SB 1028, as amended, Hill. Electrical corporations:begin insert local publicly owned electric utilities: electrical cooperatives:end insert wildfire mitigation plans.
The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities Commission, authorizes the commission to establish rules for all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature, and authorizes the Legislature, unlimited by the other provisions of the California Constitution, to confer additional authority and jurisdiction upon the commission that is cognate and germane to the regulation of public utilities. The Public Utilities Act provides the commission with broad authority over public utilities, including electricalbegin delete corporations and local publicly owned electric utilities or electrical cooperatives.end deletebegin insert corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities and electrical cooperatives are under the direction of
their governing boards.end insert Existing law establishes requirements for equipment, practices, and facilities for public utilities, including standards, enforceable by the commission, for installation and maintenance of wires or cables used to conduct electricity. 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.
This bill would require each electricalbegin delete corporation and eachend deletebegin insert corporation,end insert local publicly owned electricbegin delete utility orend deletebegin insert utility, andend insert electrical cooperative tobegin delete construct and maintain its electric plantend deletebegin insert
construct, maintain, and operate its electrical lines and equipmentend insert in a manner thatbegin delete would prevent it from causing a catastrophic wildfire.end deletebegin insert will minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfireend insertbegin insert posed by those electrical lines and equipment.end insert The bill would require each electrical corporationbegin delete and each local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperativeend delete to annually prepare a wildfire mitigation plan. The bill would require each electrical corporation to submit its plan to the commissionbegin delete and each local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative to submit its plan to its governing boardend delete
for approval, as specified. The bill would require the commissionbegin delete and the governing boardend delete to accept, accept provisionally, or reject the submitted plan, as specified.begin insert The bill would require the governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative to determine whether any portion of the geographical area where the utility’s overhead electrical lines and equipment are located has a significant risk of catastrophic wildfire resulting from those electrical lines and equipment and, if so, would require the local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative toend insertbegin insert annually present to the board for its approvalend insertbegin insert
those wildfire mitigation measures the utility intends to undertake to minimize the risk of its overhead electrical lines and equipment causing a catastrophic wildfire.end insert By placing additional duties upon local publicly owned electric utilities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Because a violation of these provisionsbegin insert by an electrical corporationend insert would be a crime, 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.
end insertbegin insertThis bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons.
end insertThe 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.
end deleteThis bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
end deleteWith regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
end deleteVote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
begin insertChapter 6 (commencing with Section 8385) is
2added to Division 4.1 of the end insertbegin insertPublic Utilities Codeend insertbegin insert, to read:end insert
3
(a) For purposes of this chapter, the following shall
7apply:
8(1) “Compliance period” means a one-year period beginning
9approximately with the start of the fall fire season for the service
10territory of the electrical corporation, electrical cooperative, or
11local publicly owned electric utility.
12(2) “Electrical cooperative” has the same meaning as defined
13in Section 2776.
14(b) The commission shall supervise an electrical corporation’s
15compliance with the requirements of this chapter pursuant to the
16Public Utilities Act (Part 1 (commencing with Section 201) of
17Division 1). Nothing in this chapter provides the
commission with
18authority or jurisdiction over an electrical cooperative or local
19publicly owned electrical corporation.
(a) Each electrical corporation shall construct, maintain,
21and operate its electrical lines and equipment in a manner that
22will minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire posed by those
23electrical lines and equipment.
24(b) Each electrical corporation shall annually, on or before
25February 1, prepare and submit a wildfire mitigation plan for the
26next compliance period to the commission for acceptance. The
27wildfire mitigation plan shall include:
28(1) An accounting of the responsibilities of persons responsible
29for executing the plan.
30(2) The objectives of the plan.
31(3) A description of the preventive strategies and programs to
32be adopted by the electrical corporation to minimize the risk of its
33electrical lines and equipment causing catastrophic wildfires.
P4 1(4) A description of the metrics the electrical corporation plans
2to use to evaluate the plan’s performance and the assumptions
3that underlie the use of those metrics.
4(5) A discussion of how the application of previously identified
5metrics to previous plan performances has informed the plan.
6(6) A description of the processes and procedures the electrical
7corporation will use to do the following:
8(A) Monitor and audit the implementation of the plan.
9(B) Identify any deficiencies in
the plan or the plan’s
10implementation and correct those deficiencies.
11(C) Monitor and audit the effectiveness of inspections, including
12inspections performed by contractors, carried out under the plan.
13(7) Any other information that the commission may require.
14(c) The commission shall act expeditiously, but no later than
1530 days before the beginning of the compliance period, to accept,
16accept provisionally, or reject the electrical corporation’s wildfire
17mitigation plan.
18(1) Any provisional acceptance by the commission shall state
19all of the following:
20(A) The period for which the provisional acceptance will be in
21force.
22(B) The extent to which the wildfire mitigation plan has been
23accepted.
24(C) Any limitations or conditions that shall apply during the
25provisional acceptance period.
26(2) If the commission rejects the electrical corporation’s wildfire
27mitigation plan, the commission shall provide the electrical
28corporation with an opportunity to resubmit a wildfire mitigation
29plan within 30 days.
30(3) If the commission determines that an electrical corporation
31will not be able to prepare an acceptable wildfire mitigation plan
32before the beginning of the compliance period, the commission
33may determine the contents of the electrical corporation’s wildfire
34mitigation plan.
35(d) The commission shall conduct or contract for audits to
36determine if an electrical
corporation is satisfactorily complying
37with its accepted wildfire mitigation plan.
38(e) The commission may contract with an independent third
39party to evaluate wildfire mitigation plans or to conduct audits
P5 1and inspections authorized by this section, and may require
2electrical corporations to reimburse any related expenses.
(a) Each local publicly owned electric utility and
4electrical cooperative shall construct, maintain, and operate its
5electrical lines and equipment in a manner that will minimize the
6risk of catastrophic wildfire posed by those electrical lines and
7equipment.
8(b) The governing board of the local publicly owned electric
9utility or electrical cooperative shall determine, based on historical
10fire data and local conditions, and in consultation with the fire
11departments or other entities responsible for control of wildfires
12within the geographical area where the utility’s overhead electrical
13lines and equipment are located, whether any portion of that
14geographical area has a significant risk of catastrophic wildfire
15resulting from those
electrical lines and equipment.
16(c) If, pursuant to subdivision (b), the governing board
17determines that there is a significant risk of catastrophic wildfire
18resulting from the utility’s electrical lines and equipment, the local
19publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative shall
20annually present to the board for its approval those wildfire
21mitigation measures the utility intends to undertake to minimize
22the risk of its overhead electrical lines and equipment causing a
23catastrophic wildfire.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
25Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
26a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
27charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
28level of service mandated by this act or because costs that may be
29incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred
30because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a
31crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or
32infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
33
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
34Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.
Section 761.1 is added to the Public Utilities
36Code, to read:
(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms
38shall have the following meanings:
39(1) “Electric plant” means “electric plant” as defined in Section
40217.
P6 1(2) “Compliance period” means a one-year period beginning
2approximately with the start of the fall fire season.
3(b) Each electrical corporation shall construct and maintain its
4electric plant in a manner that will prevent the electric plant from
5causing a catastrophic wildfire.
6(c) Each electrical corporation shall annually, on or before April
71, prepare and submit a wildfire mitigation plan for the next
8compliance period to the commission for acceptance. The wildfire
9mitigation plan shall include:
10(1) An accounting of the responsibilities of persons responsible
11for executing the plan.
12(2) The objectives of the plan.
13(3) A description of the preventative strategies and programs
14to be adopted by the electrical corporation to minimize the risk of
15its electric plant causing catastrophic wildfires.
16(4) A description of the metrics the electrical corporation plans
17to use to evaluate the plan’s performance and the assumptions that
18underlie the use of those metrics.
19(5) A discussion of how the application of previously identified
20metrics to previous plan performances has informed the plan.
21(6) A description of the processes and procedures the electrical
22corporation will use to do the following:
23(A) Monitor and audit the implementation of the plan.
24(B) Identify any deficiencies in the plan or the plan’s
25implementation and correct those deficiencies.
26(C) Monitor and audit the effectiveness of inspections, including
27inspections performed by contractors, carried out under the plan.
28(7) Any other information that the commission may require.
29(d) The commission shall act expeditiously, but no later than
3030 days before the beginning of the compliance period, to accept,
31accept provisionally, or reject the electrical corporation’s wildfire
32mitigation plan.
33(1) Any provisional acceptance by the commission shall state
34all of the following:
35(A) The period for which the provisional acceptance will be in
36force.
37(B) The extent to which the wildfire
mitigation plan has been
38accepted.
39(C) Any limitations or conditions that shall apply during the
40provisional acceptance period.
P7 1(2) If the commission rejects the electrical corporation’s wildfire
2mitigation plan, the commission shall provide the electrical
3corporation with an opportunity to resubmit a wildfire mitigation
4plan within 30 days.
5(3) If the commission determines that an electrical corporation
6will not be able to prepare an acceptable wildfire mitigation plan
7before the beginning of the compliance period, the commission
8may determine the contents of the electrical corporation’s wildfire
9mitigation plan.
10(e) The commission shall
conduct or contract for audits to
11determine if an electrical corporation is satisfactorily complying
12with its accepted wildfire mitigation plan.
13(f) The commission may contract with an independent third
14party to evaluate wildfire mitigation plans or to conduct audits and
15inspections authorized by this section, and may require electrical
16corporations to reimburse any related expenses.
Section 761.2 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
18read:
(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms
20shall have the following meanings:
21(1) “Electric plant” means “electric plant” as defined in Section
22217.
23(2) “Compliance period” means a one-year period beginning
24approximately with the start of the fall fire season.
25(b) Each local publicly owned electric utility or electrical
26cooperative shall construct and maintain its electric plant in a
27manner that will prevent the electric plant from causing a
28catastrophic wildfire.
29(c) Each local publicly owned electric utility or electrical
30cooperative shall annually prepare and submit a wildfire mitigation
31plan for the next compliance period to its governing board for
32acceptance.
33(d) Each governing board of a local publicly owned electric
34utility or electrical cooperative shall act to accept, accept
35provisionally, or reject the wildfire mitigation plan submitted by
36the local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
38Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for certain
39costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
40because, in that regard, this act creates a new crime or infraction,
P8 1eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
2or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
3Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
4meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
5Constitution.
6However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that
7this act contains other costs
mandated by the state, reimbursement
8to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
9pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
104 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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