BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1476|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1476
Author: Padilla (D)
Amended: 8/20/10
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 10-0, 4/6/10
AYES: Padilla, Dutton, Corbett, Cox, Kehoe, Lowenthal,
Oropeza, Simitian, Strickland, Wright
NO VOTE RECORDED: Florez
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 4/13/10
AYES: Corbett, Hancock, Leno, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Harman
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-0, 5/3/10
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Denham, Leno, Price, Walters,
Wolk, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alquist
SENATE FLOOR : 30-0, 5/10/10 (Consent)
AYES: Aanestad, Alquist, Ashburn, Calderon, Cedillo,
Cogdill, Correa, Cox, DeSaulnier, Ducheny, Florez,
Hancock, Hollingsworth, Huff, Kehoe, Leno, Lowenthal,
Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Romero, Runner,
Simitian, Steinberg, Walters, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Corbett, Denham, Dutton, Harman, Liu,
Oropeza, Strickland, Wiggins, Vacancy, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 8/25/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Public utilities: smart meters: privacy
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SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires an investor-owned utility
(IOU) or publicly owned utility (POU) using advanced
metering (smart meters) to protect consumers energy usage
data from an unauthorized access or disclosure, and
prohibits IOUs and POUs from certain activities. It also
deletes a pilot project relating to the relative value to
ratepayers of information, rate design, and metering
innovations.
Assembly Amendments make clarifying changes.
ANALYSIS : Under existing law, the Public Utilities
Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public
utilities, including electrical corporations and gas
corporations, as defined.
Existing law requires the commission to conduct a pilot
study of certain customers of each electrical corporation
to determine the relative value to ratepayers of
information, rate design, and metering innovations using
specified approaches, but prohibits this data from being
used for any commercial purpose, unless authorized by the
customer.
This bill repeals the provisions relating to the pilot
study.
This bill prohibits an electrical corporation or gas
corporation from sharing, disclosing, or otherwise making
accessible to any third party a customer's electrical or
gas consumption data, as defined, except as specified, and
requires those utilities to use reasonable security
procedures and practices to protect a customer's
unencrypted electrical and gas consumption data from
unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or
disclosure. This bill prohibits an electrical corporation
or gas corporation from selling a customer's electrical or
gas consumption data or any other personally identifiable
information for any purpose.
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This bill prohibits an electrical corporation or gas
corporation from
providing an incentive or discount to a customer for
accessing the customer's electrical or gas consumption data
without the prior consent of the customers. This bill
requires that an electrical or gas corporation that
utilizes an advanced metering infrastructure that allows a
customer to access the customer's electrical and gas
consumption data to ensure that the customer has an option
to access that data without being required to agree to the
sharing of his/her personally identifiable information with
a third party.
This bill provides that, if the electrical corporation or
gas corporation contracts with a third party for a service
that allows a customer to monitor his/her electricity or
gas usage, and the third party uses the data for a
secondary commercial purpose, the contract between the
electrical or gas corporation and the third party shall
provide that the third party prominently discloses that
secondary commercial purpose to the customer.
This bill adopts nearly identical requirements applicable
to a local publicly owned electric utility with respect to
electrical consumption data, as defined.
Background
In December 2008, the PUC initiated a proceeding
(R.08-12-009) to consider policies for IOUs to develop a
smarter electric grid in the state. Within its smart grid
proceeding, the PUC will consider setting policies,
standards and protocols to guide the development of a smart
grid system, and facilitate integration of new
technologies, such as, demand-side technologies,
distributed generation, storage and electric vehicles. The
rulemaking will also investigate the contact between the
smart grid and consumers (residential, commercial,
industrial, agricultural) and cyber-security issues which
include policies to ensure customer privacy. On May 21,
2010, the PUC rendered a proposed decision and a final
decision should be released later this summer.
Comments
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The author writes: "Sempra (San Diego Gas & Electric) is
the only California utility of which we are aware that has
a meter interface allowing the customer to access their
electrical use data. Sempra confirms that the customer
cannot use this tool unless the customer relinquishing
control of the data through the standard website "I agree"
which the consumer clicks and in doing so allows Google to
use consumption data for a commercial purpose. Sempra
confirms they have no other tool available to the customer
for data interaction."
The author has indicated that it is not his intent to
disrupt the arrangement between Sempra and Google.
Instead, this bill is intended to provide a customer with
an "additional means of accessing consumption data without
allowing a third party to collect, retain, share or reuse
their electric or gas consumption information."
Purpose of the bill . The author has been a strong advocate
of the development of a smart grid, a component of which is
smart meters. However, the author notes that the use of
new technology in conjunction with the state's energy
supply infrastructure requires added diligence over the
protection of a customer's personally identifiable
information including electrical and gas consumption data.
Information should be kept securely and customers should
have the ability to withhold data without disrupting their
ability to manage their energy consumption. Consumption
data can reveal sensitive personal information about a
customer's schedule and intimate details about their lives
such as their medical needs and personal habits. The
disclosure becomes more acute with time as appliances
become "smarter" and interact with the smart meter and
utility.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
Ongoing special fund costs of about $100,000 to the PUC for
one position to monitor IOU compliance with the bill's
requirements. [Public Utilities Reimbursement Account.]
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/24/10)
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Public Utilities Commission
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuller,
Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gilmore,
Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber,
Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, V.
Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, John
A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fuentes, Vacancy, Vacancy
RJG:mw 8/25/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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