BILL NUMBER: AB 66 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
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
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 geographic regions local areas
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
geographic region. local area and would authorize the
commission to suspend this requirement upon specified findings.
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 , as amended, or a decision that
supersedes Decision 96-09-045 , 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 geographic regions
local areas determined by the commission. The commission, in
consultation with the electrical corporation, shall ensure that the
geographical boundaries of regions local
areas do not split up circuits for reporting purposes, if
the elec trical corporation aggregates data by
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
geographic regions local areas 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 , as amended, or a decision that supersedes Decision
96-09-045 .
(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 geographic region local area as
determined by the commission pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision
(a). In requiring cost-effective remediation, the commission
may shall 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.
(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.
(3)
(2) The commission may suspend an electrical
corporation's remediation of reliability deficiencies
the requirements of paragraph (1) if the commission finds that
expenditures by the electrical corporation for those
purposes to comply with that paragraph are not
justified or reasonable or that the remediation
measures undertaken by the electrical corporation are not effective
at improving safety and reliability.
(c) (1) The commission may order an electrical corporation to make
more frequent trend analyses of regional
local area 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 that the
existing reporting limits be revised to accomplish both of the
following: to require an annual reliability report to
include and differentiate both sustained outages and momentary
outages, as defined by the Public Utilities Commission.
(1) To require an annual reliability report to include and
differentiate both sustained outages and momentary outages, as
defined by the commission.
(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.
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.