Amended in Assembly August 5, 2014

Amended in Assembly June 4, 2014

Amended in Senate April 21, 2014

Amended in Senate April 2, 2014

Senate BillNo. 1409


Introduced by Senator Hill

February 21, 2014


An act to amend Section 321.6 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to the Public Utilities Commission.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1409, as amended, Hill. Public Utilities Commission: 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. 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 abegin delete workplanend deletebegin insert work planend insert 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 provide a succinct description of each open staff safety investigation and each staff safety investigation concluded during the prior calendar year, including thebegin delete dateend deletebegin insert monthend insert of the safety incident, the reason for the investigation, the facility type involved, and the owner of the facility.

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 321.6 of the Public Utilities Code is
2amended to read:

3

321.6.  

(a) The commission shall do all of the following:

4(1) Develop, publish, and annually update an annual work plan
5that describes in clear detail the scheduled ratemaking proceedings
6and other decisions that may be considered by the commission
7during the calendar year. The plan shall include, but is not limited
8to, information on how members of the public and ratepayers can
9gain access to the commission’s ratemaking process and
10information regarding the specific matters to be decided. The plan
11shall also include information on the operation of the office of the
12public adviser and identify the names and telephone numbers of
13those contact persons responsible for specific cases and matters
14to be decided. The plan shall also include a statement that specifies
15activities that the commission proposes to reduce the costs of, and
16rates for, energy, including electricity, and for improving the
17competitive opportunities for state agriculture and other rural
18energy consumers. The commission shall post the plan under the
19official documents area of its Internet Web site and shall develop
20a program to disseminate the information in the plan utilizing
21computer mailing lists to provide regular updates on the
22information to those members of the public and organizations
23which request that information.

24(2) Produce a complete accounting of its transactions and
25proceedings for the preceding year, together with other facts,
26suggestions, and recommendations that it deems of value to the
27people of the state and a statement that specifies the activities and
28achievements of the commission in reducing the costs of, and rates
29for, energy, including electricity, for state agriculture and other
30rural energy consumers.

31(3) Create a report on the number of cases where resolution
32exceeded the time periods prescribed in scoping memos and the
33days that commissioners presided in hearings.

P3    1(4) Describe succinctly in a report each open staff safety
2investigation and each staff safety investigation concluded during
3the prior calendar year. The categories within the description shall
4include thebegin delete dateend deletebegin insert monthend insert of the safety incident, the reason for the
5investigation, the facility type involved, and the owner of the
6facility.

7(5) Submit annually the work plan, accounting, and reports
8required by paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) to the Governor and
9Legislature no later than February 1 of each year.

10(b) The president of the commission shall annually appear before
11the appropriate policy committees of the Senate and Assembly to
12report on the annual work plan access guide of the commission
13required pursuant to this section.

14(c) The president of the commission shall annually appear before
15the appropriate policy committees of the Senate and Assembly to
16report on the annual report of the commission on the number of
17cases where resolution exceeded the time periods prescribed in
18scoping memos and the days that commissioners presided in
19hearings, pursuant to Section 13 of Chapter 856 of the Statutes of
201996.



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