Senate Bill No. 767

Introduced by Senator Lieu

February 22, 2013

An act to amend Section 216 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 767, as introduced, Lieu. Public utilities.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities and can establish its own procedures, subject to statutory limitations or directions and constitutional requirements of due process. The Public Utilities Act provides the commission with specified regulatory authorities over public utilities. The act defines the term “public utilities” for the purposes of the act.

This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that definition.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 216 of the Public Utilities Code is
amended to read:

216.  

(a) “Public utility” includes every common carrier, toll
bridge corporation, pipeline corporation, gas corporation, electrical
corporation, telephone corporation, telegraph corporation, water
corporation, sewer system corporation, and heat corporation, where
the service is performed for, or the commodity is delivered to, the
public or any portion thereof.

(b) Whenever begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert common carrier, toll bridge corporation,
pipeline corporation, gas corporation, electrical corporation,
telephone corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation,
sewer system corporation, or heat corporation performs a service
for, or delivers a commodity to, the public or any portion thereof
for which any compensation or payment whatsoever is received,
that common carrier, toll bridge corporation, pipeline corporation,
gas corporation, electrical corporation, telephone corporation,
telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewer system corporation,
or heat corporation, is a public utility subject to the jurisdiction,
control, and regulation of the commission and begin delete the provisions of end delete
this part.

(c) When begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert person or corporation performs begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert service
for, or delivers begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert commodity to, any person, private
corporation, municipality, or other political subdivision of the
state, that in turn either directly or indirectly, mediately or
immediately, performs that service for, or delivers that commodity
to, the public or any portion thereof, that person or corporation is
a public utility subject to the jurisdiction, control, and regulation
of the commission and begin delete the provisions of end delete this part.

(d) Ownership or operation of a facility that employs
cogeneration technology or produces power from other than a
conventional power source or the ownership or operation of a
facility which employs landfill gas technology does not make a
corporation or person a public utility within the meaning of this
section solely because of the ownership or operation of that facility.

(e)  begin delete Any end delete begin insert A end insert corporation or person engaged directly or indirectly
in developing, producing, transmitting, distributing, delivering, or
selling any form of heat derived from geothermal or solar resources
or from cogeneration technology to begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert privately owned or
publicly owned public utility, or to the public or any portion
thereof, is not a public utility within the meaning of this section
solely by reason of engaging in any of those activities.

(f) The ownership or operation of a facility that sells compressed
natural gas at retail to the public for use only as a motor vehicle
fuel, and the selling of compressed natural gas at retail from that
facility to the public for use only as a motor vehicle fuel, does not
make the corporation or person a public utility within the meaning
of this section solely because of that ownership, operation, or sale.

(g) Ownership or operation of a facility that is an exempt
wholesale generator, as defined in the Public Utility Holding
Company Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 16451(6)), does not make
a corporation or person a public utility within the meaning of this
section, solely due to the ownership or operation of that facility.

(h) The ownership, control, operation, or management of an
electric plant used for direct transactions or participation directly
or indirectly in direct transactions, as permitted by subdivision (b)
of Section 365, sales into a market established and operated by the
Independent System Operator or any other wholesale electricity
market, or the use or sale as permitted under subdivisions (b) to
(d), inclusive, of Section 218, shall not make a corporation or
person a public utility within the meaning of this section solely
because of that ownership, participation, or sale.

(i) The ownership, control, operation, or management of a
facility that supplies electricity to the public only for use to charge
light duty plug-in electric vehicles does not make the corporation
or person a public utility within the meaning of this section solely
because of that ownership, control, operation, or management. For
purposes of this subdivision, “light duty plug-in electric vehicles”
includes light duty battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric
vehicles. This subdivision does not affect the commission’s
authority under Section 454 or 740.2 or any other applicable statute.