Amended in Assembly January 4, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 9, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1180


Introduced by Assembly Member Cristina Garcia

February 27, 2015


An act tobegin delete amend Section 755end deletebegin insert add and repeal Section 755.5end insert of the Public Utilities Code, relating to utility service.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1180, as amended, Cristina Garcia. Rates and charges forbegin delete electric, gas, andend delete water service:begin delete credit or debit card payment.end deletebegin insert payment transaction fees.end insert

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical, gas, and water corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law authorizes an electrical, gas, or water corporation to offer credit card and debit card bill payment options, if approved by the commission, and, upon approval, authorizes an electrical, gas, or water corporation tobegin delete recoverend deletebegin insert recover, through an individual customer transaction fee,end insert reasonable transaction costs incurred by the electrical, gas, or water corporation from those customers that choose begin deleteto pay by those payment options.end deletebegin insert those methods of payment.end insert Existing law includes statements of legislative intent relative to electrical, gas, and water corporations offering customers the option to pay by credit card or debit card.

begin delete

This bill would delete the express authorization for an electrical, gas, or water corporation to offer credit card and debit card bill payment options, if approved by the commission, and, upon approval, recover reasonable transaction costs incurred by the electrical, gas, or water corporation from those customers that choose to pay by those payment options. The bill would revise the statements of legislative intent to state the intent of the Legislature that customers of electrical, gas, or water corporations be allowed to pay their utility bills with forms of payment that are generally accepted in the retail marketplace and that the commission maintains its existing regulatory authority over the reasonableness of expenses incurred by an electrical, gas, or water corporation for providing customers the option of paying their bills by credit card and debit card through existing regulatory mechanisms.

end delete
begin insert

This bill would, until January 1, 2025, authorize a water corporation with more than 10,000 connections to seek commission approval to operate a pilot program designed to evaluate customer interest in, and utilization of, bill payment options, including, but not limited to, credit card and debit card bill payment options, for their water bills and to assess the cost-effectiveness of, and public interests served by, customer access to those bill payment options. The bill would require the commission to allow a water corporation to recover the reasonable expenses incurred by the water corporation in providing its customers with these bill payment options, and to allow water corporations to not impose a transaction fee on its customers for using these bill payment options. The bill would require the commission, by July 1, 2023, to submit a report that includes data regarding customer utilization and the cost-effectiveness of the bill payment options provided under the pilot program. The bill would require the report, based on this data and an assessment of the public interests served by these bill payment options, to evaluate the usefulness of an individual customer transaction fee and include a recommendation regarding individual customer transaction fees for credit card and debit card bill payments accepted by water corporations.

end insert

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

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

P2    1begin insert

begin insertSECTION 1.end insert  

end insert

begin insertSection 755.5 is added to the end insertbegin insertPublic Utilities
2Code
end insert
begin insert, to read:end insert

begin insert
P3    1

begin insert755.5.end insert  

(a) A water corporation with more than 10,000 service
2connections may seek, through its general rate case application,
3commission approval to operate a pilot program designed to
4evaluate customer interest in, and utilization of, bill payment
5options, including, but not limited to, credit card and debit card
6bill payment options, for their water bills and to assess the
7cost-effectiveness of, and public interests served by, customer
8access to those bill payment options.

9(b) Notwithstanding Section 755, the commission shall allow a
10water corporation to recover the reasonable expenses incurred
11by the water corporation in providing to its customers bill payment
12options pursuant to subdivision (a) and shall not require the water
13corporation to impose a transaction fee on its customers.

14(c) The commission shall ensure that accepting bill payment
15options pursuant to subdivision (a) neither increases nor decreases
16the rate of return of the water corporation.

17(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2025,
18and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
19is enacted before January 1, 2025, deletes or extends that date.

end insert
20begin insert

begin insertSEC. 2.end insert  

end insert
begin insert

By July 1, 2023, the commission shall submit to the
21Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce and the Senate
22Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications a report that
23includes, on an aggregated basis, data regarding customer
24utilization and the cost-effectiveness of the bill payment options
25provided by the water corporations operating pilot programs
26pursuant to Section 755.5 of the Public Utilities Code. Based on
27this data and an assessment of the public interests served by
28providing these bill payment options, the report shall evaluate the
29usefulness of the individual customer transaction fee required by
30Section 755 of the Public Utilities Code, and include a
31recommendation regarding individual customer transaction fees
32for credit card and debit card payments accepted by water
33corporations.

end insert
begin delete

  

34

SECTION 1.  

Section 755 of the Public Utilities Code is
35amended to read:

36

755.  

It is the intent of the Legislature that:

37(a) Customers of electrical, gas, or water corporations be allowed
38to pay their utility bills with forms of payment that are generally
39accepted in the retail marketplace.

P4    1(b) An electrical, gas, or water corporation that offers customers
2credit card and debit card payment options, recover the reasonable
3expenses incurred by the electrical, gas, or water corporation for
4providing the customers the option of paying their bills by credit
5card and debit card.

6(c) The acceptance of credit cards and debit cards neither
7increases nor decreases the rate of return of the electrical, gas, or
8water corporation.

9(d) The commission maintains its existing regulatory authority
10over the reasonableness of expenses incurred by an electrical, gas,
11or water corporation for providing customers the option of paying
12their bills by credit card and debit card through existing regulatory
13mechanisms.

end delete


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