BILL ANALYSIS
CONFERENCE REPORT COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
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Bill No: SB 960
Author: Leonard
RN: 9628541
Report date: August 28, 1996
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SUBJECT: Public Utilities Commission Reform
Were the Conference amendments heard (*) in committee?
Yes
If yes, were they defeated? No
SUMMARY: The Conference amendments replace the existing
provisions of the bill with the following:
The Conference amendments to SB 960 create within the
Public Utilities Commission (PUC) a consumer advocacy
division to represent consumer interests before the
commission. The goal of the division is to obtain the
lowest possible rates for service consistent with reliable
and safe service levels. The head of this division serves
at the pleasure of the Governor, with confirmation by the
Senate.
The Conference amendments to SB 960 change the internal
processes within the PUC. Generally, the bill requires
much greater involvement of PUC commissioners in all
aspects of commission decision-making, including more
up-front involvement of commissioners in all hearings,
requiring the attendance of commissioners at particular
hearings and permitting parties to argue their cases before
a quorum of the commission.
The Conference amendments to SB 960 create three classes of
cases within the PUC: adjudication, ratesetting, and
quasi-legislative. At the start of each case a
commissioner must issue a scoping memo which describes the
issues and lays out a timetable for resolution. In
adjudication cases, where the PUC is acting like a court,
off-the-record, or ex parte, contact is prohibited. In
ratesetting cases the PUC may have ex parte contacts
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provided that all parties have an equal opportunity for
contact. Once the ex parte contact is ended the PUC may
meet in closed session to consider the case. In cases in
which the PUC is setting policy (quasi-legislative) a
commissioner must be present for all formal hearings. To
facilitate the free flow of information, there are no ex
parte contact restrictions.
The Conference amendments to SB 960 require a report from
the commission with its recommendations as to necessary
regulatory and statutory changes to recognize the
increasingly competitive nature of the energy and
communications industries.
The Conference amendments to SB 960 provide that the bill
becomes effective 1/1/98 and sunsets on 1/1/2002.
By: Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications
Committee
Randy Chinn
*See Senate Rule 29.6 (b) for definition of oheardo.
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SENATE RULES COMMITTEE SB 960
Office of Senate Floor Analyses
1020 N Street, Suite 524
(916) 445-6614 Fax: (916) 327-4478
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CONFERENCE COMPLETED
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Bill No: SB 960
Author: Leonard (R), et al
Amended: Conference Report No. 1, 8/29/96
Vote: 21
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SENATE ENERGY, U. & C. COMMITTEE: 6-0, 4/25/95
AYES: Kelley, Leonard, Mountjoy, Rosenthal, Russell, Peace
NOT VOTING: Alquist, Hayden, Hughes
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR: 37-0, 5/18/95
AYES: Alquist, Ayala, Beverly, Boatwright, Calderon,
Campbell, Costa, Craven, Dills, Greene, Hayden, Haynes,
Hughes, Hurtt, Johannessen, Johnson, Johnston, Kelley,
Kopp, Leonard, Lewis, Lockyer, Maddy, Marks, Mello,
Mountjoy, O'Connell, Peace, Petris, Polanco, Rogers,
Rosenthal, Russell, Solis, Thompson, Watson, Wright
NOT VOTING: Killea, Leslie, Monteith
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE VOTE: 6-0, 8/28/96
AYES: Senators Peace, Sher, Leonard; Assembly Members
Conroy, Kuykendall, Martinez
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 46-12, 6/20/96 - See last page for vote
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SUBJECT: Public Utilities Commission: administrative
procedures
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SOURCE: Author
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DIGEST: This bill (1) creates within the Public
Utilities Commission (PUC) a consumer advocacy division to
represent consumer interests before the commission, (2)
changes the internal processes within the PUC to require
greater involvement of PUC commissioners in all aspects of
commission decision-making, and (3) creates three classes
of cases within the PUC: adjudication, ratesetting, and
quasi-legislative.
Conference Committee Amendments delete prior language which
stated legislative intent regarding restructuring and
reforming PUC and CEC.
ANALYSIS:
Current law:
Current law prescribes the Public Utilities Commission's
(PUC) processes and internal organization. Over time the
PUC's processes have resulted in a staff-driven
organization with commissioner involvement occurring at the
end of the decision-making process.
PUC process changes:
This bill significantly changes the PUC's processes. The
most significant change is requiring much greater
commissioner involvement throughout the decision-making
process. A commissioner must prepare the workplan for the
case, be present for prehearing conferences and oral
argument, and be present during each day of formal hearings
in policy-making cases. Any party may present its final
oral arguments before a quorum of commissioners.
The procedures for off-the-record (ex parte) contact
between parties to the case and commissioners are tailored
to the type of case. For judicial cases ex parte contact
is banned. For rate setting cases ex parte contact is
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permitted provided that all parties are given equal time.
For legislative cases ex parte contact is unrestricted.
The PUC is exempted from the Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act
requirements in the limited cases in which the full
commission is acting on appeals of judicial cases and when
they are discussing ratesetting cases after ex parte
contact is prohibited.
Procedures are established for removing administrative law
judges from cases in which there is a potential conflict of
interest or where the administrative law judge has recently
been a party to a case before the PUC.
There is intent language to encourage the commission to
process cases more quickly, with a maximum time of 18
months. A time limit of 12 months is established in
statute for adjudicatory cases.
Creation of a Ratepayer Advocacy Division:
The bill creates a division within the PUC to represent the
interest of consumers in all significant cases before the
PUC. The goal of the division is to obtain the lowest
possible rates consistent with reliable and safe service.
The director of this division serves at the pleasure of the
Governor, subject to Senate confirmation. The bill
requires the PUC to provide this division with sufficient
resources and requires the funding for the division to be a
separate line item in the PUC's budget. The PUC is
required to develop conflict of interest rules to ensure
that the existence of this division does not create a
conflict of roles within the PUC.
Competition study:
The bill requires the PUC to report to the Legislature on
recommended changes to state law resulting from the
increasingly competitive nature of the energy and
communications industries.
Effective date:
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The provisions of this bill become effective January 1,
1998 and sunset January 1, 2002.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
ASSEMBLY FLOOR:
AYES: Ackerman, Aguiar, Alby, Baca, Baldwin, Battin,
Baugh, Boland, Bordonaro, Bowler, Brewer, Brulte, Campbell,
Conroy, Cortese, Cunneen, Davis, Firestone, Frusetta,
Goldsmith, Harvey, Hauser, Hawkins, Hoge, House, Kaloogian,
Knight, Knowles, Kuykendall, Margett, McPherson, Migden,
Morrissey, Morrow, Poochigian, Rainey, Richter, Rogan,
Setencich, Takasugi, Thompson, Tucker, Villaraigosa,
Weggeland, Woods, Pringle
NOES: Archie-Hudson, Bates, Bustamante, Caldera, Cannella,
Ducheny, Escutia, Katz, Lee, Martinez, Napolitano,
Sweeney
NOT VOTING: Alpert, Bowen, Brown, Burton, Figueroa,
Friedman, Gallegos, Granlund, Hannigan, Isenberg, Knox,
Kuehl, Machado, Mazzoni, Miller, K. Murray, W. Murray,
Olberg, Speier, Vasconcellos
NC:jk 8/29/96 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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