Bill Text: CA SB1000 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Public Utilities Commission: records.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-06-25 - Set, second hearing. Failed passage in committee. [SB1000 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SB1000-Amended.html
Bill Title: Public Utilities Commission: records.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-06-25 - Set, second hearing. Failed passage in committee. [SB1000 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SB1000-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1000 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 10, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Yee
(Principal coauthor: Senator Alquist)
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Hill)
(Coauthor: Senator Blakeslee)
FEBRUARY 6, 2012
An act to amend Section Sections 315
, 454.5, and 583 of , and to repeal and add
Section 583 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to the
Public Utilities Commission.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1000, as amended, Yee. Public Utilities Commission: records.
Under
(1) Under existing law, the
Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public
utilities and can establish its own procedures, subject to statutory
limitations or directions and constitutional requirements of due
process. The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to
investigate the cause of all accidents occurring upon the property of
any public utility or directly or indirectly arising from or
connected with its maintenance or operation, resulting in loss of
life or injury to person or property and requiring, in the judgment
of the commission, investigation by it, and authorizes the commission
to make any order or recommendation with respect to the
investigation that it determines to be just and reasonable.
This bill would require that any order or recommendation made by
the commission and any accident report filed with , or generated
by, the commission pursuant to these requirements be made
available and ready for public review in compliance with the
California Public Records Act and these provisions .
(2) The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to adopt
appropriate procedures to ensure the confidentiality of any market
sensitive information submitted in an electrical corporation's
proposed procurement plan or resulting from or related to its
approved procurement plan, as specified.
This bill instead would require the commission to adopt
appropriate procedures to ensure the confidentiality of any market
sensitive information that can be shown to bring upward pressure on
prices submitted in an electrical corporation's proposed procurement
plan or resulting from or related to its approved procurement plan,
as specified.
The
(3) The Public Utilities Act
prohibits the commission or an officer or employee of the commission
from disclosing any information furnished to the commission by a
public utility, a subsidiary, an affiliate, or corporation holding a
controlling interest in a public utility, unless the information is
specifically required to be open to public inspection under the act,
except on order of the commission or a commissioner in the course of
a hearing or proceeding. The act provides that any present or
former officer or employee of the commission who divulges this
information is guilty of a misdemeanor.
This bill would repeal that prohibition and instead
require the California Public Records Act to apply to all records of,
and records filed with, the commission unless expressly exempt from
disclosure by other provisions of the Public Utilities Code or the
California Public Records Act. The bill also would require the
commission to immediately conduct a meeting to amend General Order 66
to be consistent with these provisions. instead
require the commission to disclose specified public records. The bill
would require the commission, prior to disclosing any record, to
determine whether any exemptions to the California Public Records Act
or other law restricting disclosure apply to that record. The bill
would require the commission to create a list of safety-related
reports that the commission would, upon completion of the reports,
automatically disclose to the public. The bill would require the
commission to post certain information on its Internet Web site. The
bill would require the commission to immediately revise its written
guidelines, as specified, and modify its existing rules and
regulations governing disclosure of public records to provide
guidance on the showing necessary to justify a commission
decision to withhold disclosure of specified categories of public
records. The bill would repeal the provision that any present or
former officer o r employee who divulges nonpublic
information is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 315 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
315. (a) The commission shall investigate the cause of all
accidents occurring within this state upon the property of any public
utility or directly or indirectly arising from or connected with its
maintenance or operation, resulting in loss of life or injury to
person or property and requiring, in the judgment of the commission,
investigation by it, and may make any order or recommendation with
respect thereto as in its judgment seems just and reasonable. Every
public utility shall file with the commission, under rules the
commission prescribes, a report of each accident so occurring of the
kinds or classes as the commission from time to time designates.
(b) Any order or recommendation made by the commission pursuant to
this section, and any accident report filed with , or generated
by, the commission pursuant to this section, shall be made
available and ready for public review in compliance with the
California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code) and
Section 583 . Neither the order or recommendation of the
commission nor any accident report filed with the commission shall be
admitted as evidence in any action for damages based on or arising
out of the loss of life or injury to person or property.
SEC. 2. Section 454.5 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
454.5. (a) The commission shall specify the allocation of
electricity, including quantity, characteristics, and duration of
electricity delivery, that the Department of Water Resources shall
provide under its power purchase agreements to the customers of each
electrical corporation, which shall be reflected in the electrical
corporation's proposed procurement plan. Each electrical corporation
shall file a proposed procurement plan with the commission not later
than 60 days after the commission specifies the allocation of
electricity. The proposed procurement plan shall specify the date
that the electrical corporation intends to resume procurement of
electricity for its retail customers, consistent with its obligation
to serve. After the commission's adoption of a procurement plan, the
commission shall allow not less than 60 days before the electrical
corporation resumes procurement pursuant to this section.
(b) An electrical corporation's proposed procurement plan shall
include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) An assessment of the price risk associated with the electrical
corporation's portfolio, including any utility-retained generation,
existing power purchase and exchange contracts, and proposed
contracts or purchases under which an electrical corporation will
procure electricity, electricity demand reductions, and
electricity-related products and the remaining open position to be
served by spot market transactions.
(2) A definition of each electricity product, electricity-related
product, and procurement related financial product, including support
and justification for the product type and amount to be procured
under the plan.
(3) The duration of the plan.
(4) The duration, timing, and range of quantities of each product
to be procured.
(5) A competitive procurement process under which the electrical
corporation may request bids for procurement-related services,
including the format and criteria of that procurement process.
(6) An incentive mechanism, if any incentive mechanism is
proposed, including the type of transactions to be covered by that
mechanism, their respective procurement benchmarks, and other
parameters needed to determine the sharing of risks and benefits.
(7) The upfront standards and criteria by which the acceptability
and eligibility for rate recovery of a proposed procurement
transaction will be known by the electrical corporation prior to
execution of the transaction. This shall include an expedited
approval process for the commission's review of proposed contracts
and subsequent approval or rejection thereof. The electrical
corporation shall propose alternative procurement choices in the
event a contract is rejected.
(8) Procedures for updating the procurement plan.
(9) A showing that the procurement plan will achieve the
following:
(A) The electrical corporation, in order to fulfill its unmet
resource needs, shall procure resources from eligible renewable
energy resources in an amount sufficient to meet its procurement
requirements pursuant to the California Renewables Portfolio Standard
Program (Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter
2.3).
(B) The electrical corporation shall create or maintain a
diversified procurement portfolio consisting of both short-term and
long-term electricity and electricity-related and demand reduction
products.
(C) The electrical corporation shall first meet its unmet resource
needs through all available energy efficiency and demand reduction
resources that are cost effective, reliable, and feasible.
(10) The electrical corporation's risk management policy,
strategy, and practices, including specific measures of price
stability.
(11) A plan to achieve appropriate increases in diversity of
ownership and diversity of fuel supply of nonutility electrical
generation.
(12) A mechanism for recovery of reasonable administrative costs
related to procurement in the generation component of rates.
(c) The commission shall review and accept, modify, or reject each
electrical corporation's procurement plan. The commission's review
shall consider each electrical corporation's individual procurement
situation, and shall give strong consideration to that situation in
determining which one or more of the features set forth in this
subdivision shall apply to that electrical corporation. A procurement
plan approved by the commission shall contain one or more of the
following features, provided that the commission may not approve a
feature or mechanism for an electrical corporation if it finds that
the feature or mechanism would impair the restoration of an
electrical corporation's creditworthiness or would lead to a
deterioration of an electrical corporation's creditworthiness:
(1) A competitive procurement process under which the electrical
corporation may request bids for procurement-related services. The
commission shall specify the format of that procurement process, as
well as criteria to ensure that the auction process is open and
adequately subscribed. Any purchases made in compliance with the
commission-authorized process shall be recovered in the generation
component of rates.
(2) An incentive mechanism that establishes a procurement
benchmark or benchmarks and authorizes the electrical corporation to
procure from the market, subject to comparing the electrical
corporation's performance to the commission-authorized benchmark or
benchmarks. The incentive mechanism shall be clear, achievable, and
contain quantifiable objectives and standards. The incentive
mechanism shall contain balanced risk and reward incentives that
limit the risk and reward of an electrical corporation.
(3) Upfront achievable standards and criteria by which the
acceptability and eligibility for rate recovery of a proposed
procurement transaction will be known by the electrical corporation
prior to the execution of the bilateral contract for the transaction.
The commission shall provide for expedited review and either approve
or reject the individual contracts submitted by the electrical
corporation to ensure compliance with its procurement plan. To the
extent the commission rejects a proposed contract pursuant to this
criteria, the commission shall designate alternative procurement
choices obtained in the procurement plan that will be recoverable for
ratemaking purposes.
(d) A procurement plan approved by the commission shall accomplish
each of the following objectives:
(1) Enable the electrical corporation to fulfill its obligation to
serve its customers at just and reasonable rates.
(2) Eliminate the need for after-the-fact reasonableness reviews
of an electrical corporation's actions in compliance with an approved
procurement plan, including resulting electricity procurement
contracts, practices, and related expenses. However, the commission
may establish a regulatory process to verify and ensure that each
contract was administered in accordance with the terms of the
contract, and contract disputes that may arise are reasonably
resolved.
(3) Ensure timely recovery of prospective procurement costs
incurred pursuant to an approved procurement plan. The commission
shall establish rates based on forecasts of procurement costs adopted
by the commission, actual procurement costs incurred, or combination
thereof, as determined by the commission. The commission shall
establish power procurement balancing accounts to track the
differences between recorded revenues and costs incurred pursuant to
an approved procurement plan. The commission shall review the power
procurement balancing accounts, not less than semiannually, and shall
adjust rates or order refunds, as necessary, to promptly amortize a
balancing account, according to a schedule determined by the
commission. Until January 1, 2006, the commission shall ensure that
any overcollection or undercollection in the power procurement
balancing account does not exceed 5 percent of the electrical
corporation's actual recorded generation revenues for the prior
calendar year excluding revenues collected for the Department of
Water Resources. The commission shall determine the schedule for
amortizing the overcollection or undercollection in the balancing
account to ensure that the 5 percent threshold is not exceeded. After
January 1, 2006, this adjustment shall occur when deemed appropriate
by the commission consistent with the objectives of this section.
(4) Moderate the price risk associated with serving its retail
customers, including the price risk embedded in its long-term supply
contracts, by authorizing an electrical corporation to enter into
financial and other electricity-related product contracts.
(5) Provide for just and reasonable rates, with an appropriate
balancing of price stability and price level in the electrical
corporation's procurement plan.
(e) The commission shall provide for the periodic review and
prospective modification of an electrical corporation's procurement
plan.
(f) The commission may engage an independent consultant or
advisory service to evaluate risk management and strategy. The
reasonable costs of any consultant or advisory service is a
reimbursable expense and eligible for funding pursuant to Section
631.
(g) The commission shall adopt appropriate procedures to ensure
the confidentiality of any market sensitive information that can
be shown to bring upward pressure on prices submitted in an
electrical corporation's proposed procurement plan or resulting from
or related to its approved procurement plan, including, but not
limited to, proposed or executed power purchase agreements, data
request responses, or consultant reports, or any combination,
provided that the Office of Ratepayer Advocates and other consumer
groups that are nonmarket participants shall be provided access to
this information under confidentiality procedures authorized by the
commission.
(h) Nothing in this section alters, modifies, or amends the
commission's oversight of affiliate transactions under its rules and
decisions or the commission's existing authority to investigate and
penalize an electrical corporation's alleged fraudulent activities,
or to disallow costs incurred as a result of gross incompetence,
fraud, abuse, or similar grounds. Nothing in this section expands,
modifies, or limits the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission's existing authority and responsibilities as
set forth in Sections 25216, 25216.5, and 25323 of the Public
Resources Code.
(i) An electrical corporation that serves less than 500,000
electric retail customers within the state may file with the
commission a request for exemption from this section, which the
commission shall grant upon a showing of good cause.
(j) (1) Prior to its approval pursuant to Section 851 of any
divestiture of generation assets owned by an electrical corporation
on or after the date of enactment of the act adding this section, the
commission shall determine the impact of the proposed divestiture on
the electrical corporation's procurement rates and shall approve a
divestiture only to the extent it finds, taking into account the
effect of the divestiture on procurement rates, that the divestiture
is in the public interest and will result in net ratepayer benefits.
(2) Any electrical corporation's procurement necessitated as a
result of the divestiture of generation assets on or after the
effective date of the act adding this subdivision shall be subject to
the mechanisms and procedures set forth in this section only if its
actual cost is less than the recent historical cost of the divested
generation assets.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the commission may deem
proposed procurement eligible to use the procedures in this section
upon its approval of asset divestiture pursuant to Section 851.
SEC. 3. 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 which
that is a subsidiary or affiliate of a public
utility, or a corporation which 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 any such
information is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to any of the following public
records:
(1) Records of completed and routine safety-related
investigations, inspections, and audits made by the commission. These
records shall include all communications included in completed and
routine safety-related investigations, inspections, and audits.
(2) Reports of gas incidents required by federal regulations and
commission rules.
(3) Quarterly summary reports summarizing all commission
reportable and nonreportable gas-leak-related incidents submitted to
the commission.
(4) Annual safety reports required pursuant to federal regulations
and the commission.
(5) Pipeline strength testing failure reports required pursuant to
federal regulations and the commission.
(6) Change in Maximum Allowable Operating Pressure reports
required by General Order 112-E.
(7) Mobilehome park annual reports, inspection reports, and
citation records related to the commission's enforcement of federal
pipeline safety standards for mobilehome park operators.
(8) Propane operator annual reports, inspection reports, and
citation records related to the commission's enforcement of federal
pipeline safety standards for propane operators.
(9) Applications submitted to the commission by railroads
proposing changes to rail crossings.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the commission may disclose a
record when on the facts of a particular case the public interest
served by disclosing the record clearly outweighs the public interest
served by nondisclosure of the record.
(d) Prior to disclosing any record, the commission shall determine
whether any exemption to the California Public Records Act (Chapter
3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the
Government Code) or other law restricting disclosure applies to that
record.
(e) The commission shall create a list of safety-related reports
that the commission will, upon completion of the reports,
automatically disclose to the public.
(f) On the commission's Internet Web site, the commission shall
do all of the following:
(1) Create and maintain a comprehensive index of the commission's
records that explains whether and how the public can access the
commission's records.
(2) Create and maintain a database that details the requests the
commission has received to treat documents as confidential and the
commission's decisions regarding these requests.
(3) Routinely post the safety-related reports that the commission
determines are subject to disclosure.
(4) Provide a description of the commission's safety jurisdiction,
inspection, investigation, and enforcement activities.
(g) To ensure compliance with the California Public Records Act
(Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1
of the Government Code), the commission shall, as appropriate, redact
a publicly released document.
(h) The commission shall immediately revise its written guidelines
adopted pursuant to Section 6253.4 of the Government Code and shall
modify its existing rules and regulations governing the disclosure of
public records to provide guidance on the showing necessary to
justify a commission decision to withhold disclosure of the
categories of public records defined in the California Public Records
Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of
Title 1 of the Government Code).
SEC. 2. Section 583 of the Public Utilities
Code is repealed.
SEC. 3. Section 583 is added to the Public
Utilities Code, to read:
583 (a) The California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the
Government Code) shall apply to all records of, and records filed
with, the commission unless expressly exempt from disclosure by this
code or the California Public Records Act.
(b)
The commission shall immediately conduct a hearing to amend
General Order 66 to be consistent with this section.
