Amended in Assembly January 13, 2016

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 to add and repeal Section 755.5 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to utility service.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1180, as amended, Cristina Garcia. Rates and charges for water service: payment transaction fees.

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 to recover, through an individual customer transaction fee, reasonable transaction costs incurred by the electrical, gas, or water corporation from those customers that choose those methods of payment. 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.

This bill would, until January 1,begin delete 2025,end deletebegin insert 2022,end insert 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.begin insert The bill would prohibit the costs of a pilot program from being collected by low-income customers who participate in specified programs, and would require a water corporation that is operating a pilot program to provide certain notifications to its customers.end insert The bill would require the commission,begin insert in consultation with the Low-Income Oversight Board,end insert by July 1,begin delete 2023,end deletebegin insert 2020,end insert to submit a reportbegin insert to specified legislative committeesend insert that includesbegin insert an assessment of the use of credit cards by low-income customers to avoid service disconnections, an assessment of the impact of the use of credit cards for water bills on household debt burden, and an assessment ofend insert 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 onbegin delete this dataend deletebegin insert these assessmentsend insert 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.

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

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

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 755.5 is added to the Public Utilities
2Code
, to read:

3

755.5.  

(a) A water corporation with more than 10,000 service
4connections may seek, through its general rate case application,
5commission approval to operate a pilot program designed to
6evaluate customer interest in, and utilization of, bill payment
7options, including, but not limited to, credit card and debit card
8bill payment options, for their water bills and to assess the
P3    1cost-effectiveness of, and public interests served by, customer
2access to those bill payment options.

3(b) Notwithstanding Section 755, the commission shall allow
4a water corporation to recover the reasonable expenses incurred
5by the water corporation in providing to its customers bill payment
6options pursuant to subdivision (a) and shall not require the water
7corporation to impose a transaction fee on its customers.

begin insert

8(c) The costs of a pilot program adopted pursuant to subdivision
9(a) may not be recovered from customers participating in the
10California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program established
11pursuant to Section 739.1 or in a water rate relief program for
12low-income ratepayers established pursuant to Section 739.8.

end insert
begin insert

13(d) The commission shall require a water corporation that is
14operating a pilot program to notify its customers that the water
15corporation is participating in a pilot program and that the pilot
16program may not continue, pending an assessment of the costs
17and benefits of the pilot program to customers.

end insert
begin delete

18(c)

end delete

19begin insert(e)end insert The commission shall ensure that accepting bill payment
20options pursuant to subdivision (a) neither increases nor decreases
21the rate of return of the water corporation.

begin delete

22(d)

end delete

23begin insert(f)end insert This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,begin delete 2025,end delete
24begin insert 2022,end insert and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
25that is enacted before January 1,begin delete 2025,end deletebegin insert 2022,end insert deletes or extends
26that date.

27

SEC. 2.  

By July 1,begin delete 2023,end deletebegin delete the commissionend deletebegin insert 2020, the commission,
28in consultation with the Low-Income Oversight Board established
29pursuant to Section 382.1 of the Public Utilities Code,end insert
shall submit
30to the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce and the
31Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications a
32report thatbegin delete includes,end deletebegin insert includes an assessment of the use of credit
33cards by low-income customers to avoid service disconnections,
34an assessment of the impact of the use of credit cards for water
35bills on household debt burden, and an assessment of data,
36consideredend insert
on an aggregated basis,begin delete dataend delete regarding customer
37utilization and the cost-effectiveness of the bill payment options
38provided by the water corporations operating pilot programs
39pursuant to Section 755.5 of the Public Utilities Code. Based on
40begin delete this dataend deletebegin insert these assessmentsend insert and an assessment of the public interests
P4    1served by providing these bill payment options, the report shall
2evaluate the usefulness of the individual customer transaction fee
3required by Section 755 of the Public Utilities Code, and include
4a recommendation regarding individual customer transaction fees
5for credit card and debit card payments accepted by water
6corporations.



O

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