BILL ANALYSIS �
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2584|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2584
Author: Bradford (D)
Amended: 7/6/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, UTIL. & COMMUNIC. COMM. : 13-0, 6/11/12
AYES: Padilla, Fuller, Berryhill, Corbett, De Le�n,
DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Kehoe, Pavley, Rubio, Simitian,
Strickland, Wright
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/10/12 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Electrical corporations and gas corporations:
investigations
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : These bills requires every electric corporation
to fully cooperate with the Public Utilities Commission
(PUC) in its investigations and provide the PUC, upon its
request, with access to specified information and retain
documentation from an accident for five years, or a shorter
period of time as authorized by the PUC.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires the PUC to investigate
the cause of all accidents involving a public utility and
the operation or maintenance of its facilities which
CONTINUED
AB 2584
Page
2
results in a loss of life or property damage if the PUC
determines an investigation is necessary and permits the
PUC to make any orders or recommendations arising from the
accident which it deems just and reasonable.
Existing rules of the PUC for overhead supply line design,
construction, and maintenance require the owner and
operator of an overhead electric or communication line to
cooperate fully with PUC in the investigation of an
accident, release specified documents, and preserve
evidence for five years.
This bill requires each electrical corporation to cooperate
fully with the PUC in an investigation into any major
accident or any reportable incident, as these terms are
defined by the PUC, concerning overhead electric supply
facilities, regardless of pending litigation or other
investigations, including, but not limited to, those that
may be related to a PUC investigation.
After the scene of the incident has been made safe and
service has been restored, each electrical corporation is
to provide the PUC, upon its request, immediate access to
all of the following:
Any factual or physical evidence under the electrical
corporations, or its agent's, physical control, custody,
or possession related to the incident.
The name and contact information of any known percipient
witness.
Any employee percipient witness under the electrical
corporation's control.
The name and contact information of any person or entity
that has taken possession of any physical evidence
removed from the site of the incident.
Any and all documents under the electrical corporation's
control that are related to the incident and are not
subject to attorney-client privilege or attorney work
product doctrine.
AB 2584
Page
3
This bill requires each electrical corporation shall
preserve any and all documents or evidence it collects as
part of its own investigation related to the incident for
at least five years or a shorter period of time as
authorized by the commission.
Any and all documents collected by an electrical
corporation pursuant to this bill is to be catalogued and
preserved in an accessible manner for assessment by PUC
investigators as determined by the PUC.
Comments
On September 8, 2011, more than four million people lost
power after a 500 kV transmission line was tripped,
triggering a massive blackout in Mexico, Southern
California and Arizona. According to San Diego Gas &
Electric (SDG&E), 1.4 million of its customers were
affected. On November 30, 2012 and December 1, 2012, a
windstorm with gusts of 60-80 mph in the Los Angeles area
knocked-out power to more than 250,000 residents. A
number of residents were without service for seven days.
The author's office reports that at a joint hearing of the
Assembly Utilities & Commerce Committee and the Joint
Legislative Committee on Emergency Management, the PUC
reported that materials and equipment that would have been
useful for determining the cause of a widespread and
lengthy power outage may have been destroyed by the
utility. This bill will make it clear that evidence
related to an outage shall be preserved until the PUC has
determined that it can be released.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/6/12)
Public Utilities commission (if amended)
OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/6/12)
PacifiCorp
AB 2584
Page
4
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/10/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Beth Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman,
Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell,
Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Pan, Perea,
Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada,
John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cook, Fletcher, Furutani, Jeffries,
Norby, Olsen, V. Manuel P�rez
RM:d 7/6/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****