BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 631|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 631
Author: Hueso (D)
Amended: 6/17/15
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U. & C. COMMITTEE: 10-0, 4/7/15
AYES: Hueso, Fuller, Cannella, Hertzberg, Hill, Lara, Leyva,
McGuire, Pavley, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Morrell
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR: 29-4, 4/27/15
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, De
León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez,
Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire,
Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Roth, Wieckowski, Wolk
NOES: Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Stone
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates, Hertzberg, Moorlach, Pavley, Runner,
Vidak
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 58-16, 7/16/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Public Utilities Commission: fees
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill updates the fee for filing a certificate of
public convenience and necessity (CPCN) with the California
Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) from $75 to $500.
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Assembly Amendments specify the fee for a CPCN is $500 and allow
the CPUC to update the fee based on the Consumer Price Index.
The amendments also eliminate a section of the statute that
required fees collected from a CPCN application to be paid to
the General Fund.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Requires a utility, including telephone corporations, to
obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity
(CPCN) from the CPUC prior to construction or extension of a
line or service. (Public Utilities Code §1001)
2)Establishes a fee of $75 for the application of a CPCN.
(Public Utilities Code §1904)
This bill:
1)Repeals the $75 currently charged by the CPUC for a CPCN
application and instead authorizes the CPUC to assess the fee
at $500 to better capture the current reasonable costs of
processing an application.
2)Authorizes the CPUC to adjust the fee based on the Consumer
Price Index.
3)Repeals a section of the statute which requires collected CPCN
application fees to be paid to the credit of the General Fund.
Background
A CPCN is a permit issued by the CPUC to a utility that wants to
provide service or construct or extend facilities or
telecommunications services. For example, a CPCN is required for
a natural gas utility who plans to extend a transmission line
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and a telephone corporation who wants to provide service. The
$75 fee on CPCN applications was established in statute in 1969
and has never been adjusted. Applications for CPCNs are
classified as proceedings by the CPUC, and as such involve the
participation of an administrative law judge, CPUC staff, and
commissioners. The application process is a lengthy and in-depth
public process involving review of California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA) documents, need and cost analysis, public
workshops, and public hearing. In 2013, the CPUC adopted
Decision (D.) 13-05-035 which acknowledged the need to increase
the CPCN fee with legislative approval. In that decision, the
CPUC stated that had the CPCN "application fee been adjusted for
inflation, the fee in 2013 would be $432." According to the
CPUC, the estimation of staff time involved in processing a CPCN
application can range from $500 to several thousand dollars.
Related/Prior Legislation
SB 711 (Padilla, 2014) proposed to authorize the CPUC to
increase the CPCN application fee to an amount that would
reasonably cover the costs of processing the fee with a cap of
$500. The bill also proposed to shift the revenues from the
application fee from the General Fund to the CPUC. The bill died
in the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce.
AB 1409 (Bradford, 2013) proposed several changes to the Public
Utilities Code including increasing the CPCN application fee.
The bill was vetoed by the governor due to last minute
amendments that were unrelated to the CPCN application fee.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified7/20/15)
California Public Utilities Commission
OPPOSITION: (Verified 7/20/15)
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None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, the costs of
processing a CPCN application are not well reflected in the $75
fee established in law nearly half a century ago. However, the
CPUC does not have authority to revise the application fee
without a change in the statute. The $75 CPCN application fee is
significantly less than related application processes that are
less involved and require less staff time, such as $250 for
non-dominant interexchange carriers or long-distance telephone
corporations.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 58-16, 7/16/15
AYES: Alejo, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly,
Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein,
Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Waldron, Weber, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Bigelow, Brough, Chang, Chávez,
Gallagher, Gray, Grove, Harper, Irwin, Jones, Lackey,
Melendez, Salas, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cooper, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gordon,
Patterson, Wagner
Prepared by:Nidia Bautista / E., U., & C. / (916) 651-4107
8/17/15 10:20:49
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