California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2381

Introduced by Assembly Member Roger Hernández

February 18, 2016

An act to add Section 740.13 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2381, as introduced, Roger Hernández. Electricity: power outages: bill credits.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical 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.

This bill would require electrical corporations to provide customers that experience outages for a continuous 24-hour period with a $25 bill credit for each 24-hour period that they were without power.

Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.

Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.

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: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 740.13 is added to the Public Utilities
Code, to read:

740.13.  

(a) An electrical corporation shall provide each
customer that experiences an outage for a continuous 24-hour
period a twenty-five-dollar ($25) bill credit for each 24-hour period
that the customer is without power.

(b) Any expense incurred pursuant to this section shall not be
recoverable either directly or indirectly in rates and shall be borne
exclusively by the shareholders of the electrical corporation.

(c) The bill credit provided by this section is not an exclusive
remedy and does not affect any other relief or remedy provided
by law.

SEC. 2.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.