BILL NUMBER: AB 42 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Blakeslee
DECEMBER 1, 2008
An act to add Section 565 to the Public Utilities Code, relating
to electricity, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately. electricity.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 42, as amended, Blakeslee. Electricity: Pacific Gas and
Electric Company: seismic fault.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has
regulatory authority over public utilities including electrical
corporations, as defined.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission (Energy Commission) to conduct various
assessments and forecasts on energy industry supply, production,
transportation, delivery and distribution, demand, and prices.
This bill would require Pacific Gas and Electric Company to seek
funding for seismic fault studies and seismic retrofits in order to
maintain reliable operation of the electrical grid and reduce impacts
to customer rates as a result of a seismic event. Because a
violation of this requirement would be a crime, this bill would
impose a state-mandated local program. The Energy Commission would be
required to conduct a peer review of any fault studies conducted
pursuant to that requirement. The Public Utilities Commission would
be required to allow Pacific Gas and Electric Company to fully
recover costs from all of their electrical customers for investments
in fault studies and seismic retrofits pursuant to the bill.
(2) 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.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
(3) This bill would state the findings and declarations of the
Legislature concerning the need for special legislation.
(4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3 majority . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) In issuing decision Decision
07-03-044, the Public Utilities Commission authorized an expenditure
of sixteen million eight hundred thousand dollars ($16,800,000) of
ratepayer funds to explore the feasibility of relicensing the Diablo
Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.
(b) The Public Utilities Commission, regarding the expenditure of
those funds, said that Pacific Gas and Electric Company should defer,
to the extent feasible, its work, its own study, and associated
spending, until after the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission (Energy Commission) issues its findings and
conclusions pursuant to Chapter 722 of the Statutes of 2006, and that
Pacific Gas and Electric Company should incorporate the findings and
recommendations of that Energy Commission assessment in its own
work.
(c) The assessment made pursuant to Chapter 722 of the Statutes of
2006 included several findings and recommendations; in particular,
the Energy Commission found that Pacific Gas and Electric Company
should use three-dimensional geophysical seismic reflection mapping
and other advanced techniques to explore fault zones near Diablo
Canyon.
(d) The July 2007 magnitude 6.8 Japan Sea earthquake located 16
kilometers from Toyota Electric Power Company's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa
Nuclear Power Plant shut down the facility at a cost of some hundreds
of millions of dollars per month.
(e) In November 2008, the United States Geological Survey
identified a previously unidentified offshore fault approximately one
kilometer west of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant with an
estimated ability to generate a magnitude 6.5 earthquake.
SEC. 2. Section 565 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
565. (a) Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall seek funding for
seismic fault studies and seismic retrofits, deemed urgent by the
Energy Commission or the Seismic Safety Commission, in furtherance of
the recommendations made by the Energy Commission pursuant to
paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 25303 of the Public
Resources Code, in order to maintain reliable operation of the
electrical grid and reduce impacts to customer rates as a result of a
seismic event.
(b) (1) The Energy Commission shall conduct a peer review of any
studies conducted pursuant to subdivision (a).
(2) The Energy Commission may enter into agreements with academic
and industry groups of scientists with expertise in fault imaging and
character and behavior studies to conduct an external scientific
peer review of the scientific basis for any fault study.
(3) The Energy Commission shall include the findings and
recommendations of the peer review of any fault study in the
integrated energy policy report as updates pursuant to subparagraph
(D) of paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 25303 of the
Public Resources Code.
(c) The commission shall allow Pacific Gas and Electric Company to
fully recover costs from all of their electrical customers for
investments in fault studies and seismic retrofits pursuant to this
section.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only 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.
SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because of unique circumstances pertaining to Pacific Gas and
Electric Company.
SEC. 5. This act is an urgency statute
necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health,
or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and
shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity
are:
In order to complete a seismic study, and perform seismic
retrofits, relating to Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant as soon as
possible in order to protect electricity customers, it is necessary
that this act take effect immediately.