BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1414|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1414
Author: Kehoe (D)
Amended: 6/1/10
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 10-0, 4/20/10
AYES: Padilla, Dutton, Corbett, Florez, Kehoe, Lowenthal,
Oropeza, Simitian, Strickland, Wright
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-0, 5/27/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Denham, Leno, Price,
Walters, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SUBJECT : Public Utilities Commission: procedures:
rehearings
SOURCE : The Utility Reform Network (TURN)
DIGEST : This bill changes the deadlines under which the
California Public Utilities Commission is required to
determine whether an application for rehearing will be
granted, and expands an existing annual report regarding
the resolution of cases to include dates on the deposition
of application for rehearing.
ANALYSIS : Existing law allows any party to a proceeding
before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to
file an application asking the CPUC to rehear any issue
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decided in an order issued in that proceeding. Existing
law gives the CPUC discretion to grant or deny an
application for rehearing and does not specify a time by
which it must act on such an application, although an
application may be deemed denied if the CPUC does not act
within 60 days.
Existing law provides that the filing of an application for
rehearing of a CPUC decision generally does not stay or
suspend the decision or excuse any person or corporation
from complying with the decision.
This bill requires the CPUC to rule on a request for
rehearing within 180 days. In addition, the CPUC is
authorized to grant additional 60 day extensions. After
one year, a request for rehearing will be denied by law.
The new deadlines set by this bill only apply to new
applications received by the CPUC after the bill becomes
operative.
Background
Laws governing rehearing and judicial review of CPUC
decisions seek to achieve judicial economy by having
matters first resolved by the agency but also seek to
provide parties expeditious resolution of claims and
certainty as to the effect of CPUC decisions. A party may
petition a state appellate court or the state Supreme Court
to review a CPUC decision but is required to first seek a
rehearing by the CPUC. A petition for judicial review of a
CPUC decision is timely only if filed within one of the
following time periods: (1) within 30 days after the CPUC
issues a decision denying an application for rehearing; (2)
within 30 days after the CPUC issues a decision on
rehearing if an application for rehearing is granted; and
(3) within 60 days after an application for rehearing is
filed if the CPUC fails to act on the application for
rehearing.
According to the Utility Reform Network, the sponsor of
this bill, the CPUC rarely acts on an application for
rehearing within 60 days. The attached data provided by
the CPUC reflect a very high rate of applications being
deemed denied, although an exact percentage is impossible
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to calculate because the data are presented by calendar
year rather than tracking each application. The CPUC's
January 2010 report to the Governor and Legislature on
"Timely Resolution of Proceedings and Commissioner Presence
at Hearings" does not separately report on applications for
rehearing, but the data in the report reveal that several
applications for rehearing have been pending for more than
a year.
Thus, a party that files an application for rehearing
typically becomes eligible to seek judicial review under
the "deemed denied" scenario when the CPUC fails to act
within 60 days. However, according to the sponsor and
confirmed by CPUC staff, when a party seeks judicial review
under this scenario, the CPUC typically asks the court to
not grant review until the CPUC rules on the application
for rehearing, and the court, exercising its discretion,
typically complies with the CPUC's request and declines
review. As a result, even when parties comply with all
procedural requirements to seek rehearing and judicial
review, review of CPUC decisions is effectively denied
until the CPUC acts on the application for rehearing, which
can take months or even years. Moreover, knowing the court
likely will decline review of a "deemed denied" application
for rehearing, parties are reluctant to undertake the time
and expense of appellate litigation. During this period of
delay, the underlying CPUC decision remains in effect.
With a limited exception rarely applicable, existing law
provides that an application for rehearing "shall not
excuse any corporation or person from complying with and
obeying any order" of the CPUC nor shall an application for
rehearing "operate in any manner to stay or postpone the
enforcement" of that order, unless the CPUC orders a stay.
Thus, in nearly all cases, a CPUC decision remains in
effect while an application for rehearing is pending.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/28/10)
The Utility Reform Network (TURN) (source)
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DLW:do 6/1/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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