BILL NUMBER: SB 1409	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 21, 2014
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 2, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hill

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2014

   An act to amend Section  311.5   321.6 
of  , and to add Section 731 to,  the Public
Utilities Code, relating to the Public Utilities Commission.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1409, as amended, Hill. Public Utilities Commission: 
publicly available information: fixing of rates.  
safety investigations. 
   The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities
Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities and
authorizes the commission to establish its own procedures, subject to
statutory limitations or directions and constitutional requirements
of due process.  The Public Utilities Act requires the
commission to publish and maintain certain documents and information
and make specified materials available on the commission's Internet
Web site.   Existing law requires the commission to
submit certain information about its activities to the Governor and
the Legislature no later than February 1 of each year, including a
workplan describing its scheduled ratemaking proceedings, an
accounting of its transactions   and proceedings, and a
report on the number of cases where resolution of the case exceeded
the time periods prescribed in scoping memos and on the number of
days that commissioners presided in hearings. 
   This bill , with respect to this annual submission of
information,  would  also  require the commission to
 publish and maintain on its Internet Web site  
provide  a succinct description of each safety investigation
pending before the commission or concluded during the prior calendar
year by the  commission and require that the description
include   commission, including  the reason for the
investigation, the facility type involved, and the owner of the
facility. 
   The California Constitution authorizes the commission to fix the
rates and charges for every public utility, while the Public
Utilities Act requires that those rates and charges be just and
reasonable and, with certain exceptions, prohibits a public utility
from changing any rate, except upon a showing before the commission
and a finding by the commission that the new rate is justified.
 
   The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to investigate
the cause of all accidents occurring upon the property of any public
utility or directly or indirectly arising from or connected with its
maintenance or operation, resulting in loss of life or injury to
person or property and requiring, in the judgment of the commission,
investigation by it, and authorizes the commission to make any order
or recommendation with respect to the investigation that it
determines to be just and reasonable.  
   If the commission opens an investigation into the cause of an
accident resulting in loss of life or injury to person or property,
this bill would require that the commission not recognize as being
just and reasonable any expenditure by a public utility related to
any final judgment, arbitration award, compromise, or other
settlement related to the event under investigation before the
commission completes its investigation. 
   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 321.6 of the   Public
Utilities Code   is amended to read: 
   321.6.  (a) The commission shall do all of the following:
   (1) Develop, publish, and annually update an annual workplan that
describes in clear detail the scheduled ratemaking proceedings and
other decisions that may be considered by the commission during the
calendar year. The plan shall include, but is not limited to,
information on how members of the public and ratepayers can gain
access to the commission's ratemaking process and information
regarding the specific matters to be decided. The plan shall also
include information on the operation of the office of the public
adviser and identify the names and telephone numbers of those contact
persons responsible for specific cases and matters to be decided.
The plan shall also include a statement that specifies activities
that the commission proposes to reduce the costs of, and rates for,
energy, including electricity, and for improving the competitive
opportunities for state agriculture and other rural energy consumers.
The commission shall post the plan under the Official Documents area
of its Internet Web site and shall develop a program to disseminate
the information in the plan utilizing computer mailing lists to
provide regular updates on the information to those members of the
public and organizations which request that information.
   (2) Produce a complete accounting of its transactions and
proceedings for the preceding year, together with other facts,
suggestions, and recommendations that it deems of value to the people
of the state and a statement that specifies the activities and
achievements of the commission in reducing the costs of, and rates
for, energy, including electricity, for state agriculture and other
rural energy consumers.
   (3) Create a report on the number of cases where resolution
exceeded the time periods prescribed in scoping memos and the days
that commissioners presided in hearings. 
   (4) Describe succinctly in a report each safety investigation
pending before the commission or concluded during the prior calendar
year by the commission. The description shall include the reason for
the investigation, the facility type involved, and the owner of the
facility.  
   (4) 
    (5)  Submit annually the  plan  
workplan  , accounting, and  report  
reports  required by paragraphs (1), (2),  and 
(3)  , and (4)  to the Governor and Legislature no later
than February 1 of each year.
   (b) The president of the commission shall annually appear before
the appropriate policy committees of the Senate and Assembly to
report on the annual workplan access guide of the commission required
pursuant to this section.
   (c) The president of the commission shall annually appear before
the appropriate policy committees of the Senate and Assembly to
report on the annual report of the commission on the number of cases
where resolution exceeded the time periods prescribed in scoping
memos and the days that commissioners presided in hearings, pursuant
to Section 13 of Chapter 856 of the Statutes of 1996. 
  SECTION 1.    Section 311.5 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
   311.5.  (a) (1) Prior to commencement of any meeting at which
commissioners vote on items on the public agenda the commission shall
make available to the public copies of the agenda, and upon request,
any agenda item documents that are proposed to be considered by the
commission for action or decision at a commission meeting.
   (2) In addition, the commission shall publish the agenda, agenda
item documents, and adopted decisions in a manner that makes copies
of them easily available to the public, including publishing those
documents on the Internet. Publication of the agenda and agenda item
documents shall occur on the Internet at the same time as the written
agenda and agenda item documents are made available to the public.
   (b) The commission shall publish and maintain the following
documents on the Internet:
   (1) Each of the commission's proposed and alternate proposed
decisions and resolutions, until the decision or resolution is
adopted and published.
   (2) Each of the commission's adopted decisions and resolutions.
The publication shall occur within 10 days of the adoption of each
decision or resolution by the commission.
   (3) The then-current version of the commission's general orders
and Rules of Practice and Procedure.
   (4) A succinct description of each safety investigation pending
before the commission or concluded during the prior calendar year by
the commission. The description shall include the reason for the
investigation, the facility type involved, and the owner of the
facility.
   (5) Each of the commission's rulings. The commission shall
maintain those rulings on its Internet Web site until final
disposition, including disposition of any judicial appeals, of the
respective proceedings in which the rulings were issued.
   (6) A docket card that lists, by title and date of filing or
issuance, all documents filed and all decisions or rulings issued in
those proceedings. The commission shall maintain the docket card
until final disposition, including disposition of any judicial
appeals, of the corresponding proceedings.  
  SEC. 2.    Section 731 is added to the Public
Utilities Code, to read:
   731.  If the commission opens an investigation pursuant to Section
315, the commission shall not recognize as being just and reasonable
any expenditure by a public utility related to any final judgment,
arbitration award, compromise, or other settlement related to the
event under investigation before the completion of the investigation
by the commission.