BILL NUMBER: AB 825 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 18, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 14, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Rendon and Mark Stone
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend Sections 314.5 and 583
306, 311.5, 314.5, 583, 1701.1, and 1701.2 of, to amend,
renumber, and add Section 309.1 of, to add Sections 309.2 and 468 to,
and to add Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 720) to Chapter 4 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.
(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 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 Public Utilities Act provides that the office of the
commission be in the City and County of San Francisco, that the
office always be open, legal holidays and nonjudicial days excepted,
that the commission hold its sessions at least once in each calendar
month in the City and County of San Francisco, and authorizes the
commission to also meet at those other times and places as may be
expedient and necessary for the proper performance of its duties. The
Public Utilities Act requires that meetings of the commission be
open and public in accordance with the provisions of a specified
state open meeting law.
This bill would require that each commissioner hold office hours
and be available to meet with members of the public at least once a
month in San Francisco or Los Angeles.
(2)
(3) 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)
(4) 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)
(5) Every public utility is required by existing 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)
(6) 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.
Included in the materials that the commission is required to
publish and maintain on its Internet Web site are docket
cards that list by title and date of filing or issuance all documents
filed and all decisions or rulings issued in those proceedings.
This bill would require that each document that the commission
distributes to any service-of-process list be docketed and identified
on the commission's Internet Web site.
(7) The Public Utilities Act requires that the commission include
in its notice of meetings the agenda of business to be transacted at
a meeting, and prohibits any item of business from being added to the
agenda subsequent to the notice in the absence of an unforeseen
emergency situation. The act additionally requires, prior to
commencement of any meeting at which commissioners vote on items on
the public agenda, that the commission make available to the public
copies of the agenda, and upon request, any agenda item documents
that are proposed to be considered by the commission for action or
decision at a commission meeting.
This bill would require that the commission provide an opportunity
for members of the public to comment on a specific agenda item
during the time that the commission considers the item.
Existing
(8) 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 public advisor to update, maintain, and post the
commission's service-of-process lists on the commission's
Internet Web site in an electronic form that may be used by any party
to complete service of process. 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.
(9) Existing law requires the commission to determine whether a
proceeding requires a hearing and, if so, to determine whether the
matter requires a quasi-legislative, an adjudication, or a
ratesetting hearing. Upon initiating a hearing, the commission is
required to assign one or more commissioners to oversee the case and
an administrative law judge where appropriate. Existing law requires
the assigned commissioner to schedule a prehearing conference and to
issue, by order or ruling, a scoping memo that describes the issues
to be considered and the applicable timetable for resolution.
This bill would require the assigned commissioner to convene an
all-parties meeting as soon as practicable after the parties in a
proceeding are known to discuss the substantive matter to be decided
in the proceeding and prospects for resolving issues that would
otherwise be litigated. The bill would require an assigned
commissioner to attend all hearings in a proceeding.
(10) Existing law prohibits an officer, employee, or agent of the
commission that is personally involved in the prosecution, or in the
supervision of the prosecution, of an adjudication case from
participating in the decision of the case or in the decision of any
factually related adjudicatory proceeding. Existing law permits an
officer, employee, or agent of the commission that is personally
involved in the prosecution, or in the supervision of the
prosecution, of an adjudication case to participate in reaching a
settlement of the case, but prohibits the officer, employee, or agent
from participating in the decision of the commission to accept or
reject the settlement, except as a witness or counsel in an open
hearing or a specified closed hearing.
This bill would prohibit an attorney that is prosecuting a matter
before the commission from meeting with any commissioner regarding
the matter that the attorney is prosecuting unless all parties are
present.
(6)
(11) 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 306 of the
Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
306. (a) The office of the commission shall be in the City and
County of San Francisco. The office shall always be open, legal
holidays and nonjudicial days excepted. The commission shall hold its
sessions at least once in each calendar month in the City and County
of San Francisco. The commission may also meet at such other times
and in such other places as may be expedient and necessary for the
proper performance of its duties, and for that purpose may rent
quarters or offices.
(b) (1) The meetings of the commission shall
be open and public in accordance with the provisions of Article 9
(commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code.
In
(2) In addition to the
requirements of Section 11125 of the Government Code, the commission
shall include in its notice of meetings the agenda of business to be
transacted, and no item of business shall be added to the agenda
subsequent to the notice in the absence of an unforeseen emergency
situation. A rate increase shall not constitute an unforeseen
emergency situation. As used in this subdivision, "meeting" shall
include all investigations, proceedings, and showings required by law
to be open and public.
(3) In addition to scheduled meetings that are open to the public,
each commissioner shall hold office hours and be available to meet
with members of the public at least once a month in San Francisco or
Los Angeles.
(c) The commission shall have a seal, bearing the inscription
"Public Utilities Commission State of California." The seal shall be
affixed to all writs and authentications of copies of records and to
such other instruments as the commission shall direct.
(d) The commission may procure all necessary books, maps, charts,
stationery, instruments, office furniture, apparatus, and appliances.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. 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. SEC. 3. 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. SEC. 4. 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. 5. Section 311.5 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
311.5. (a) (1) Prior to commencement of any meeting at which
commissioners vote on items on the public agenda the commission shall
make available to the public copies of the agenda, and upon request,
any agenda item documents that are proposed to be considered by the
commission for action or decision at a commission meeting.
(2) In addition, the commission shall publish the agenda, agenda
item documents, and adopted decisions in a manner that makes copies
of them easily available to the public, including publishing those
documents on the Internet. Publication of the agenda and agenda item
documents shall occur on the Internet at the same time as the written
agenda and agenda item documents are made available to the public.
(3) The commission shall provide an opportunity for members of the
public to comment on a specific agenda item during the time that the
commission considers the item.
(b) The commission shall publish and maintain the following
documents on the Internet:
(1) Each of the commission's proposed and alternate proposed
decisions and resolutions, until the decision or resolution is
adopted and published.
(2) Each of the commission's adopted decisions and resolutions.
The publication shall occur within 10 days of the adoption of each
decision or resolution by the commission.
(3) The then-current version of the commission's general orders
and Rules of Practice and Procedure.
(4) Each of the commission's rulings. The commission shall
maintain those rulings on its Internet Web site until final
disposition, including disposition of any judicial appeals, of the
respective proceedings in which the rulings were issued.
(5) A docket card that lists, by title and date of filing or
issuance, all documents filed and all decisions or rulings issued in
those proceedings. The commission shall maintain the docket card
until final disposition, including disposition of any judicial
appeals, of the corresponding proceedings. Each document that
the commission distributes to any service -of
-process list shall be docketed and identified on the
commission's Internet Web site.
SEC. 4. SEC. 6. 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. SEC. 7. 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. SEC. 8. 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. SEC. 9. Article 1.5
(commencing with Section 720) is added to Chapter 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, 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
reexamine, consistent with the findings of Section
720 and the requirements of Section 724, 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.
(d) The public advisor shall update, maintain, and post the
commission's service-of-process lists on the commission's Internet
Web site in an electronic form that may be used by any party to
complete service of process.
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 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. 583, or with
confidential portions redacted.
(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. 10. Section 1701.1 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
1701.1. (a) The commission, consistent with due process, public
policy, and statutory requirements, shall determine whether a
proceeding requires a hearing. The commission shall determine whether
the matter requires a quasi-legislative, an adjudication, or a
ratesetting hearing. The commission's decision as to the nature of
the proceeding shall be subject to a request for rehearing within 10
days of the date of that decision. If that decision is not appealed
to the commission within that time period it shall not be
subsequently subject to judicial review. Only those parties who have
requested a rehearing within that time period shall subsequently have
standing for judicial review and that review shall only be available
at the conclusion of the proceeding. The commission shall render its
decision regarding the rehearing within 30 days. The commission
shall establish regulations regarding ex parte communication on case
categorization issues.
(b) (1) The commission upon initiating a
hearing shall assign one or more commissioners to oversee the case
and an administrative law judge where appropriate. The assigned
commissioner shall schedule a prehearing conference. The assigned
commissioner shall prepare and issue by order or ruling a scoping
memo that describes the issues to be considered and the applicable
timetable for resolution.
(2) The assigned commissioner shall convene an all-parties meeting
as soon as practicable after the parties in the proceeding are known
to discuss the substantive matter to be decided in the proceeding
and prospects for resolving issues that would otherwise be litigated.
(3) The assigned commissioner shall attend all hearings in a
proceeding.
(c) (1) Quasi-legislative cases, for purposes of this article, are
cases that establish policy, including, but not limited to,
rulemakings and investigations which may establish rules affecting an
entire industry.
(2) Adjudication cases, for purposes of this article, are
enforcement cases and complaints except those challenging the
reasonableness of any rates or charges as specified in Section 1702.
(3) Ratesetting cases, for purposes of this article, are cases in
which rates are established for a specific company, including, but
not limited to, general rate cases, performance-based ratemaking, and
other ratesetting mechanisms.
(4) "Ex parte communication," for purposes of this article, means
any oral or written communication between a decisionmaker and a
person with an interest in a matter before the commission concerning
substantive, but not procedural issues, that does not occur in a
public hearing, workshop, or other public proceeding, or on the
official record of the proceeding on the matter. "Person with an
interest," for purposes of this article, means any of the following:
(A) Any applicant, an agent or an employee of the applicant, or a
person receiving consideration for representing the applicant, or a
participant in the proceeding on any matter before the commission.
(B) Any person with a financial interest, as described in Article
1 (commencing with Section 87100) of Chapter 7 of Title 9 of the
Government Code, in a matter before the commission, or an agent or
employee of the person with a financial interest, or a person
receiving consideration for representing the person with a financial
interest.
(C) A representative acting on behalf of any civic, environmental,
neighborhood, business, labor, trade, or similar organization who
intends to influence the decision of a commission member on a matter
before the commission.
The commission shall by regulation adopt and publish a definition
of decisionmakers and persons for purposes of this section, along
with any requirements for written reporting of ex parte
communications and appropriate sanctions for noncompliance with any
rule proscribing ex parte communications. The regulation shall
provide that reportable communications shall be reported by the
party, whether the communication was initiated by the party or the
decisionmaker. Communications shall be reported within three working
days of the communication by filing a "Notice of Ex Parte
Communication" with the commission in accordance with the procedures
established by the commission for the service of that notice. The
notice shall include the following information:
(i) The date, time, and location of the communication, and whether
it was oral, written, or a combination.
(ii) The identity of the recipient and the person initiating the
communication, as well as the identity of any persons present during
the communication.
(iii) A description of the party's, but not the decisionmaker's,
communication and its content, to which shall be attached a copy of
any written material or text used during the communication.
SEC. 11. Section 1701.2 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
1701.2. (a) If the commission pursuant to Section 1701.1 has
determined that an adjudication case requires a hearing, the
procedures prescribed by this section shall be applicable. The
assigned commissioner or the assigned administrative law judge shall
hear the case in the manner described in the scoping memo. The
scoping memo shall designate whether the assigned commissioner or the
assigned administrative law judge shall preside in the case. The
commission shall provide by rule for peremptory challenges and
challenges for cause of the administrative law judge. Challenges for
cause shall include, but not be limited to, financial interests and
prejudice. The rule shall provide that all parties are entitled to
one peremptory challenge of the assignment of the administrative law
judge in all cases. All parties are entitled to unlimited peremptory
challenges in any case in which the administrative law judge has
within the previous 12 months served in any capacity in an advocacy
position at the commission, been employed by a regulated public
utility, or has represented a party or has been a party of interest
in the case. The assigned commissioner or the administrative law
judge shall prepare and file a decision setting forth
recommendations, findings, and conclusions. The decision shall be
filed with the commission and served upon all parties to the action
or proceeding without undue delay, not later than 60 days after the
matter has been submitted for decision. The decision of the assigned
commissioner or the administrative law judge shall become the
decision of the commission if no further action is taken within 30
days. Any interested party may appeal the decision to the commission,
provided that the appeal is made within 30 days of the issuance of
the decision. The commission may itself initiate a review of the
proposed decision on any grounds. The commission decision shall be
based on the record developed by the assigned commissioner or the
administrative law judge. A decision different from that of the
assigned commissioner or the administrative law judge shall be
accompanied by a written explanation of each of the changes made to
the decision.
(b) (1) Notwithstanding Section 307, an
officer, employee, or agent of the commission that is personally
involved in the prosecution or in the supervision of the prosecution
of an adjudication case before the commission shall not participate
in the decision of the case, or in the decision of any factually
related adjudicatory proceeding, including participation in or
advising the commission as to findings of fact, conclusions of law,
or orders. An officer, employee, or agent of the commission that is
personally involved in the prosecution or in the supervision of the
prosecution of an adjudication case may participate in reaching a
settlement of the case, but shall not participate in the decision of
the commission to accept or reject the settlement, except as a
witness or counsel in an open hearing or a hearing closed pursuant to
subdivision (d). The Legislature finds that the commission performs
both prosecutorial and adjudicatory functions in an adjudication case
and declares its intent that an officer, employee, or agent of the
commission, including its attorneys, may perform only one of those
functions in any adjudication case or factually related adjudicatory
proceeding.
(2) An attorney that is prosecuting a matter before the commission
shall not meet with any commissioner regarding the matter that the
attorney is prosecuting unless all parties are present.
(c) Ex parte communications shall be prohibited in adjudication
cases.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, the commission may meet in a
closed hearing to consider the decision that is being appealed. The
vote on the appeal shall be in a public meeting and shall be
accompanied with an explanation of the appeal decision.
(e) Adjudication cases shall be resolved within 12 months of
initiation unless the commission makes findings why that deadline
cannot be met and issues an order extending that deadline. In the
event that a rehearing of an adjudication case is granted, the
parties shall have an opportunity for final oral argument.
(f) (1) The commission may determine that the respondent lacks, or
may lack, the ability to pay potential penalties or fines or to pay
restitution that may be ordered by the commission.
(2) If the commission determines that a respondent lacks, or may
lack, the ability to pay, the commission may order the respondent to
demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the commission, sufficient
ability to pay potential penalties, fines, or restitution that may be
ordered by the commission. The respondent shall demonstrate the
ability to pay, or make other financial arrangements satisfactory to
the commission, within seven days of the commission commencing an
adjudication case. The commission may delegate to the attorney
to the commission the
determination of whether a sufficient showing has been made by the
respondent of an ability to pay.
(3) Within seven days of the commission's determination of the
respondent's ability to pay potential penalties, fines, or
restitution, the respondent shall be entitled to an impartial review
by an administrative law judge of the sufficiency of the showing made
by the respondent of the respondent's ability to pay. The review by
an administrative law judge of the ability of the respondent to pay
shall become part of the record of the adjudication and is subject to
the commission's consideration in its order resolving the
adjudication case. The administrative law judge may enter temporary
orders modifying any financial requirement made of the respondent
pending the review by the administrative law judge.
(4) A respondent that is a public utility regulated under a rate
of return or rate of margin regulatory structure or that has gross
annual revenues of more than one hundred million dollars
($100,000,000) generated within California is presumed to be able to
pay potential penalties or fines or to pay restitution that may be
ordered by the commission, and, therefore, paragraphs (1) to (3),
inclusive, do not apply to that respondent.
SEC. 8. SEC. 12. 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.