BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1409|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1409
Author: Hill (D)
Amended: 8/21/14
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES & COMMUNICATIONS COMM : 9-0, 4/29/14
AYES: Padilla, Fuller, Block, Cannella, Corbett, DeSaulnier,
Hill, Knight, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: De Le�n, Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR : 36-0, 5/15/14 (Consent)
AYES: Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, Corbett,
Correa, De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Knight, Lara,
Leno, Lieu, Liu, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nielsen, Padilla,
Pavley, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Vidak, Wolk, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Walters, Wright, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 8/26/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Public Utilities Commission: safety investigations
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the California Public Utilities
Commission (PUC) to publish an annual report that includes
descriptions of investigations into gas or electric safety
incidents reported by any gas or electric corporations, and
CONTINUED
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requires the PUC to publish in its annual workplan a summary of
these investigations, including those that remain open, along
with a link to an Internet Web site containing the annual safety
investigation report.
Assembly Amendments limited the reporting requirement to gas and
electric safety investigations, moved the reporting requirement
to a new code section, and require the PUC to summarize the new
report in its annual report.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Requires the PUC to investigate the cause of all accidents
occurring within this state upon the property of any public
utility that results in loss of life or injury to person or
property.
2.Requires the PUC to develop and publish by February 1 of each
year an annual workplan for the Governor, the Legislature, and
the public. The workplan shall describe transactions,
ratemaking proceedings, and other decisions; explain
achievements and proposed activities relating to reducing
energy rates; and report the number of cases where resolutions
exceeded the time periods prescribed in scoping memos as well
as the number of days that commissioners presided in hearings.
This bill:
1.Directs the PUC to publish its annual safety investigation
report beginning February 1, 2016, and requires the report to:
A. Succinctly describe each safety investigation concluded
during the prior calendar year, along with each
investigation that remains open.
B. Include the month of the incident, the reason for the
investigation, the facility type involved, and the owner of
the facility.
1.Requires the PUC, in its annual work plan, to include:
A. A summary of staff safety investigations concluded
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during the prior calendar year.
B. Staff safety investigations that remain open for any gas
corporation or electrical corporation.
C. A link to the Internet Web site containing the annual
gas and electric safety report.
Background
PUC Accident Investigations . Investigations serve multiple
purposes. First, they enable utilities, PUC staff, and the
public to learn from accidents and, possibly, act to prevent
similar accidents from happening in the future. Second, they are
used by plaintiffs to build civil cases against utilities.
Third, they are a prerequisite for any PUC enforcement action.
Finally, the PUC may use investigation reports to determine
whether the expenses in settling accident claims against
utilities are a reasonable business expense or instead a result
of imprudent utility management and therefore not recoverable in
future rates.
The PUC received 82 natural gas incident reports and 93 electric
incident reports in 2009. Many investigations are completed
within a couple of months; however, investigations involving
fatalities often take multiple years. It is difficult to assess
whether these 175 incidents have been fully investigated - not
to mention resolution of incidents that have occurred since 2009
- because the PUC has not produced an Electric, Natural Gas, and
Propane Safety Report since 2009.
PUC Disclosures . The PUC ordered its staff to disclose
PUC-generated reports, summaries, and correspondence regarding
completed PUC safety audits and investigations. The PUC
generally has done so for gas and electric audits, but not for
most investigations.
Related Legislation
AB 1456 (Hill, Chapter 469, Statutes of 2012) requires the PUC
to develop performance metrics for gas safety.
AB 578 (Hill, Chapter 462, Statutes of 2012) requires the PUC to
address National Transportation Safety Board safety
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recommendations regarding gas and rail.
SB 291 (Hill, Chapter 601, Statutes of 2013) required the PUC to
develop gas and electric safety enforcement programs that
include procedures for investigations, among others.
SB 900 (Hill, 2014) requires that safety performance information
be placed into the record of rate case proceedings.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/26/14)
- - - -
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/26/14)
Southern California Edison
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 8/26/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A.
P�rez, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
JG:nld 8/27/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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