BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1409|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1409
Author: Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee
Amended: 7/10/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, UTIL. & COMMUNIC. COMMITTEE : 6-1, 6/18/13
AYES: Padilla, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Hill, Wolk, Wright
NOES: Fuller
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cannella, De León, Knight, Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 4-2, 7/1/13
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Padilla
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-21, 5/16/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Public Utilities
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill corrects incorrect code references in
statute and revises the statutory cap on fees necessary to
obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN)
from the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to adjust for
inflation.
ANALYSIS : Existing law permits the PUC to charge and collect
an application fee of $75 for a CPCN, or for the mortgage,
lease, transfer, or assignment of a certificate.
CONTINUED
AB 1409
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2
This bill:
1. Eliminates the $75 dollar fee for filing an application and
instead permits the PUC to raise the fee to an amount not to
exceeded $500.
2. Permits the PUC to adjust this fee based on the Consumer
Price Index (CPI) not to exceed the reasonable costs of the
PUC for filing an application.
3. Corrects incorrect code references to code sections that were
moved or repealed as a result of other enacted statutes.
4. Makes a technical amendment to clarify that all fees
collected are to be deposited in the PUC Utilities
Reimbursement Account.
Background
The CPCN is a permit issued by the PUC for a regulated entity to
do something or to establish itself as a regulated entity. For
instance an electrical corporation needs a CPCN to construct a
transmission line or a substation, a water corporation must have
one to build a water facility and a telephone corporation needs
a CPCN to provide telephone landline service.
Comments
The $75 fee to file an application for a CPCN for telephone
corporations and other utilities except for passenger state
corporations, and for the mortgage, lease, transfer, or
assignment of a CPCN has been in statute since 1969. The cost
of the CPCN application has not adjusted for inflation.
According to the PUC, the CPI has increased 530.5% since 1969.
If the application fee had been adjusted for inflation, using
the CPI calculator, the fee would be approximately $473.
Currently, the PUC does not have the authority to raise the fee
unless there is a change in statute through legislative action,
thus the creating the need for this bill.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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AB 1409
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According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, there will be
potential minor revenue increases in the low tens of thousands
of dollars to the PUC Utilities Reimbursement Account for
increased fee revenues on CPCN applications.
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/10/13)
Public Utilities Commission
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-21, 5/16/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Ian Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong,
Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gray, Hagman, Hall,
Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal, Medina,
Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel
Pérez, Quirk, Rendon, Skinner, Ting, Torres, Weber,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Fox, Gorell,
Harkey, Jones, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Nestande,
Olsen, Patterson, Quirk-Silva, Salas, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Buchanan, Beth Gaines, Grove, Holden,
Melendez, Morrell, Stone, Vacancy
JG:k 7/10/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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