Bill Text: CA AB1008 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Public utilities: sale of hydrogen to public as a motor vehicle fuel.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Passed) 2015-07-15 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 109, Statutes of 2015. [AB1008 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB1008-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1008 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 109
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 15, 2015
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JULY 15, 2015
PASSED THE SENATE JUNE 29, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Quirk
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend Section 216 of the Public Utilities Code, relating
to public utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1008, Quirk. Public utilities: sale of hydrogen to public as a
motor vehicle fuel.
The Public Utilities Act provides that whenever any common
carrier, toll bridge corporation, pipeline corporation, gas
corporation, electrical corporation, telephone corporation, telegraph
corporation, water corporation, sewer system corporation, or heat
corporation performs a service for, or delivers a commodity to, the
public or any portion of the public for which any compensation or
payment is received, that entity is a public utility subject to the
jurisdiction, control, and regulation of the Public Utilities
Commission and the provisions of the act. The act provides that the
ownership or operation of a facility that sells compressed natural
gas at retail to the public for use only as a motor vehicle fuel, and
the selling of compressed natural gas at retail from that facility
to the public for use only as a motor vehicle fuel, does not make the
corporation or person a public utility solely because of that
ownership, operation, or sale.
This bill would additionally provide that the ownership or
operation of a facility that sells hydrogen at retail to the public
for use only as a motor vehicle fuel, and the selling of hydrogen at
retail from that facility to the public for use only as a motor
vehicle fuel, does not make the corporation or person a public
utility solely because of that ownership, operation, or sale.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 216 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
216. (a) "Public utility" includes every common carrier, toll
bridge corporation, pipeline corporation, gas corporation, electrical
corporation, telephone corporation, telegraph corporation, water
corporation, sewer system corporation, and heat corporation, where
the service is performed for, or the commodity is delivered to, the
public or any portion thereof.
(b) Whenever any common carrier, toll bridge corporation, pipeline
corporation, gas corporation, electrical corporation, telephone
corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewer system
corporation, or heat corporation performs a service for, or delivers
a commodity to, the public or any portion thereof for which any
compensation or payment whatsoever is received, that common carrier,
toll bridge corporation, pipeline corporation, gas corporation,
electrical corporation, telephone corporation, telegraph corporation,
water corporation, sewer system corporation, or heat corporation, is
a public utility subject to the jurisdiction, control, and
regulation of the commission and the provisions of this part.
(c) When any person or corporation performs any service for, or
delivers any commodity to, any person, private corporation,
municipality, or other political subdivision of the state, that in
turn either directly or indirectly, mediately or immediately,
performs that service for, or delivers that commodity to, the public
or any portion thereof, that person or corporation is a public
utility subject to the jurisdiction, control, and regulation of the
commission and the provisions of this part.
(d) Ownership or operation of a facility that employs cogeneration
technology or produces power from other than a conventional power
source or the ownership or operation of a facility which employs
landfill gas technology does not make a corporation or person a
public utility within the meaning of this section solely because of
the ownership or operation of that facility.
(e) Any corporation or person engaged directly or indirectly in
developing, producing, transmitting, distributing, delivering, or
selling any form of heat derived from geothermal or solar resources
or from cogeneration technology to any privately owned or publicly
owned public utility, or to the public or any portion thereof, is not
a public utility within the meaning of this section solely by reason
of engaging in any of those activities.
(f) The ownership or operation of a facility that sells compressed
natural gas or hydrogen at retail to the public for use only as a
motor vehicle fuel, and the selling of compressed natural gas or
hydrogen at retail from that facility to the public for use only as a
motor vehicle fuel, does not make the corporation or person a public
utility within the meaning of this section solely because of that
ownership, operation, or sale.
(g) Ownership or operation of a facility that is an exempt
wholesale generator, as defined in the Public Utility Holding Company
Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 16451(6)), does not make a corporation
or person a public utility within the meaning of this section, solely
due to the ownership or operation of that facility.
(h) The ownership, control, operation, or management of an
electric plant used for direct transactions or participation directly
or indirectly in direct transactions, as permitted by subdivision
(b) of Section 365, sales into a market established and operated by
the Independent System Operator or any other wholesale electricity
market, or the use or sale as permitted under subdivisions (b) to
(d), inclusive, of Section 218, shall not make a corporation or
person a public utility within the meaning of this section solely
because of that ownership, participation, or sale.
(i) The ownership, control, operation, or management of a facility
that supplies electricity to the public only for use to charge light
duty plug-in electric vehicles does not make the corporation or
person a public utility within the meaning of this section solely
because of that ownership, control, operation, or management. For
purposes of this subdivision, "light duty plug-in electric vehicles"
includes light duty battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric
vehicles. This subdivision does not affect the commission's authority
under Section 454 or 740.2 or any other applicable statute.
