Amended in Assembly July 1, 2014

Amended in Senate May 27, 2014

Amended in Senate April 8, 2014

Senate BillNo. 1090


Introduced by Senator Fuller

February 19, 2014


An act to amend Section 745 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1090, as amended, Fuller. Electricity: rates: default time-of-use pricing.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law permits the commission to authorize an electrical corporation to offer residential customers the option of receiving service pursuant to time-variant pricing, as defined, and to participate in other demand reduction response programs, but prohibits the commission from authorizing an electrical corporation to employ mandatory or default time-variant pricing for any residential customer, except that beginning January 1, 2018, the commission may require or authorize an electrical corporation to employ default time-of-use pricing for residential customers, subject to specified limitations and conditions.

This bill would require the commission to explicitly consider whether hardship will be caused to customers living in hot, inland areas, and residential customers living in areas with hot summer weather before it could require or authorizebegin delete an electrical corporation to employ default time-of-use pricing to residential customers and would require the commission to submit its findings to the Legislature not less than 12 months prior to requiring or authorizingend delete an electrical corporation to employ default time-of-use pricing for residential customers.

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

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

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SECTION 1.  

Section 745 of the Public Utilities Code is
2amended to read:

3

745.  

(a) For purposes of this section, “time-variant pricing”
4includes time-of-use rates, critical peak pricing, and real-time
5pricing, but does not include programs that provide customers with
6discounts from standard tariff rates as an incentive to reduce
7consumption at certain times, including peak time rebates.

8(b) The commission may authorize an electrical corporation to
9offer residential customers the option of receiving service pursuant
10to time-variant pricing and to participate in other demand response
11programs. The commission shall not establish a mandatory or
12default time-variant pricing tariff for any residential customer
13except as authorized in subdivision (c).

14(c) Beginning January 1, 2018, and subject to the commission
15making the findings required by subdivision (d) and reporting
16those findings as required by subdivision (e), the commission may
17require or authorize an electrical corporation to employ default
18time-of-use pricing for residential customers subject to all of the
19following:

20(1) Residential customers receiving a medical baseline allowance
21pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 739, customers requesting
22third-party notification pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 779.1,
23customers who the commission has ordered cannot be disconnected
24from service without an in-person visit from a utility representative
25(Decision 12-03-054 (March 22, 2012), Decision on Phase II
26Issues: Adoption of Practices to Reduce the Number of Gas and
27Electric Service Disconnections, Order 2 (b) at page 55), and other
28customers designated by the commission in its discretion shall not
29be subject to default time-of-use pricing without their affirmative
30consent.

P3    1(2) The commission shall ensure that any time-of-use rate
2schedule does not cause unreasonable hardship for senior citizens
3or economically vulnerable customers in hot climate zones.

4(3) The commission shall strive for time-of-use rate schedules
5that utilize time periods that are appropriate for at least the
6following five years.

7(4) A residential customer shall not be subject to a default
8time-of-use rate schedule unless that residential customer has been
9provided with not less than one year of interval usage data from
10an advanced meter and associated customer education and,
11following the passage of this period, is provided with no less than
12one year of bill protection during which the total amount paid by
13the residential customer for electric service shall not exceed the
14 amount that would have been payable by the residential customer
15under that customer’s previous rate schedule.

16(5) Each electrical corporation shall provide each residential
17customer, not less than once per year, using a reasonable delivery
18method of the customer’s choosing, a summary of available tariff
19options with a calculation of expected annual bill impacts under
20each available tariff. The summary shall not be provided to
21customers who notify the utility that they choose not to receive
22the summary. The reasonable costs of providing this service shall
23be recovered in rates.

24(6) Residential customers have the option to not receive service
25pursuant to a time-of-use rate schedule and incur no additional
26charges as a result of the exercise of that option. Prohibited charges
27include, but are not limited to, administrative fees for switching
28away from time-of-use pricing, hedging premiums that exceed any
29actual costs of hedging, and more than a proportional share of any
30discounts or other incentives paid to customers to increase
31participation in time-of-use pricing. This prohibition on additional
32charges is not intended to ensure that a customer will necessarily
33experience a lower total bill as a result of the exercise of the option
34to not receive service pursuant to a time-of-use rate schedule.

35(d) The commission shall not require or authorize an electrical
36corporation to employ default time-of-use pricing for residential
37customers unless it has explicitly considered whether hardship will
38be caused on either of the following:

39(1) Customers located in hot, inland areas, assuming no changes
40in overall usage by those customers during peak periods.

P4    1(2) Residential customers living in areas with hot summer
2weather, as a result of seasonal bill volatility, assuming no change
3in summertime usage or in usage during peak periods.

begin delete

4(e) The commission shall submit its findings made pursuant to
5subdivision (d) to the Legislature not less than 12 months prior to
6requiring or authorizing an electrical corporation to employ default
7time-of-use pricing for residential customers.

end delete


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