Bill Text: CA AB1686 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 1686 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Energy consumption: report.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2020-02-03 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB1686 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB1686-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly March 28, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1686

Introduced by Assembly Member Burke

February 22, 2019

An act to ~~amend~~ add Section ~~8380 of~~ 913.15 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to energy.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1686, as amended, Burke. Energy ~~consumption data.~~ consumption: report.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations. Existing law requires the commission to submit various reports to the Legislature, legislative committees, and the Governor, as specified. Existing law prohibits an electrical corporation or gas corporation from sharing, disclosing, or otherwise making accessible to any third party a customer’s electrical or gas consumption data, as defined, 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.

This bill would ~~make nonsubstantive changes to this prohibition on sharing, disclosing, or otherwise making accessible to any third party a customer’s electrical or gas consumption data.~~ require the commission, on or before January 1, 2022, and biennially thereafter, to report to the Legislature the extent to which advanced metering infrastructure, time-of-use rates, and customer education programs have contributed to reducing gas and electricity consumption. The bill would require the commission to require each electrical corporation and gas corporation to submit to the commission aggregate customer gas or electricity consumption data that does not include any individually identifiable customer information to assist the commission in preparing this report.

Existing law makes any public utility and any corporation or person other than a public utility that violates any part of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or other requirement of the commission guilty of a crime.
Because a violation of a commission-ordered requirement under this bill would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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: NOYES Local Program: NOYES

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

SECTION 1.

Section 913.15 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

913.15.
(a) On or before January 1, 2022, and biennially thereafter, the commission shall report to the Legislature the extent to which advanced metering infrastructure, time-of-use rates, and customer education programs have contributed to reducing gas and electricity consumption.
(b) The commission shall require each electrical corporation and gas corporation to submit to the commission aggregate customer gas or electricity consumption data, as applicable, which shall not include any individually identifiable customer information, to assist the commission in preparing the report required pursuant to subdivision (a).

SEC. 2.
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.

SECTION 1.Section 8380 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
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 incremental and monthly meter-specific electricity data, to the extent produced by that infrastructure, and the name, account number, and address 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. Customer consent may be verified through an electronic signature authorization process pursuant to the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (Title 2.5 (commencing with Section 1633.1) of Part 2 of Division 3 of the Civil Code).
~~(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 the customer’s 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 the customer’s 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 the customer’s 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 the contract 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.
(f)If a customer chooses to disclose the customer’s 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.