Bill Text: CA AB66 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Electricity: system reliability.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2013-10-05 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 578, Statutes of 2013. [AB66 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB66-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 66	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 12, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 25, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 11, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 8, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 14, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Muratsuchi
   (Coauthors: Senators Hill and Pavley)

                        JANUARY 7, 2013

   An act to add Section 2774.1 to the Public Utilities Code,
relating to electricity.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 66, as amended, Muratsuchi. Electricity: system reliability.
   Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations,
as defined. The Public Utilities Act authorizes the commission to
ascertain and fix just and reasonable standards, classifications,
regulations, practices, measurements, or service to be furnished,
imposed, observed, and followed by specified public utilities,
including all electrical corporations. If the commission finds after
a hearing that the rules, practices, equipment, appliances,
facilities, or service of any public utility, or of the methods of
manufacture, distribution, transmission, storage, or supply employed
by the public utility, are unjust, unreasonable, unsafe, improper,
inadequate, or insufficient, the act requires that the commission
determine and, by order or rule, fix the rules, practices, equipment,
appliances, facilities, service, or methods to be observed,
furnished, constructed, enforced, or employed. 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.
   This bill would require the commission to require an electrical
corporation  to  include in annual reliability reports 
,  required by  a  specified  decisions
  decision  of the  commissions 
 commission,  that are due after July 1, 2014, information
on  system   the  reliability  of
service to end use customers  that identifies the frequency and
duration of interruptions in services and  list 
 indicates  areas with both the most frequent and longest
outages, using geographic regions determined by the commission. The
bill would require the commission to use the information to require
cost-effective remediation of reliability deficiencies if the report,
or more than one report, identifies repeated deficiencies in the
same geographic region. The bill would require the electrical
corporations to  conspicuously  post their annual reports on
their Internet Web site. Because a violation of any order, decision,
rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a
crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program by
expanding the definition of a 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 2774.1 is added to the Public Utilities Code,
to read:
   2774.1.  (a) (1) The commission shall require an electrical
corporation  to  include in an annual reliability report
 ,  required pursuant to  Decisions 96-09-045 and
04-10-034, information on system reliability   Decision
96-09-045, information on the reliability of service to end use
customers  that identifies, but is not limited to, the frequency
and duration of interruptions in services. This information shall
 list   indicate  areas with both the most
frequent and longest outages, using geographic regions determined by
the commission.  The commission, in consultation with the
electrical corporation   , shall ensure that the
geographical boundaries of regions do not split up circuits. 
The information shall be sufficiently aggregated to both maintain
electrical system security, and be of use and relevance to affected
customers of the electrical corporation.
   (2) Before July 1, 2014, the commission shall determine the
geographic regions for the purposes of paragraph (1).
   (3) The requirements of paragraph (1) shall apply to annual
reports due after July 1, 2014.
   (4) The electrical corporation shall  conspicuously  post
on its Internet Web site the annual report required pursuant to
 Decisions 96-09-045 and 04-10-034   Decision
96-09-045  .
   (b)  (1)    The commission shall use the
information contained in an electrical corporation's annual
reliability report to require cost-effective remediation of
reliability deficiencies if the report, or more than one report,
identifies repeated deficiencies in the same geographic region as
determined by the commission pursuant to paragraph  (3)
 (1)  of subdivision (a). In requiring
cost-effective remediation, the commission  shall 
 may consult with the electrical corporation and  consider
mitigating factors that may impede an electrical corporation from
implementing required cost-effective remediation, including, but not
limited to, local permitting matters or other events or conditions or
public policy considerations that may present higher priority safety
or reliability issues. 
   (2) The commission shall determine the procedures for using the
information contained in the electrical corporation's annual
reliability report to require remediation of reliability deficiencies
and shall continue to exercise its discretion as to how to remediate
those deficiencies.  
   (3) The commission may suspend an electrical corporation's
remediation of reliability deficiencies if the commission finds that
expenditures by the electrical corporation for those purposes are not
justified or reasonable or that the remediation measures undertaken
by the electrical corporation are not effective at improving safety
and reliability. 
   (c) (1) The commission may order an electrical corporation to make
more frequent trend analyses of regional service reliability and to
make those analyses publicly available.
    (2) The information made publicly available shall provide
sufficient confidentiality for purposes of protecting electrical
system security.
   (3) The commission may make those analyses publicly available.
  SEC. 2.   (a)    It is the intent of the
Legislature in adding Section 2774.1 to the Public Utilities Code,
that the required system reliability information be included in the
annual report required by the Public Utilities Commission in Decision
96-09-045 (September 4, 1996), while preserving the discretion of
the commission to modify an electrical corporation's reporting
requirements. 
   (b) It is the further intent of the Legislature that the existing
reporting limits be revised to accomplish both of the following:
 
   (1) To require an annual reliability report to include and
differentiate both sustained outages and momentary outages, as
defined by the commission.  
   (2) That the geographic boundaries used in an annual reliability
report not split up circuits, but will still use boundaries that are
understandable to the general public. 
  SEC. 3.  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.