BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1108
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1108 (Fuentes)
As Amended June 1, 2009
Majority vote
UTILITIES & COMMERCE 11-2
APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Fuentes, Blakeslee, |Ayes:|De Leon, Ammiano, Charles |
| |Buchanan, Carter, Fong, | |Calderon, Davis, Fuentes, |
| |Furutani, Huffman, | |Hall, John A. Perez, |
| |Krekorian, Skinner, | |Price, Skinner, Solorio, |
| |Swanson, Torrico | |Torlakson, Krekorian |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+---------------------------|
|Nays:|Duvall, Fuller |Nays:|Nielsen, Duvall, Harkey, |
| | | |Miller, |
| | | |Audra Strickland |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the transfer of ownership and operational
responsibility of gas and electric infrastructure in mobilehome
parks in which the park owner is a master-meter customer and the
tenants are submetered. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the owner of a master-metered mobilehome park that
provides gas or electric service to residents to transfer
ownership and operational responsibility for the gas or
electric system to the gas or electric electrical corporation.
2)Requires PUC to open a proceeding to adopt rules and
regulations, including cost responsibilities, to govern the
transfers required by this bill that balance the interests of
submetered mobilehome park tenants and utility ratepayers.
3)Requires PUC to prioritize the transfer of parks that have gas
or electric systems with unsafe or substandard conditions.
EXISTING LAW:
1)States that whenever residential light, heat, or power is
furnished through a submeter system by a master-meter customer
for sale to users who are tenants of a mobilehome park,
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apartment building, or similar residential complex, the
master-meter customer is responsible for maintenance and
repair of its submeter facilities beyond the master meter.
2)Requires PUC to direct the gas or electric corporation
furnishing service to the master-meter customer to establish
uniform rates for master-meter service at a level that will
provide a sufficient differential to cover the reasonable
average costs to master-meter customers of providing submeter
service.
3)Allows the owner of a master-metered mobilehome park or
manufactured housing community that provides gas or electric
service to residents to transfer ownership and operational
responsibility to the gas or electric corporation providing
service in the area in which the park or community is located
under certain conditions.
4)Requires that residents of mobilehome parks and manufactured
housing communities constructed after January 1, 1997, be
individually metered and served by gas and electric
distribution facilities owned, operated, and maintained by the
gas or electric corporation providing the service in the area
where the new park or community is located.
5)Requires public utilities to provide and maintain such
adequate, efficient, just and reasonable service as are
necessary to promote the health and safety of its patrons, and
the public.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, costs to PUC for investigating the condition of
sub-metered infrastructure, on a complaint-driven basis, would
depend on the number of complaints. PUC estimates a need for
four positions at a special fund cost of about $500,000
annually. [Public Utilities Reimbursement Account].
Furthermore, PUC would incur additional costs for the ratemaking
proceeding.
COMMENTS : Over 2,000 mobilehome park owners in the state
provide utility services to their tenants through a master
meter. In such cases, the park owner receives service from the
utility at a master meter. The electricity is then distributed
to tenants through infrastructure owned by the park owner and a
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sub-meter located at each tenant's mobilehome. The tenants are
then billed by the park owner for the services they use in the
same way that a utility would if the tenant was being directly
served by a utility.
Current law requires that the utility company give the park
owner a discount (differential) in order to recover the costs of
operating the system. The differential is set as an amount per
occupied space. Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)
currently provides a differential of $21.76 per month per
occupied space. The cumulative amount of this differential can
be significant. In PG&E territory alone, it has amounted to $67
million over the past three years. Current law does not provide
any oversight regarding the use of this money.
Under current law, mobilehome park owners who are master-meter
customers are in essence acting like small utilities. Park
owners are responsible for the same functions as utilities
including maintaining, repairing and replacing the distribution
system. They are also responsible for reading meters and
billing customers. A mobilehome park owner may or may not have
the expertise to provide these services adequately.
AB 622 (Conroy), Chapter 424, Statutes of 1996, required gas and
electric corporations to assume ownership of master-metered
systems in mobilehome parks upon the completion of a specified
process. Some mobilehome park owners claim that AB 622
requirements have made the transfer of the systems
cost-prohibitive. In fact, no systems have been transferred
since the passage of AB 622 thirteen years ago. This bill
repeals AB 622 requirements and instead requires that the
utilities assume ownership of these systems under rules and
regulations to be determined by PUC.
Analysis Prepared by : Nina Kapoor / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083
FN: 0001285