Amended in Senate April 7, 2016

Senate Bill No. 1041

Introduced by Senator Hueso

February 12, 2016

An act to begin delete amend Section 25301 of the Public Resources end delete begin insert add Section 749.5 to, and to add Part 3 (commencing with Section 9525) to Division 4.8 of, the Public Utilities end insert Code, relating to energy.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1041, as amended, Hueso. Energy: begin delete assessments and forecasts. end delete begin insert electric and gas rates: public elementary and secondary schools. end insert

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Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing board. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for electrical corporations and gas corporations, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law requires public utilities to develop programs in cooperation with local school districts in reducing their electricity and gas bills through conservation and improvements in efficiency and authorizes public utilities to offer school districts on a priority basis programs or incentives for commercial customers developed by the utility and approved by the commission, including rebates, loan programs, and incentives for the installation of efficient lighting, heating, or cooling systems.

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This bill would require each electrical corporation and gas corporation to develop and submit to the commission for its approval a rate for service applicable to public elementary and secondary schools that is just and reasonable and reflects the costs of providing service to those schools. Because this requirement is part of the Public Utilities Act and would require an act by the commission for its implementation and because a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.

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This bill would require a local publicly owned electric utility to develop and submit to its governing board for its approval a rate for service applicable to public elementary and secondary schools that is just and reasonable and reflects the costs of providing service to those schools. By imposing additional duties upon local publicly owned electric utilities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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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.

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This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons.

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Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, at least every 2 years, to conduct assessments and forecasts of all aspects of energy industry supply, production, transportation, delivery and distribution, demand, and prices.

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This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to this provision.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert .

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

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following: end insert

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(a) The California Constitution authorizes the Public Utilities
Commission to fix the rates of public utilities in the state and the
Public Utilities Act requires that all charges of a public utility be
just and reasonable.

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(b) The cost-causation principle, that rates should reflect the
cost of providing service, guides the commission’s ratemaking
decisions involving electrical corporations and gas corporations.

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(c) The state funds public elementary and secondary schools to
provide for the education of the state’s children and young people.

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(d) The state’s public elementary and secondary schools
represent a category of energy users that differs from commercial
categories of energy users.

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(e) The state has enacted numerous measures to directly and
indirectly reduce the amount of money that public elementary and
secondary schools spend on utility bills so that they may focus
their limited resources on education.

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(f) Recently, many public elementary and secondary schools in
the state have experienced dramatic increases in the rates they
pay for electricity, thereby increasing their overall utility bills and
decreasing the moneys available for education.

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(g) For example, in the San Diego region, the bills for electric
service paid by some public elementary and secondary schools
have increased considerably, despite no change in those schools’
energy usage.

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(h) It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission, in
reviewing and approving an electrical or gas corporation’s rates
that are applicable to public elementary and secondary schools,
act according to the cost-causation principle.

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begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 749.5 is added to the end insert begin insert Public Utilities Code end insert begin insert , to
read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 749.5. end insert   

Each electrical corporation and gas corporation shall
develop and submit to the commission for its approval a rate for
service applicable to public elementary and secondary schools
that is just and reasonable and reflects the costs of providing
service to those schools.

end insert

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Part 3 (commencing with Section 9525) is added to
Division 4.8 of the end insert begin insert Public Utilities Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

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PART  begin insert 3. end insert   RATES

 

begin insert 9525. end insert   

A local publicly owned electric utility shall develop and
submit to its governing board for its approval a rate for service
applicable to public elementary and secondary schools that is just
and reasonable and reflects the costs of providing service to those
schools.

end insert

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 4. end insert   

end insert begin insert

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 or because 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.

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SECTION 1.  

Section 25301 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

25301.  

(a) At least every two years, the commission shall
conduct assessments and forecasts of all aspects of energy industry
supply, production, transportation, delivery and distribution,
demand, and prices. The commission shall use these assessments
and forecasts to develop and evaluate energy policies and programs
that conserve resources, protect the environment, ensure energy
reliability, enhance the state’s economy, and protect public health
and safety. To perform these assessments and forecasts, the
commission may require submission of demand forecasts, resource
plans, market assessments, related outlooks, individual customer
historic electric or gas service usage, or both, and individual
customer historic billing data, in a format and level of granularity
specified by the commission from electric and natural gas utilities,
transportation fuel and technology suppliers, and other market
participants. These assessments and forecasts shall be done in
consultation with the appropriate state and federal agencies
including, but not limited to, the Public Utilities Commission, the
Office of Ratepayer Advocates, the State Air Resources Board,
the Independent System Operator, the Department of Water
Resources, the Department of Transportation, and the Department
of Motor Vehicles. The commission shall maintain reasonable
policies and procedures to protect customer information from
unauthorized disclosure.

(b) In developing the assessments and forecasts prepared
pursuant to subdivision (a), the commission shall do all of the
following:

(1) Provide information about the performance of energy
industries.

(2) Develop and maintain the analytical capability sufficient to
answer inquiries about energy issues from government, market
participants, and the public.

(3) Analyze, develop, and evaluate energy policies and
programs.

(4) Provide an analytical foundation for regulatory and policy
decisionmaking.

(5) Facilitate efficient and reliable energy markets.

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