BILL ANALYSIS Ó 1
SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
ALEX PADILLA, CHAIR
AB 1830 - V.M. Perez Hearing Date:
July 3, 2012 A
As Amended: June 27, 2012 FISCAL B
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DESCRIPTION
Current law authorizes the California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC) to regulate utilities, including water corporations,
determine whether rates charged are just and reasonable and
service is adequate, and award customers restitution for past
overcharges on rates deemed not just and reasonable.
Current law provides that a mobilehome park that provides water
service to its tenants from its own water supplies and facilities
that are not otherwise dedicated to public service is not a water
corporation, but authorizes the CPUC, if a tenant complains about
rates or service, to investigate and determine whether rates are
just and reasonable and service is adequate.
This bill authorizes the CPUC to investigate rates and adequacy
of water service if tenants totaling at least 10 percent of the
current population of a mobilehome park complains to the CPUC,
which can include current tenants and former tenants who resided
at the park within the last five years.
Current law authorizes the CPUC, after investigation of
mobilehome park water service, to award "rate relief" or order
the park owner to improve its water supply, facilities, and
services. The CPUC concluded in a decision that this law does
not authorize the CPUC to award restitution for past overcharges.
This bill would require the CPUC, if it determines that a
mobilehome park has charged an unjust or unreasonable rate, to
order the mobilehome park to reimburse overcharges to current and
former tenants affected by the rate, if no discrimination will
result from the reimbursement.
This bill requires a mobilehome park to provide tenants, at the
time of establishing residence and each time it changes rates or
service, written notice of their right to file with the CPUC a
complaint about water rates and service.
This bill requires that the notice to tenants be in English, the
language the mobilehome rental agreement was negotiated, and the
language of primary communications with the residents receiving
the notice.
This bill makes a failure to provide notice subject to a penalty
of not less than $500 or more than $20,000 per offense.
BACKGROUND
Mobilehome parks, like apartments, frequently provide water to
tenants through a master meter whereby the park receives water
from a utility and then installs separate meters to bill tenants
individually. Some mobilehome parks provide tenants water with
their own water, such as well water, and use separate meters to
bill tenants individually.
In response to concern about water service in mobilehome parks,
the Legislature enacted AB 290 (Clute 1991) and SB 585 (Craven
1995), which provided that, although mobilehome parks providing
tenants water service with their own water supply were not
utilities, the CPUC can investigate complaints from tenants and
award "rate relief."
In 2009, residents of Sunbird mobilehome park located in the
unincorporated community of Thermal, filed a complaint with the
CPUC because residents' water bills were sometimes in excess of
$500. The park is an 87-space unit occupied by low-income
families, many of them farm workers. In 2006, the park had
instituted a rate structure with four tiers with a flat rate of
$7.36 monthly service charge. One resident complained of
receiving a monthly water bill of more than $1,000. After
investigation, the CPUC found that the tier 3 and 4 rates at
Sunbird reflected an increase of 2,781.3% and 5,754.9%,
respectively, over tier 1 rates. In addition to the exorbitant
water charges, the water sold was contaminated with arsenic,
which was found to exceed the safe drinking water standard.
The CPUC found that the Sunbird water rates were not just and
reasonable and residents qualified for "rate relief" under
current law. The CPUC suspended tier 3 and 4 rates but
determined that it lacked authority to reimburse the residents
for past overcharges even though residents had been overpaying
for water for three years.
COMMENTS
1. Author's Purpose . This bill will ensure that residents
of mobilehome parks are afforded the same rights and
protections as customers of water corporations. Many of
California's poorest families and individuals reside in
mobilehome parks, making them disproportionately susceptible
to the possibility that they will not be eligible for
reimbursement if overcharged for water. This bill will also
ensure that mobilehome park owners don't unjustly profit off
of low-income residents.
2. Restitution for Overcharges . This bill authorizes the
CPUC to order a mobilehome park providing water service to
pay restitution to current and former tenants for past
overcharges, but with appropriate limits. It applies to
rates found to be unjust or unreasonable after December 31,
2012. It provides that the reimbursement shall be
calculated from the first date of collection of the unjust
or unreasonable rate, with interest. The bill prohibits an
order for reimbursement if the CPUC previously found the
rate in question to be reasonable.
In addition, the CPUC's authority to investigate mobilehome
park rates is triggered only upon receipt of complaints in a
number no less than 10 percent of the current population of
the park, including former tenants within the last five
years. The bill does not specify, however, over what time
period to calculate the number of complaints as a percent of
the current population. Moreover, the current population
will always fluctuate. Thus, the author and committee may
wish to consider amending the bill to specify that the CPUC
may investigate when it receives complaints in a number no
less than 10 percent of the park's tenant water meters over
any 12-month period.
3. Customer Notice . Because customer complaints are a
predicate to CPUC jurisdiction to investigate mobilehome
park water rates and service, this bill appropriately
requires park owners to notify tenants of their right to
complain to the CPUC. It conforms with current law in
requiring the notice in whatever language was used to
negotiate the underlying agreement between the owner and
tenant. The bill specifies the text of the notice,
including the CPUC contact information, but also requires
that the park owner ensure that the notice includes the CPUC
public advisor's current contact information. Given that
the text of the notice is specified, and to reduce the
burden of park owners to determine if the contact
information is current, the author and committee may wish to
consider amending the bill to strike the requirement that
the notice incudes the public advisor's current contact
information.
ASSEMBLY VOTES
Assembly Floor (74-1)
Assembly Appropriations Committee (16-0)
Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee
(12-0)
POSITIONS
Sponsor:
California Rural legal Assistance Foundation
Support:
Clean Water Action
Comite Civico Del Valle
Community Water Center
Consumer Federation of California
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Division of Ratepayer Advocates
Golden State Manufactured-home Owners League, Inc.
PolicyLink
Promotores Comunitarios del Desierto
The Utility Reform Network
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Western Center on Law and Poverty
Oppose:
Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association, unless
amended
Jacqueline Kinney
AB 1830 Analysis
Hearing Date: July 3, 2012