BILL NUMBER: SB 1090 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 1, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 27, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 8, 2014
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 first
explicitly consider whether evidence
addressing the extent to which 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
authorize an electrical corporation to employ default time-of-use
pricing rates 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:
SECTION 1. Section 745 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
745. (a) For purposes of this section, "time-variant pricing"
includes time-of-use rates, critical peak pricing, and real-time
pricing, but does not include programs that provide customers with
discounts from standard tariff rates as an incentive to reduce
consumption at certain times, including peak time rebates.
(b) The commission may authorize an electrical corporation to
offer residential customers the option of receiving service pursuant
to time-variant pricing and to participate in other demand response
programs. The commission shall not establish a mandatory or default
time-variant pricing tariff for any residential customer except as
authorized in subdivision (c).
(c) Beginning January 1, 2018, and subject to the commission
making the findings required by subdivision (d) and
reporting those findings as required by subdivision (e),
(d), the commission may require or authorize an electrical
corporation to employ default time-of-use pricing
rates for residential customers subject to all of the
following:
(1) Residential customers receiving a medical baseline allowance
pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 739, customers requesting
third-party notification pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
779.1, customers who the commission has ordered cannot be
disconnected from service without an in-person visit from a utility
representative (Decision 12-03-054 (March 22, 2012), Decision on
Phase II Issues: Adoption of Practices to Reduce the Number of Gas
and Electric Service Disconnections, Order 2 (b) at page 55), and
other customers designated by the commission in its discretion shall
not be subject to default time-of-use pricing
rates without their affirmative consent.
(2) The commission shall ensure that any time-of-use rate schedule
does not cause unreasonable hardship for senior citizens or
economically vulnerable customers in hot climate zones.
(3) The commission shall strive for time-of-use rate schedules
that utilize time periods that are appropriate for at least the
following five years.
(4) A residential customer shall not be subject to a default
time-of-use rate schedule unless that residential customer has been
provided with not less than one year of interval usage data from an
advanced meter and associated customer education and, following the
passage of this period, is provided with no less than one year of
bill protection during which the total amount paid by the residential
customer for electric service shall not exceed the amount that would
have been payable by the residential customer under that customer's
previous rate schedule.
(5) Each electrical corporation shall provide each residential
customer, not less than once per year, using a reasonable delivery
method of the customer's choosing, a summary of available tariff
options with a calculation of expected annual bill impacts under each
available tariff. The summary shall not be provided to customers who
notify the utility that they choose not to receive the summary. The
reasonable costs of providing this service shall be recovered in
rates.
(6) Residential customers have the option to not receive service
pursuant to a time-of-use rate schedule and incur no additional
charges as a result of the exercise of that option. Prohibited
charges include, but are not limited to, administrative fees for
switching away from time-of-use pricing,
rates, hedging premiums that exceed any actual costs of
hedging, and more than a proportional share of any discounts or other
incentives paid to customers to increase participation in
time-of-use pricing. rates. This
prohibition on additional charges is not intended to ensure that a
customer will necessarily experience a lower total bill as a result
of the exercise of the option to not receive service pursuant to a
time-of-use rate schedule.
(d) The commission shall not require or authorize an electrical
corporation to employ default time-of-use pricing
rates for residential customers unless it has first
explicitly considered whether evidence
addressing the extent to which hardship will be caused on
either of the following:
(1) Customers located in hot, inland areas, assuming no changes in
overall usage by those customers during peak periods.
(2) Residential customers living in areas with hot summer weather,
as a result of seasonal bill volatility, assuming no change in
summertime usage or in usage during peak periods.