BILL NUMBER: AB 37 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Huffman
DECEMBER 6, 2010
An act to add Section 8370 to the Public Utilities Code, relating
to electricity, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 37, as introduced, Huffman. Smart grid deployment: smart
meters.
(1) The federal Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
states that it is the policy of the United States to maintain a
reliable and secure electricity structure that achieves certain
objectives that characterize a smart grid. Existing federal law
requires each state regulatory authority, with respect to each
electric utility for which it has ratemaking authority, and each
nonregulated electric utility, to consider certain standards and to
determine whether or not it is appropriate to implement those
standards to carry out the purposes of the federal Public Utility
Regulatory Policies Act. The existing standards include time-based
metering and communications, consideration of smart grid investments,
and providing purchases with smart grid information, as specified.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has
regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical
corporations and gas corporations, as defined. Existing law requires
the CPUC, by July 1, 2010, and in consultation with the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the Independent
System Operator, and other key stakeholders, to determine the
requirements for a smart grid deployment plan consistent with certain
policies set forth in state and federal law. Existing law requires
that the smart grid improve overall efficiency, reliability, and
cost-effectiveness of electrical system operations, planning, and
maintenance. Existing law requires each electrical corporation, by
July 1, 2011, to develop and submit a smart grid deployment plan to
the commission for approval.
This bill would require the CPUC, by January 1, 2012, to identify
alternative options for customers of electrical corporations that
decline the installation of wireless advanced metering infrastructure
devices, commonly referred to as smart meters, as part of an
approved smart grid deployment plan. The bill would also require the
CPUC, when it has identified those alternative options, to require
each electrical corporation to permit a customer to decline the
installation of an advanced metering infrastructure device and make
the alternative options available to that customer. The bill would
also require the CPUC to disclose certain information to customers
about the technology of smart meters. The bill would require the CPUC
to direct each electrical corporation to suspend the deployment of
advanced metering infrastructure until the CPUC has complied with the
above requirements.
(2) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or
any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the
CPUC is a crime.
Because the bill would require action by the CPUC to implement
certain of its requirements, a violation of which would be a crime,
these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by
creating a new crime.
(3) 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.
(4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 8370 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
8370. (a) By January 1, 2012, the commission shall do all of the
following:
(1) Identify alternative options for customers of electrical
corporations that decline the installation of wireless advanced
metering infrastructure devices as part of a smart grid deployment
plan approved by the commission pursuant to this chapter. The
alternative options identified by the commission shall provide
reliability and efficiency equivalent to the approved devices.
(2) When the commission has identified alternative options in
accordance with paragraph (1), it shall require each electrical
corporation to permit a customer to decline the installation of an
advanced metering infrastructure device, and to make alternative
options identified pursuant to paragraph (1) available to that
customer.
(3) Direct each electrical corporation to disclose to customers
information about the technology of advanced metering infrastructure
devices, including radio frequency, magnitude of signal, and duration
of signal.
(4) Assess the net effect of customers declining the installation
of advanced metering infrastructure devices on smart grid reliability
and efficiency.
(b) The commission shall direct each electrical corporation to
suspend the deployment of advanced metering infrastructure until the
commission has complied with the requirements of 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.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to ensure that utility customers in California are able
to make informed decisions about the deployment of smart grid
technology, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately.