BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair


          AB 1830 (V Perez) - Water service: mobilehome parks.
          
          Amended: August 6, 2012         Policy Vote: E,U&C 9-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: Yes
          Hearing Date: August 6, 2012                      Consultant: 
          Bob Franzoia  
          
          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.


          Bill Summary: AB 1830 would authorize the Public Utilities 
          Commission, if it finds after an investigation, that a mobile 
          home park has charged an unjust or unreasonable rate, to order 
          the mobile home park to reimburse current and former tenants 
          affected by the rate.

          Fiscal Impact: $95,000 in 2012-13 and $189,000 annually from the 
          Utilities Reimbursement Account to review and analyze just and 
          reasonable expenses and the capital needs of a mobilehome park's 
          water system and the rate charged.
              Estimated workload is for one utility engineer and one 
              consumer affairs representative to perform the above noted 
              duties.

          Background: Mobile home parks, like apartment buildings, may 
          provide water to tenants through a master meter whereby the park 
          receives water from a utility and installs separate meters to 
          bill tenants individually.  Recently, the commission 
          investigated complaints from residents of a park and found that 
          the water rates were not just and reasonable and residents 
          qualified for rate relief.  The commission suspended two tiers 
          of the park's rate structure but determined it lacked authority 
          to reimburse the residents for past overcharges even though 
          residents had been overpaying for water for three years.

          Proposed Law: This bill would require the commission if it 
          finds, after investigation, that the mobile home park has 
          charged an unjust or unreasonable rate to order the mobile home 
          park to reimburse the complainant and any other current and 
          former tenants affected by the rate, if no discrimination will 
          result from the reimbursement.









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          Reimbursement shall be calculated from the first date of 
          collection of the unjust or unreasonable rate, with interest. 
          The commission shall not make an order for the payment of 
          reimbursement upon the ground of unjustness or unreasonableness 
          if the rate in question has been previously declared by formal 
          finding of the commission to be reasonable. The commission shall 
          not recognize the assignment of a reimbursement claim except 
          assignments by operation of law as in cases of death, insanity, 
          bankruptcy, receivership, or order of court.

          Staff Comments: While the PUC has had only one recent complaint 
          requiring only minimal staff time, the process of rate review 
          proposed by this bill will likely encourage the filing of more 
          complaints against mobilehome parks.