California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1350

Introduced by Assembly Member Roger Hernández

February 22, 2013

An act to amend Section 370 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1350, as introduced, Roger Hernández. Electricity: direct transactions.

The Public Utilities Act requires the Public Utilities Commission, pursuant to electrical restructuring, to authorize and facilitate direct transactions between electricity suppliers and retail end-use customers. However, other provisions of the act suspend the right of retail end-use customers, other than community choice aggregators, as defined, to acquire service from certain electricity suppliers, after a period of time to be determined by the PUC, until the Department of Water Resources no longer supplies electricity under that law. The act requires the PUC to require a consumer, as a prerequisite for the consumer to engage in direct transactions, to have the obligation to pay specified uneconomic costs of an electrical corporation subject to specified conditions. The act provides that to the extent the consumer does not use the electrical corporation’s facilities for direct transactions, the obligation to pay is required to be confirmed in writing. A violation of the act is a crime.

This bill would require, until January 1, 2016, the electricity marketer engaged in the direct transaction with the consumer to inform the consumer that the consumer’s obligation to pay those costs is to be confirmed in writing. Because a violation of this requirement is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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 370 of the Public Utilities Code is
amended to read:

370.  

The commission shall require, as a prerequisite for begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert
consumer in California to engage in direct transactions permitted
in Section 365, that beginning with the commencement of these
direct transactions, the consumer shall have an obligation to pay
the costs provided in Sections 367, 368, 375, and 376, and subject
to the conditions in Sections 371 to 374, inclusive, directly to the
electrical corporation providing electricity service in the area in
which the consumer is located. This obligation shall be set forth
in the applicable rate schedule, contract, or tariff option under
which the customer is receiving service from the electrical
corporation. To the extent the consumer does not use the electrical
corporation’s facilities for direct transaction, the obligation to pay
shall be confirmed in writing, and the customer shall be advised
by any electricity marketer engaged in the transaction of the
requirement that the customer execute a confirmation. The
requirement for marketers to inform customers of the written
requirement shall cease on January 1, begin delete 2002 end delete begin insert 2016 end insert .

SEC. 2.  

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.