BILL NUMBER: AB 1800 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 4, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hadley
FEBRUARY 8, 2016
An act to add Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 8390) to Division
4.1 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1800, as amended, Hadley. Utility outage compensation claims:
annual posting.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations,
while local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction
of their governing boards. Existing law requires each electrical
corporation to report annually on its compliance with specified
standards or rules adopted by the commission, including, but not
limited to, standards for operation, reliability, and safety during
periods of emergency and disaster. Existing law
requires the commission to adopt inspection, maintenance, repair, and
replacement standards for the distribution systems of electrical
corporations in order to provide high -quality,
safe, and reliable service. Existing law requires the commission to
conduct a review to determine whether the standards have been met and
to perform the review after every major outage.
The existing restructuring of the electrical industry within the
Public Utilities Act provides for the establishment of an Independent
System Operator, or ISO, as a nonprofit public benefit corporation
and requires the ISO to ensure efficient use and reliable operation
of the electrical transmission grid consistent with achieving
planning and operating reserve criteria no less stringent than those
established by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council and the
North American Electric Reliability Council. Existing law requires
the ISO to perform a review after any major outage that affects at
least 10% of the customers of the entity providing the local
distribution service. If the ISO finds that the operation and
maintenance practices of the transmission facility owner or operator
prolonged the response time or was responsible for the outage, the
ISO is authorized to order appropriate sanctions, subject to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approving that authority.
This bill would require each electrical corporation and local
publicly owned electric utility to annually post on its Internet Web
site specified information relating to utility outage compensation
claims for the previous year. The bill would make these
requirements applicable to those outages that the ISO, the
commission, or the utility has determined are the fault of the
utility. By adding reporting requirements that are applicable to
local publicly owned electric utilities, the bill would
impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no
yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 8390) is added to
Division 4.1 of the Public Utilities Code, to read:
CHAPTER 6. ELECTRICAL UTILITY OUTAGE COMPENSATION CLAIMS
8390. The reporting requirements of this chapter apply only to
those outages that the Independent System Operator, the commission,
or the electrical corporation or local publicly owned electric
utility has determined are the fault of the utility.
8390. 8391. Each electrical
corporation and local publicly owned electric utility shall annually
post on its Internet Web site all of the following information
relating to utility outage compensation claims for the previous year:
(a) Applications The number of claims
still open from the previous year.
(b) New applications The number of new
claims received.
(c) The number of incomplete applications received.
(d) Total number of incomplete applications that were still left
incomplete by the end of the year.
(e) Pool of total
(c) The total number of
applicants awaiting determination or judgment at the end of the year.
(f) Progress on processing applications.
(g) Current average
(d) The median time taken to
process applications. claims once the outage
was determined to be the fault of the utility.
(h)
(e) The number of applications
claims approved.
(i) The percentage of applications approved.
(j)
(f) The number of applications
claims denied.
(k) The average number of days it took to close approved
applications.
(l) The average number of days it took to close denied
applications.
(m) The number of denied applications that were subsequently
appealed.
(n) The number of successful appeals from denied applications.
(o) For the Successful appeals, the average number of days between
the submission of the appeal and the closing of the appeal.
(p) The average amount paid for successful claims.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because a local agency or school district has the
authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to
pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within
the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.