BILL NUMBER: AB 825 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 14, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Rendon
Members Rendon and Mark Stone
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend Sections 314.5 and 583 of, to amend, renumber, and
add Section 309.1 of, to add Sections 309.2 and 468 to, to add
Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 720) to Chapter 4 of, and to
repeal and add Article 3 (commencing with Section 1756) to
of Chapter 9 of, Part 1 of Division 1 of, the
Public Utilities Code, relating to the Public Utilities Commission.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 825, as amended, Rendon. Public Utilities Commission
Commission.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has
regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical
corporations, gas corporations, heat corporations, telegraph
corporations, telephone corporations, and water corporations.
Existing law requires the Governor to designate the president of the
commission from among its members and requires the president to
direct the executive director, the attorney, and other staff of the
commission, except for the Division Office
of Ratepayer Advocates. Existing law requires the commission to
appoint an executive director who is responsible for the commission'
s executive and administrative duties and to organize, coordinate,
supervise, and direct the operations and affairs of the commission
and expedite all matters within the commission's jurisdiction.
Existing law authorizes the executive director to employ those
officers, administrative law judges, experts, engineers,
statisticians, accountants, inspectors, clerks, and employees as the
executive director deems necessary to carry out the provisions of the
Public Utilities Act or to perform the duties and exercise the
powers conferred upon the commission by law.
This bill would prohibit the commission from reassigning any staff
member from a duty or activity authorized by statute to another duty
or activity unless the Legislature has authorized personnel for that
duty or activity. The bill would require the commission's internal
auditor to report directly to the commission.
(2) The California Constitution authorizes the commission to
establish rules, examine records, and prescribe a uniform system of
accounts for all public utilities. The Public Utilities Act requires
the commission to inspect and audit the books and records of
electrical corporations, gas corporations, heat corporations,
telegraph corporations, telephone corporations, and water
corporations for regulatory and tax purposes. An inspection and audit
is required to be done at least every 3 years if the utility has
over 1,000 customers and at least every 5 years if the utility has
1,000 or fewer customers. The act requires that reports of the
inspections and audit and other pertinent information be furnished to
the State Board of Equalization for use in the assessment of the
public utilities.
This bill would delete the requirement that the reports of the
inspections and audit and other pertinent information be furnished to
the State Board of Equalization for use in the assessment of the
public utilities and instead require that the inspections and audit
and other pertinent information be posted on the commission's
Internet Web site.
(3) Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and
charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and
charges be just and reasonable. Existing law, with certain
exceptions, prohibits a public utility from changing any rate, except
upon a showing before the commission and a finding by the commission
that the new rate is justified. With certain exceptions, whenever
any electrical, gas, heat, telephone, water, or sewer system
corporation files an application to change any rate for the services
or commodities furnished by it, existing law requires that the
corporation furnish its customers notice of its application to the
commission for approval of the new rate. This notice requirement does
not apply to any rate change proposed by a corporation pursuant to
an advice letter submitted to the commission filed pursuant to
commission-established procedures for advice letters.
This bill would require each public utility that submits an
application to change its rates to include in its application a
summary of the application that can be understood by the utility's
ratepayers. The bill would require that this summary and the
application be posted on the commission's Internet Web site and, if
the utility has an Internet Web site, to be posted on the utility's
Internet Web site. Each public utility that maintains an Internet Web
site would additionally be required to include on that site contact
information for a utility official who can discuss the nature of the
rate application.
(4) Every public utility is required by existing law,
law to furnish such reports as the commission
may require. No information furnished to the commission by a public
utility, except those matters specifically required to be open to
public inspection, are open to public inspection or made public
except by order of the commission or a commissioner in the course of
a hearing or proceeding. Any present or former officer or employee of
the commission who divulges any information in violation of these
provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor.
This bill would provide that if in a proceeding before the
commission, a public utility, or subsidiary, affiliate, or holding
company, seeks to file a pleading, report, or other document with the
commission that preserves the confidentiality of information
contained therein, it would be required to file a public version of
the pleading, report, or other document that contains sufficient
information for any other party to the proceeding to understand the
nature of its contents. The bill would authorize any party to the
proceeding to file a motion to make public a pleading, report, or
other document filed under a claim of confidentiality. The bill would
require an administrative law judge assigned to the proceeding or
the assigned commissioner to hold a hearing on the motion and
determine whether the pleading, report, or other document should be
made public. The bill would provide that specified information is by
its nature public information and is not to be treated as
confidential.
(5) Existing law requires the commission to publish and maintain
certain documents and information, including making available on the
commission's Internet Web site, the commission's annual work plan,
general orders, and Rules of Practice and Procedure, the proposed and
alternate proposed decisions and resolutions, the agenda, agenda
item documents, rulings of the commission, and adopted decisions and
resolutions of the commission.
Existing law requires the commission to establish an office of the
public advisor and to appoint a public advisor. Existing law
requires the office of the public advisor to assist members of the
public and ratepayers who desire to testify before or present
information to the commission in any hearing or proceeding of the
commission.
This bill would add legislative findings and declarations relative
to improving the transparency of commission regulatory activities.
The bill would require the public advisor to be responsible for
ensuring that the activities of the commission are transparent to the
public consistent with these legislative findings and directions,
the California Public Records Act, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act,
and other specified matter. The bill would require the public
advisor to have independent responsibility for overseeing the
commission's Internet Web site and would require the commission to
post on its Internet Web site a summary, as specified, of all
electricity procurement contracts entered into by an electrical
corporation during the previous 3 years, the expenses of which the
commission has approved as being just and reasonable, a list of all
proceedings involving public utilities then pending before the
commission with information, in summary form, as to the amount of any
rate increase being sought, both in cumulative amount and by unit or
other means billed to ratepayers, transcripts and available
summaries of documents, evidence, testimony and proceedings before
the commission or its administration law judges that are not subject
to confidentiality, a list of all requests submitted to the
commission pursuant to the California Public Records Act, and all
advice letters approved by the commission. The bill would require the
commission to open a proceeding to reexamine a specified decision
relative to confidentiality of electric procurement data. The bill
would require the California State Auditor to appoint an inspector
general for the commission who would be authorized to audit and
investigate the commission's activities and report any finding to the
Legislature.
(6) The California Constitution provides that the Legislature has
plenary power to establish the manner and scope of review of
commission action in a court of record. Existing law provides that
only the Supreme Court and the court of appeal have jurisdiction to
review, reverse, correct, or annul any order or decision of the
commission or to suspend or delay the execution or operation thereof,
or to enjoin, restrain, or interfere with the commission in the
performance of its official duties.
This bill would repeal the existing provisions of the Public
Utilities Act pertaining to judicial review of commission decisions
and would instead authorize any party to a proceeding aggrieved by a
decision or order issued by the commission in the proceeding to
obtain a review of the order in the superior court for the City and
County of San Francisco or the County of Los Angeles, by filing in
the court, within 60 days after the decision or order of the
commission upon the application for rehearing, a written petition
praying that the order of the commission be modified or set aside in
whole or in part. The bill would require that a copy of the petition
be transmitted by the clerk of the court to the commission and would
require the commission to file with the court the record upon which
the decision or order complained of was entered. The bill would
provide that until the record in a proceeding has been filed in the
court, the commission may at any time, upon reasonable notice and in
such manner as it deems proper, modify or set aside, in whole or in
part, any finding or order made or issued by it. The bill would
provide that the superior courts for the City and County
of San Francisco and the County of Los Angeles are entitled to
reimbursement for reasonable and necessary costs of any trial or
hearing for any matter brought seeking judicial review of a decision
or order of the commission.
(7) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or
any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the
commission is a crime.
Because certain provisions of this bill would be a part of the act
and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission
implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose
a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 309.1 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
and renumbered to read:
305.5. The Governor may appoint one adviser for each member of
the commission upon the request of the commission member. Each
adviser shall receive a salary fixed by the commission with the
approval of the Department of Human Resources. The total number of
advisers exempt from civil service shall not exceed five.
SEC. 2. Section 309.1 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
309.1. The commission shall not reassign any staff member from a
duty or activity authorized by statute to another duty or activity
unless the Legislature has authorized personnel for that duty or
activity.
SEC. 3. Section 309.2 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
309.2. The commission's internal auditor shall report directly to
the commission.
SEC. 4. Section 314.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
314.5. The commission shall inspect and audit the books and
records for regulatory and tax purposes (a) at least once in every
three years in the case of every electrical, gas, heat, telegraph,
telephone, and water corporation serving over 1,000 customers, and
(b) at least once in every five years in the case of every
electrical, gas, heat, telegraph, telephone, and water corporation
serving 1,000 or fewer customers. An audit conducted in connection
with a rate proceeding shall be deemed to fulfill the requirements of
this section. Reports of the inspections and audits and other
pertinent information shall be posted on the commission's Internet
Web site.
SEC. 5. Section 468 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
468. (a) Each public utility that submits an application to
change its rates shall include in its application a summary of the
application that can be understood by the utility's ratepayers. This
summary and the application shall be posted on the commission's
Internet Web site and, if the utility has an Internet Web site, shall
be posted on the utility's Internet Web site.
(b) Each public utility that maintains an Internet Web site shall
include on that site contact information for a utility official who
can discuss the nature of the rate application. If the rate
application includes different rates depending upon the utility's
service territory, the contact information shall identify a utility
official who can discuss the nature of the rate application for each
separate service territory. The utility official shall also be
qualified to discuss, in general terms, the operation of the utility
in each service territory.
SEC. 6. Section 583 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
583. (a) No information furnished to the commission by a public
utility, or any business that is a subsidiary or affiliate of a
public utility, or a corporation that holds a controlling interest in
a public utility, except those matters specifically required to be
open to public inspection by this part, shall be open to public
inspection or made public except on order of the commission, or by
the commission or a commissioner in the course of a hearing or
proceeding. Any present or former officer or employee of the
commission who divulges that information is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) If in a proceeding before the commission, a public utility, or
any business that is a subsidiary or affiliate of a public utility,
or a corporation that holds a controlling interest in a public
utility, seeks to file a pleading, report, or other document with the
commission that preserves the confidentiality of information
contained therein, it shall file a public version of the pleading,
report, or other document that contains sufficient information for
any other party to the proceeding to understand the nature of its
contents. An administrative law judge assigned to the proceeding, the
assigned commissioner, or the commission may determine the
sufficiency of the information contained in the public version of the
pleading, report, or other document.
(c) Any party to a proceeding before the commission may file a
motion to make public a pleading, report, or other document filed by
a public utility, or any business that is a subsidiary or affiliate
of a public utility, or a corporation that holds a controlling
interest in a public utility, under a claim of confidentiality. An
administrative law judge assigned to the proceeding or the assigned
commissioner shall hold a hearing on the motion and determine whether
the pleading, report, or other document should be made public. In
determining the motion, the administrative law judge or assigned
commissioner shall make written findings and conclusions.
(d) At any public hearing, an assigned administrative law judge
may provide direction to the parties in a proceeding as to what types
of information may be filed with the commission under a claim of
confidentiality.
(e) The following information is by its nature public information
and shall not be treated as confidential pursuant to this section:
(1) Information submitted to any local, state, or federal entity
that is available to the public from that entity.
(2) Information regarding a public utility's interactions with a
public entity that is available to the public, including information
related to payments or subsidies from a public entity.
(3) Contracts for goods or services executed by the commission or
by any entity created by the commission.
(4) Any document that is defined as a public record pursuant to
the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).
SEC. 7. Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 720) is added to
Chapter 14 4 of Part 1 of Division 1 of
the Public Utilities Code, to read:
Article 1.5. Transparency of Commission Regulatory Activities
720. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Transparency in how the commission operates and makes its
decisions is critical to gaining and retaining the confidence of the
public at large and serving the public utility ratepayers affected by
the commission's decisions.
(b) The activities of private entities that provide essential
services to the public and that have dedicated their property to the
service of the public are defined as public utilities in the
California Constitution, subject to the control by the Legislature.
(c) The services provided by public utilities are essential to the
proper operation of our economy and fundamentally affect every
California family and business.
(d) Under the California Constitution, the commission is granted
authority to establish its own procedures subject to statute and due
process and to establish rules for public utilities
utilities, and the Legislature has plenary
authority to confer additional authority and jurisdiction upon the
commission and to establish the manner and scope of review of
commission action in a court of record.
(e) Because the California Constitution provides special
consideration to public utilities and to the commission that
regulates those public utilities, it is essential to give the public
the ability to monitor the functioning of the commission and its
actions.
(f) The greater and more unfettered the public official's power,
the greater the public's interest in monitoring the exercise of that
power.
(g) Access to information concerning the conduct of the public's
business by the commission is a fundamental and necessary right for
every person in the state.
(h) Information concerning services provided by public utilities
is of the highest public interest, including information about
quality and reliability of service to the public and information
about costs and profits.
(i) While confidentiality of information submitted by a public
utility may be necessary in some cases, as provided in Section 583,
the activities and decisions of the commission should remain as
transparent as reasonably possible.
721. The commission shall open a proceeding to reexamine Decision
06-06-066 (June 29, 2006) Interim Opinion Implementing Senate Bill
1488, Relating to Confidentiality of Electric Procurement Data
Submitted to the Commission, as modified by Decision 07-05-032 (May
3, 2007), Order Modifying Decision (D.) 06-06-066 and Denying
Rehearing of the Decision, as Modified. The commission shall narrow
the definitions of confidential data types consistent with Sections
583 and 720.
722. (a) The public advisor of the commission, appointed pursuant
to Section 321, shall have responsibility for ensuring that the
activities of the commission are transparent to the public as
provided by law, including, but not limited to, the California Public
Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division
7 of Title 1 of the Government Code), the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting
Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), and this article.
(b) The commission shall provide funding for the costs of the
office of the public advisor from reimbursement fees paid pursuant to
Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 401).
(c) The public advisor shall develop and make available
easy-to-understand guides for the public to participate in commission
proceedings.
723. The California State Auditor shall appoint to the staff of
the California State Auditor's Office an inspector general for the
commission, which shall report any findings to the Legislature. The
Inspector General inspector general
shall have authority, including the authorities of the California
State Auditor, to audit and investigate the commission's activities
based on information it receives. The California State Auditor may
recover the costs for the inspector general's activities from
reimbursement fees paid pursuant to Chapter 2.5 (commencing with
Section 401).
724. (a) The public advisor of the commission shall have
independent responsibility for overseeing the commission's Internet
Web site, in order to ensure adequate transparency in the information
provided to the public.
(b) The commission shall make available to the public on its
Internet Web site all of the following information:
(1) A summary of all electricity procurement contracts entered
into by an electrical corporation during the previous three years,
the expenses of which the commission has approved as being just and
reasonable. The summary shall include information as to the name of
the generating facility, its location, the electricity or electricity
products procured, the fuel or energy source used to generate the
electricity, the estimated total expense that the electrical
corporation will incur pursuant to the contract, the estimated cost
by unit of energy that the electrical corporation will incur pursuant
to the contract, when the contract was approved by the commission,
and, if applicable, the decision or resolution approving the
contract. Information on costs of the contract shall not be posted
until the electrical corporation has completed the legal transactions
required to acquire the electricity or electricity products.
(2) A list of all proceedings involving public utilities then
pending before the commission with information, in summary form, as
to the amount of any rate increase being sought, both in cumulative
amount and by unit or other means billed to ratepayers.
(3) Transcripts and available summaries of documents, evidence,
testimony, and proceedings before the commission or its
administrative law judges that are not subject to confidentiality
pursuant to Section 583.
(4) A list of all requests submitted to the commission pursuant to
the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).
(5) Advice letters approved by the commission.
SEC. 8. Article 3 (commencing with Section 1756) of Chapter 9 of
Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code is repealed.
SEC. 9. Article 3 (commencing with Section 1756) is added to
Chapter 9 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
Article 3. Judicial Review
1756. (a) Any party to a proceeding aggrieved by a decision or
order issued by the commission in the proceeding may obtain a review
of the order in the superior court for the City and County of San
Francisco or the County of Los Angeles, by filing in the court,
within 60 days after the decision or order of the commission upon the
application for rehearing, a written petition praying that the order
of the commission be modified or set aside in whole or in part.
(b) No objection to the order of the commission shall be
considered by the court unless the objection shall have been urged
before the commission in the application for rehearing unless there
is reasonable ground for failure so to do.
(c) A copy of the petition shall forthwith be transmitted by the
clerk of the court to the commission and the commission, upon receipt
of the petition, shall file with the court the record upon which the
decision or order complained of was entered. Upon the filing of the
petition, the court shall have jurisdiction, which upon the filing of
the record with it, shall be exclusive, to affirm, modify, or set
aside the decision or order in whole or in part.
(d) Until the record in the proceeding has been filed in the
court, the commission may at any time, upon reasonable notice and in
any manner it determines is proper, modify or set aside, in whole or
in part, any finding or order made or issued by it.
(e) If any party applies to the court for leave to produce
additional evidence, and shows to the satisfaction of the court that
the additional evidence is material and that there were reasonable
grounds for failure to produce the evidence in the proceedings before
the commission, the court may order the additional evidence to be
taken before the commission and to be produced upon the hearing in a
manner and upon those terms and conditions as the court determines
are proper.
1757. (a) The superior courts for the City and County of San
Francisco and the County of Los Angeles shall be entitled to
reimbursement for reasonable and necessary costs of any trial or
hearing for any matter brought pursuant to Section 1756, including
the costs for the preparation of the trial, pretrial hearing, and the
actual trial or hearing. Reasonable and necessary costs shall be
based upon all operating costs, including all administrative costs
associated with providing the necessary services and securing
reimbursement therefor. Administrative costs include a proportional
allowance for overhead determined in accordance with current
accounting practices.
(b) The superior courts for the City and County of San Francisco
and the County of Los Angeles shall prepare a statement of costs that
shall be reimbursed pursuant to this section. The statement shall be
sent to the Administrative Office of the Courts for approval and
reimbursement.
SEC. 10. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.