SB 1017, as amended, Hill. Public Utilities Commission: public availability of utility supplied documents.
The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities Commission with certain general authority over all public utilities, including the authority to establish rules for all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature. The Public Utilities Act prohibits the commission or an officer or employee of the commission from disclosing any information furnished to the commission by a public utility, a subsidiary, an affiliate, or a corporation holding a controlling interest in a public utility, unless the information is specifically required to be open to public inspection under the act, except on order of the commission or a commissioner in the course of a hearing or proceeding.begin insert Existing law provides that any officer or employee of the commission who divulges any such information is guilty of a misdemeanor.end insert
This billbegin insert would repeal the provision that makes divulging this information a misdemeanor. The billend insert would authorize the commission to adopt rules providing for the disclosure of information furnished to the commission by a public utility, a subsidiary, an affiliate, or a corporation holding a controlling interest in a public utility.begin insert The bill would require the commission to develop rules consistent with the California Public Records Act for the expeditious disclosureend insertbegin insert, without the necessity of an order of the commission or a commissioner in the course of a hearing or proceeding, of information related to (1) public health and safety emergencies, (2) public, employee, and contractor safety, and (3) environmental degradation caused by loss of operational control by a public utilityend insertbegin insert.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:
The Legislature finds and declares that, pursuant
2to Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution, the public
3should have access to all public records of state entities and this
4right should extend to public records of the Public Utilities
5Commission.
Section 583 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
7to read:
No information furnished to the commission by a public
9utility, or any business which is a subsidiary or affiliate of a public
10utility, or a corporation which holds a controlling interest in a
11public utility, except those matters specifically required to be open
12to public inspection by this part, shall be open to public inspection
13or made public except on order or rule of the commission, or by
14the commission or a commissioner in the course of a hearing or
15proceeding.begin delete Any present or former officer or employee of the
16commission who divulges any such information is guilty of a
17misdemeanor.end delete
begin insertSection 583.1 is added to the end insertbegin insertPublic Utilities Codeend insertbegin insert, to
19read:end insert
(a) The commission shall develop rules consistent with
21the California Public Records Act (Article 1 (commencing with
22Section 6250) of Chapter 3.5 of Division 7 of Title 1 of the
23Government Code) for the expeditious disclosure of information
24related to all of the following:
25
(1) Public health and safety emergencies.
26
(2) Public, employee, and contractor safety.
27
(3) Environmental degradation caused by loss of operational
28control by a public utility.
29
(b) Nothing in this part requires the commission to disclose
30documents when the public interest served by
not disclosing the
P3 1records clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure
2of the records.
3
(c) Nothing in this part requires the commission to disclose
4documents regarding utility employees, contract employees, or
5individuals who generally have an objectively reasonable
6expectation of privacy in which disclosure would constitute an
7unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
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