficiencies in the same begin delete geographic region. end delete begin insert local area and would authorize the commission to suspend this requirement upon specified findings. end insert The bill would require the electrical corporations to conspicuously post their annual reports on their Internet Web site. Because a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of a crime.

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.

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 2774.1 is added to the Public Utilities
Code, to read:

2774.1.  

(a) (1) The commission shall require an electrical
corporation to include in an annual reliability report, required
pursuant to Decision 96-09-045 begin insert , as amended, or a decision that
supersedes Decision 96-09-045 end insert , information on the reliability of
service to end use customers that identifies, but is not limited to,
the frequency and duration of interruptions in services. This
information shall indicate areas with both the most frequent and
longest outages, using begin delete geographic regions end delete begin insert local areas end insert determined
by the commission. The commission, in consultation with the
electrical corporation, shall ensure that the geographical boundaries
of begin delete regions end delete begin insert local areas end insert do not split up begin insert circuits for reporting
purposes, if the electrical corporation aggregates data by end insert circuits.
The information shall be sufficiently aggregated to both maintain
electrical system security, and be of use and relevance to affected
customers of the electrical corporation.

(2) Before July 1, 2014, the commission shall determine the
begin delete geographic regions end delete begin insert local areas end insert for the purposes of paragraph (1).

(3) The requirements of paragraph (1) shall apply to annual
reports due after July 1, 2014.

(4) The electrical corporation shall conspicuously post on its
Internet Web site the annual report required pursuant to Decision
96-09-045 begin insert , as amended, or a decision that supersedes Decision
96-09-045 end insert .

(b) (1) The commission shall use the information contained in
an electrical corporation’s annual reliability report to require
cost-effective remediation of reliability deficiencies if the report,
or more than one report, identifies repeated deficiencies in the
same begin delete geographic region end delete begin insert local area end insert as determined by the
commission pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a). In
requiring cost-effective remediation, the commission begin delete may end delete begin insert shall end insert
consult with the electrical corporation and consider mitigating
factors that may impede an electrical corporation from
implementing required cost-effective remediation, including, but
not limited to, local permitting matters or other events or conditions
or public policy considerations that may present higher priority
safety or reliability issues.

begin delete

(2) The commission shall determine the procedures for using
the information contained in the electrical corporation’s annual
reliability report to require remediation of reliability deficiencies
and shall continue to exercise its discretion as to how to remediate
those deficiencies.

end delete begin delete

(3)

end delete

begin insert (2) end insert  The commission may suspend begin delete an electrical corporation’s
remediation of reliability deficiencies end delete begin insert the requirements of
paragraph (1) end insert if the commission finds that expenditures by the
electrical corporation begin delete for those purposes end delete begin insert to comply with that
paragraph end insert are not justified begin delete or reasonable end delete or that the remediation
measures undertaken by the electrical corporation are not effective
at improving begin delete safety and end delete reliability.

(c) (1) The commission may order an electrical corporation to
make more frequent trend analyses of begin delete regional end delete begin insert local area end insert service
reliability and to make those analyses publicly available.

(2) The information made publicly available shall provide
sufficient confidentiality for purposes of protecting electrical
system security.

(3) The commission may make those analyses publicly available.

SEC. 2.  

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature in adding Section
2774.1 to the Public Utilities Code, that the required system
reliability information be included in the annual report required
by the Public Utilities Commission in Decision 96-09-045
(September 4, 1996), while preserving the discretion of the
commission to modify an electrical corporation’s reporting
requirements.

(b) It is the further intent of the Legislature begin delete that the existing
reporting limits be revised to accomplish both of the following: end delete begin insert to
require an annual reliability report to include and differentiate
both sustained outages and momentary outages, as defined by the
Public Utilities Commission. end insert

begin delete

(1) To require an annual reliability report to include and
differentiate both sustained outages and momentary outages, as
defined by the commission.

end delete begin delete

(2) That the geographic boundaries used in an annual reliability
report not split up circuits, but will still use boundaries that are
understandable to the general public.

end delete

SEC. 3.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B 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 XIII B of the California
Constitution.