AB 2218, as amended, Bradford. Electricity and natural gas rates.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations, asbegin delete defined.end deletebegin insert defined, while local publicly owned electric utilities, as defined, are under the direction of their governing board.end insert 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. Existing law 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 (CARE) program.
This bill would require each electrical corporation and gas corporation, subject to direction and supervision by the commission, to develop and implement a program of rate assistance to eligible food banks, as defined, at a fixed percentage to be determined by the commission. The bill would authorize the commission to adjust the fixed percentage of rate assistance as appropriate.begin insert The bill would encourage end insertbegin insertthe governing board of each local publicly owned electric utility to develop and implement a program of rate assistance to eligible food banks at a fixed percentage, to be determined by the governing board, but consistent with that fixed by the commission for electrical corporations.end insert
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.
Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new 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 739.3 is added to the Public Utilities
2Code, to read:
(a) Subject to direction and supervision by the
4commission, each electrical corporation and gas corporation shall
5develop and implement a program of rate assistance to eligible
6food banks at a fixed percentage to be determined by the
7commission. The commission may adjust the fixed percentage as
8appropriate. The funding source for the rate assistance program is
9subject to the approval of the commission.
10(b) The Legislature encourages the governing board of each
11local publicly owned electric utility to develop and implement a
12program of rate assistance to eligible food banks at a fixed
13percentage, to be determined by the
governing board, but
14consistent with that fixed by the commission for electrical
15corporations.
16(b)
end delete
17begin insert(c)end insert For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
18following meanings:
P3 1(1) “Eligible food bank” means a qualified eligible recipient
2agency that has executed an agreement with the State Department
3of Social Services in order to participate in The Emergency Food
4Assistance Program administered by the Food and Nutrition Service
5of the United States Department of Agriculture.
6(2) “Eligible recipient agency” has the same meaning as defined
7in Section 251.3(d) of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
8(3) “Agreement” means an agreement executed in compliance
9with Section 251.2 of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
11Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
12the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
13district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
14infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
15for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
16the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
17the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
18Constitution.
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