BILL NUMBER: SB 1414	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 27, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 13, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 25, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Kehoe

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2010

   An act to amend  Section   Sections 321.6 and
 1733 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to the Public
Utilities Commission.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1414, as amended, Kehoe. Public Utilities Commission:
procedures: rehearings. 
   Under 
    (1)     Under  existing law, the
Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has regulatory authority over
public utilities and can establish its own procedures, subject to
statutory limitations or directions and constitutional requirements
of due process. Existing law authorizes any party to an action or
proceeding, or any stockholder or bondholder or other party
pecuniarily interested in the public utility affected by an order or
decision of the CPUC, to apply for a rehearing with respect to any
matter determined in the action or proceeding and specified in the
application for rehearing. Existing law prohibits a cause of action
arising out of any order or decision of the CPUC from accruing in a
court to a corporation or person unless the corporation or person has
filed an application to the CPUC for a rehearing within a specified
amount of time after the date of issuance of the order or decision.
   Existing law provides that any application for a rehearing made 10
days or more before the effective date of a CPUC order as to which a
rehearing is sought, shall be either granted or denied before the
effective date of the order, or the order is suspended until the
application is granted or denied. Existing law provides that, absent
a further order of the CPUC, the suspension ceases after 60 days, the
order becomes effective, and the party making the application is
authorized to take the application as having been denied.
   This bill, for an application for rehearing made 10 days or more
before the effective date of the CPUC order as to which a rehearing
is sought, would delete the provision that the suspension ceases
after 60 days if the application is not granted or denied before its
effective date, thereby indefinitely suspending the effective date of
the order until the CPUC either grants or denies the application.

   Existing 
    (2)     Existing  law provides that if
the application for rehearing is made less than 10 days before the
effective date of the order as to which a rehearing is sought, and
the application is not granted within 60 days, the party making the
application is authorized to take the application as having been
denied, unless the effective date of the order is extended for the
period of the pendency of the application.
   This bill would require that an application for rehearing made
less than 10 days before the effective date of the CPUC order as to
which a rehearing is sought, be acted upon within 120 days. The bill
would provide that if the application is not acted upon within 120
days, the application is deemed to be denied by operation of law.

   (3) Existing law requires the CPUC to submit an annual report on
the number of cases where resolution exceeded the time periods
prescribed in scoping memos and the days that commissioners presided
in hearings.  
   This bill would additionally require the CPUC to include data on
the disposition of applications for rehearings in that report. 

   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 321.6 of the   Public
Utilities Code   is amended to read: 
   321.6.  The commission shall do all of the following:
   (a) Develop, publish, and annually update an annual work plan that
describes in clear detail the scheduled ratemaking proceedings and
other decisions that may be considered by the commission during the
calendar year. The plan shall include, but is not limited to,
information on how members of the public and ratepayers can gain
access to the commission's ratemaking process and information
regarding the specific matters to be decided. The plan shall also
include information on the operation of the office of the public
advisor and identify the names and telephone numbers of those contact
persons responsible for specific cases and matters to be decided.
The plan shall also include a statement that specifies activities
that the commission proposes to reduce the costs of, and rates for,
energy, including electricity, and for improving the competitive
opportunities for state agriculture and other rural energy consumers.
The commission shall post the plan under the Official Documents area
of its Internet Web site and shall develop a program to disseminate
the information in the plan utilizing computer mailing lists to
provide regular updates on the information to those members of the
public and organizations which request that information.
   (b) Produce a complete accounting of its transactions and
proceedings for the preceding year, together with other facts,
suggestions, and recommendations that it deems of value to the people
of the state and a statement that specifies the activities and
achievements of the commission in reducing the costs of, and rates
for, energy, including electricity, for state agriculture and other
rural energy consumers.
   (c) Create a report on the number of cases where resolution
exceeded the time periods prescribed in scoping memos  , data on
the disposition of applications for rehearing,  and the days
that commissioners presided in hearings.
   (d) Submit annually the plan, accounting, and report required by
subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) to the Governor and Legislature no
later than February 1 of each year.
   SECTION 1.   SEC. 2.   Section 1733 of
the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
   1733.  (a) Any application for a rehearing made 10 days or more
before the effective date of the order as to which a rehearing is
sought, shall be either granted or denied before the effective date,
or the order shall be suspended until the application is granted or
denied.
   (b) Any application for a rehearing made within less than 10 days
before the effective date of the order as to which a rehearing is
sought shall be acted upon within 120 days. If the application is not
acted upon within 120 days, the application shall be deemed denied
by operation of law.