BILL ANALYSIS 1
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SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
ALEX PADILLA, CHAIR
AB 1316 - Ma Hearing Date: July
7, 2009 A
As Amended: June 1, 2009 FISCAL B
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DESCRIPTION
Current law establishes a low-income energy assistance program
for electric and natural gas service customers of investor-owned
utilities (IOUs) funded by a surcharge on energy bills.
Current law establishes a Low-Income Oversight Board (LIOB) to
advise the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on
low0income electric, gas, and water customer issues and to serve
as a liaison for the commission to low-income ratepayers and
representatives.
Current law requires the LIOB to monitor and evaluate
implementation of all programs provided to low-income
electricity, gas, and water customers.
Current law authorizes the LIOB to establish a technical
advisory committee consisting of low-income service providers,
utility representatives, consumer organizations, and CPUC staff,
to assist the board.
Current law provides that all reasonable costs incurred by the
board in carrying out its duties will be reimbursed.
This bill would require the President of the CPUC to report
annually to the legislature on the status of low-income
programs.
This bill would increase the number of board members on the LIOB
from 11 to 12 by adding a member from the State Air Resources
Board.
This bill would remove the authorization of the LIOB to create a
technical advisory committee and it would require the LIOB to
establish a regulatory advisory committee.
This bill would require that the LIOB actively solicit public
input and recommendations from underserved communities.
This bill would expand the responsibilities of the LIOB within
the CPUC.
BACKGROUND
The LIOB was established by SB 2xx (Alarcon), Chapter 11, 2nd
Extraordinary Session, Statues of 2001, for the purpose of
enhancing the effectiveness of various energy assistance
programs for low-income individuals. Currently, the LIOB's role
is to advise the CPUC on low-income electric and gas customer
issues. The LIOB also serves as a liaison for the CPUC with
low-income ratepayers and representatives and advises the CPUC
on low-income electric and gas customer needs.
The CPUC also has the Division of Ratepayer Advocates that
represents and advocates on behalf of the interests of public
utility customers. The statutory goal of the division is to
obtain the lowest possible rate for service consistent with
reliable and safe service levels, and does not specify
low-income customers in any way.
California has several assistance programs for low-income
customers. The California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE)
discounts 20% on electric and natural gas bills, the Low-Income
Energy Efficiency (LIEE) is a weatherization and energy
efficiency program and at the federal level there is also the
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) that provides
funding to assist with energy bills and offset heating and/or
cooling energy costs.
COMMENTS
1. According to the author - This bill would improve the
access to assistance programs for millions of low-income
and fixed income households. The author believes that the
CPUC needs to revisit its role in representing and serving
low-income communities.
2. Need for more low-income input - With many new programs
being implemented, such as California's new Renewable
Portfolio Standards and AB 32 goals, it is important that
low-income communities be able to offer input as they may
be impacted with this new legislation. The LIOB seeks to
gather comments and concerns from these groups to make sure
that they are properly represented.
3. New LIOB responsibilities - The LIOB would be required
to monitor and evaluate all programs provided to low-income
electricity, gas, and water customers. The LIOB may not be
able to take on such a large workload and the author may
wish to narrow the scope of the LIOB to focus on programs
and issues that only deal with low-income communities. If
the author does wish to expand the responsibilities of the
LIOB then the author may want to consider providing them
with staff and resources so that they can provide adequate
care to the issues raised by these communities.
The LIOB would also be required to make recommendations to
the Legislature, if requested, on policy or legislation
impacting low-income customers. The additional workload on
the LIOB may exceed the LIOB's capacity because they are a
voluntary board and share their resources with other
departments at the CPUC.
4. The bill also requires the LIOB, to the extent possible,
to solicit public input and recommendations from
underserved communities through town hall meetings. Such
meetings may not be necessary as the LIOB members are
selected from community-based organizations, and therefore
regularly interact with these communities. It may
therefore be a more efficient use of time to the entire
LIOB board meet to discuss and advise the CPUC on the
pertinent issues that were addressed in their meetings.
ASSEMBLY VOTES
Assembly Floor (47-30)
Assembly Appropriations Committee (12-5)
Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee
(9-5)
POSITIONS
Sponsor:
Latino Issues Forum
Support:
California/Nevada Community Action Partnership
Southern California Edison
Oppose:
California Public Utilities Commission
Melissa Macias
AB 1316 Analysis
Hearing Date: July 7, 2009