BILL NUMBER: SB 1414	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 22, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 1, 2010
	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 321.6 of, and to amend, repeal, and add
Section 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.
   (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,   Beginning July 1, 2011, 
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,
 this bill  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.
   (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, beginning January 
 Beginning July  1, 2011,  for an application for
rehearing made less than 10 days before the effective date of the
CPUC order as to which a rehearing is sought,  this bill would
require that the application  be acted upon within  180
  60  days. The bill would authorize the
commission, by order, to extend the period for acting upon the
application for rehearing, but would prohibit any single order from
extending that period for more than  60   an
additional 120  days.  The bill would authorize the
applicant, beginning 61 days following the filing of the application,
to treat the application as having been denied, unless the order
extending the period within which the commission may act on the
application provides that the effective date of the order for which
rehearing is sought is extended until the commission acts to grant or
deny the application.  The bill would provide that  , 
 absent the consent of the applicant,  if the application
is not acted upon within one year after the date the
application was filed  , the application is denied by
operation of law  regardless of any order extending the
period for acting upon the application for rehearing  .
   (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 rehearing 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.
  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 stand suspended until the application is granted
or denied; but, absent further order of the commission the order
shall not stand so suspended for more than 60 days after the date of
filing of the application, at which time the suspension shall lapse,
the order shall become effective, and the application may be taken by
the party making it to be 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, and not granted within 60 days, may be taken by the party
making the application to be denied, unless the effective date of the
order is extended for the period of the pendency of the application.

   (c) This section shall apply to an application for rehearing filed
on or before  December 31, 2010   June 30, 2011
 .
   (d) This section shall remain in effect only until December 31,
2012, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before December 31, 2012, deletes or extends
that date.
  SEC. 3.  Section 1733 is added to the Public Utilities Code, 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  180   60
 days. The commission, by order, may extend the  60-day
 period for acting upon the application, but any single order
shall not extend that period for more than  60 days.
Notwithstanding any order extending the period to act upon the
application   an additional 120 days. Unless the order
of extension provides that the effective date of the order for which
rehearing is sought is extended until the commission acts to grant or
deny the application, beginning 61 days following the filing of the
application, the applicant may treat the application as having been
denied. The commission shall not extend the period for acting on the
application beyond one year after the day on which the application
was filed unless the applicant consents to the   extension.
Absent the consent of the applicant  , if the commission has not
acted upon the application within one year  after the date
on which the application was filed  , the application is
denied by operation of law.
   (c) This section shall apply to an application for rehearing filed
on or after  January   July  1, 2011.