Amended in Assembly March 28, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2159

Introduced by Assembly Member Ammiano

February 20, 2014

An act to begin insert add Section 6502.1 to the Government Code, and to end insert amend begin delete Section 2824 end delete begin insert Sections 218 and 8380 end insert of the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2159, as amended, Ammiano. begin delete Public utilities: electrical services: charges. end delete begin insert Electrical corporations: community choice aggregation: Joint Exercise of Powers Act. end insert

begin insert

(1) The Joint Exercise of Powers Act authorizes the legislative or other governing bodies of 2 or more public agencies to jointly exercise by agreement any power common to the contracting parties, as specified.

end insert begin insert

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law authorizes a community choice aggregator, as defined, to aggregate the electrical load of interested electricity consumers within its boundaries and requires a community choice aggregator to file an implementation plan with the Public Utilities Commission. Existing law authorizes any group of cities, counties, or cities and counties whose governing boards have so elected to combine the loads of their programs as a community choice aggregator through the formation of a joint powers agency established pursuant to the Joint Exercise of Powers Act. Existing law authorizes any group of cities, counties, or cities and counties whose governing boards have so elected to combine the electrical loads of their community choice aggregation programs through the formation of a joint powers agency established pursuant to the Joint Exercise of Powers Act.

end insert begin insert

This bill would authorize the board of supervisors of a city and county, by ordinance, to elect to enter into an agreement pursuant to the Joint Exercise of Powers Act to implement a community choice aggregation program with one or more public agencies through a public entity that is separate from the parties to the agreement. This bill would additionally authorize the board of supervisors of a city and county, by resolution, to elect to request another public agency that has elected to implement a community choice aggregation program to be the community choice aggregator for the city and county.

end insert begin insert

(2) Existing law requires an electrical corporation to cooperate fully with any community choice aggregator that investigates, pursues, or implements community choice aggregation programs, including providing appropriate billing and electrical load data, which includes electrical consumption data. Electrical or gas consumption data is defined as data about a customer’s electrical or natural gas usage that is made available as part of an advanced metering infrastructure, and includes the name, account number, or residence of the customer.

end insert begin insert

Existing law prohibits an electrical corporation or gas corporation from sharing, disclosing, or otherwise making accessible to any 3rd party a customer’s electrical or gas consumption data, 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. Existing law does not preclude an electrical corporation or gas corporation from disclosing electrical or gas consumption data as required or permitted under state or federal law or by an order of the Public Utilities Commission.

end insert begin insert

This bill would require an electrical corporation to provide electrical consumption data to community choice aggregators pursuant to their above-described duty to cooperate, subject to any reasonable security procedures and practices to protect the personal information from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure ordered by the commission or agreed upon between the electrical corporation and the community choice aggregator.

end insert begin insert

(3) The existing definition of an electrical corporation excludes a corporation or person employing cogeneration, as defined, technology or producing electricity from other than a conventional power source for either of the following purposes: (1) its own use or the use of its tenants, or (2) the use of or sale to not more than 2 other corporations or persons solely for use on the real property on which the electricity is generated or on real property immediately adjacent thereto, subject to certain exceptions and conditions. The 2nd purpose is commonly known as an over-the-fence transaction.

end insert begin insert

This bill would expand the over-the-fence transaction exception to the definition of an electrical corporation by repealing the limitation on the number of other corporations or persons that may use or be sold the electricity.

end insert begin delete

Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to review various charges paid by or charged by electrical corporations related to the delivery of electrical services. Existing law requires the commission, following the review, to consider adjustments to the charges to encourage the utilitization of electricity generated from other than conventional power sources.

end delete begin delete

This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to the above provision.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin insert

begin insert SECTION end insert begin insert 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 6502.1 is added to the end insert begin insert Government Code end insert begin insert ,
to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 6502.1. end insert   

(a) The board of supervisors of a city and county may,
by ordinance adopted pursuant to paragraph (12) of subdivision
(c) of Section 366.2 of the Public Utilities Code, elect to enter into
an agreement pursuant to this chapter to implement a community
choice aggregation program with one or more public agencies
through a public entity that is separate from the parties to the
agreement.

(b) The board of supervisors of a city and county may, by
resolution adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph
(12) of subdivision (c) of Section 366.2 of the Public Utilities Code,
elect to request another public agency that has elected to implement
a community choice aggregation program be the community choice
aggregator for the city and county.

end insert

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 218 of the end insert begin insert Public Utilities Code end insert begin insert is amended
to read: end insert

218.  

(a) “Electrical corporation” includes every corporation
or person owning, controlling, operating, or managing any electric
plant for compensation within this state, except where electricity
is generated on or distributed by the producer through private
property solely for its own use or the use of its tenants and not for
sale or transmission to others.

(b) “Electrical corporation” does not include a corporation or
person employing cogeneration technology or producing power
from other than a conventional power source for the generation of
electricity solely for any one or more of the following purposes:

(1) Its own use or the use of its tenants.

(2) The use of or sale to begin delete not more than two end delete other corporations
or persons solely for use on the real property on which the
electricity is generated or on real property immediately adjacent
thereto, unless there is an intervening public street constituting the
boundary between the real property on which the electricity is
generated and the immediately adjacent property and one or more
of the following applies:

(A) The real property on which the electricity is generated and
the immediately adjacent real property is not under common
ownership or control, or that common ownership or control was
gained solely for purposes of sale of the electricity so generated
and not for other business purposes.

(B) The useful thermal output of the facility generating the
electricity is not used on the immediately adjacent property for
petroleum production or refining.

(C) The electricity furnished to the immediately adjacent
property is not utilized by a subsidiary or affiliate of the corporation
or person generating the electricity.

(3) Sale or transmission to an electrical corporation or state or
local public agency, but not for sale or transmission to others,
unless the corporation or person is otherwise an electrical
corporation.

(c) “Electrical corporation” does not include a corporation or
person employing landfill gas technology for the generation of
electricity for any one or more of the following purposes:

(1) Its own use or the use of not more than two of its tenants
located on the real property on which the electricity is generated.

(2) The use of or sale to not more than two other corporations
or persons solely for use on the real property on which the
electricity is generated.

(3) Sale or transmission to an electrical corporation or state or
local public agency.

(d) “Electrical corporation” does not include a corporation or
person employing digester gas technology for the generation of
electricity for any one or more of the following purposes:

(1) Its own use or the use of not more than two of its tenants
located on the real property on which the electricity is generated.

(2) The use of or sale to not more than two other corporations
or persons solely for use on the real property on which the
electricity is generated.

(3) Sale or transmission to an electrical corporation or state or
local public agency, if the sale or transmission of the electricity
service to a retail customer is provided through the transmission
system of the existing local publicly owned electric utility or
electrical corporation of that retail customer.

(e) “Electrical corporation” does not include an independent
solar energy producer, as defined in Article 3 (commencing with
Section 2868) of Chapter 9 of Part 2.

(f) The amendments made to this section at the 1987 portion of
the 1987-88 Regular Session of the Legislature do not apply to
any corporation or person employing cogeneration technology or
producing power from other than a conventional power source for
the generation of electricity that physically produced electricity
prior to January 1, 1989, and furnished that electricity to
immediately adjacent real property for use thereon prior to January
1, 1989.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 8380 of the end insert begin insert Public Utilities Code end insert begin insert is amended
to read: end insert

8380.  

(a) For purposes of this section, “electrical or gas
consumption data” means data about a customer’s electrical or
natural gas usage that is made available as part of an advanced
metering infrastructure, and includes the name, account number,
or residence of the customer.

(b) (1) An electrical corporation or gas corporation shall not
share, disclose, or otherwise make accessible to any third party a
customer’s electrical or gas consumption data, except as provided
in subdivision (e) or upon the consent of the customer.

(2) An electrical corporation or gas corporation shall not sell a
customer’s electrical or gas consumption data or any other
personally identifiable information for any purpose.

(3) The electrical corporation or gas corporation or its
contractors shall not provide an incentive or discount to the
customer for accessing the customer’s electrical or gas consumption
data without the prior consent of the customer.

(4) 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 shall ensure that
the customer has an option to access that data without being
required to agree to the sharing of his or her personally identifiable
information, including electrical or gas consumption data, with a
third party.

(c) If an electrical corporation or gas corporation contracts with
a third party for a service that allows a customer to monitor his or
her electricity or gas usage, and that third party uses the data for
a secondary commercial purpose, the contract between the electrical
corporation or gas corporation and the third party shall provide
that the third party prominently discloses that secondary
commercial purpose to the customer and secures the customer’s
consent to the use of his or her data for that secondary commercial
purpose prior to the use of the data.

(d) An electrical corporation or gas corporation shall use
reasonable security procedures and practices to protect a customer’s
unencrypted electrical or gas consumption data from unauthorized
access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure.

(e)  (1) This section shall not preclude an electrical corporation
or gas corporation from using customer aggregate electrical or gas
consumption data for analysis, reporting, or program management
if all information has been removed regarding the individual
identity of a customer.

(2) This section shall not preclude an electrical corporation or
gas corporation from disclosing a customer’s electrical or gas
consumption data to a third party for system, grid, or operational
needs, or the implementation of demand response, energy
management, or energy efficiency programs, provided that, for
contracts entered into after January 1, 2011, the utility has required
by contract that the third party implement and maintain reasonable
security procedures and practices appropriate to the nature of the
information, to protect the personal information from unauthorized
access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure, and prohibits
the use of the data for a secondary commercial purpose not related
to the primary purpose of the contract without the customer’s prior
consent to that use.

(3) This section shall not preclude an electrical corporation or
gas corporation from disclosing electrical or gas consumption data
as required or permitted under state or federal law or by an order
of the commission. begin insert An electrical corporation shall provide
electrical consumption data to community choice aggregators
pursuant to paragraph (9) of subdivision (c) of Section 366.2,
subject to any reasonable security procedures and practices to
protect the personal information from unauthorized access,
destruction, use, modification, or disclosure ordered by the
commission or agreed upon between the electrical corporation
and the community choice aggregator. end insert

(f) If a customer chooses to disclose his or her electrical or gas
consumption data to a third party that is unaffiliated with, and has
no other business relationship with, the electrical or gas
corporation, the electrical or gas corporation shall not be
responsible for the security of that data, or its use or misuse.

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 2824 of the Public Utilities Code is
amended to read:

2824.  

(a) The commission shall conduct a review of the
charges paid by electrical corporations for electricity generated
from other than conventional power sources and furnished to the
electrical corporations. Following the review, the commission shall
consider adjustments in the charges to encourage the generation
of electricity from other than conventional power sources.

(b) The commission shall conduct a review of standby charges
charged by electrical corporations. Following the review, the
commission shall consider adjustments in the charges to encourage
the utilization of electricity generated from other than conventional
power sources and to enable electrical corporations to review the
costs of providing standby service.

(c) The commission shall conduct a review of charges for
transmission service made by electrical corporations for the
transmission of electricity generated from other than conventional
power sources. Following the review, the commission shall
consider adjustments in the charges to encourage the generation
of electricity from other than conventional power sources.

end delete