Bill Text: CA SB1208 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Low-income utility customer assistance programs: concurrent application process.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-09-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 840, Statutes of 2022. [SB1208 Detail]

Download: California-2021-SB1208-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  June 30, 2022

Amended  IN  Assembly  June 14, 2022

Amended  IN  Senate  May 04, 2022

Amended  IN  Senate  March 16, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 1208

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Introduced by Senator Hueso

February 17, 2022

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An act to add Section 731 to, and to add Part 3 (commencing with Section 9530) to Division 4.8 of, to the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 1208, as amended, Hueso. Low-income utility customer assistance programs: concurrent application process.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including gas corporations, electrical corporations, telephone corporations, and water corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. corporations. Existing law requires the commission to ensure that an electrical corporation or gas corporation with a commission-approved program to provide discounts based on economic need use a single application form to enable an applicant to alternatively apply for any assistance program for which the applicant may be eligible.

This bill would require the commission, on or before June 30, 2024, in coordination and consultation with the Department of Community Services and Development, the State Water Resources Control Board, and other relevant state agencies that provide low-income electric, gas, or water utility customer assistance programs, to develop a streamlined process that enables customers to concurrently apply, or begin to apply, to multiple low-income customer assistance programs, as specified. The bill would require each local publicly owned utility that provides low-income customer assistance programs, on or before June 30, 2024, to work with the commission on upfront data sharing to facilitate the streamlining of enrollment in those programs.

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.

Because certain of the above provisions would be part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing this bill’s requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Additionally, to the extent the bill would mandate that a local government provide a new program or higher level of service, 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 reasons. reason.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that this act do all of the following:

(1) Streamline Improve all low-income electric, gas, telecommunications, water, and other water low-income utility customer assistance program application processes and maximize upfront data sharing in order to reduce outreach and enrollment expenditures and increase participation by eligible individuals and families.

(2) Maximize the use of existing and future technologies in order to facilitate the outreach and enrollment processes for low-income electric, gas, and water utility customer assistance programs.

(3) Coordinate the enrollment process for those programs between agencies and public and private utilities.

(b)It is further the intent of the Legislature that an existing California-funded third-party verification process is used to improve the enrollment processes for low-income utility customer assistance programs.

(c)

(b) It is further the intent of the Legislature that the concurrent application process complement, rather than replace, existing application processes for each of those programs.

SEC. 2.

 Section 731 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

731.

 (a) (1) On or before June 30, 2024, the commission, in coordination and consultation with the Department of Community Services and Development, the State Water Resources Control Board, and local publicly owned utilities other relevant state agencies that provide low-income electric, gas, or water utility customer assistance programs, shall develop a streamlined process that, to the extent possible, enables customers to concurrently apply, or begin to apply, to multiple low-income customer assistance programs using data collected during the original application process, including including, but not limited to, all of the following programs:

(A) The California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program described in Section 739.1.

(B) Low-income water rate assistance programs implemented pursuant to Section 739.8.

(C) The Family Electric Rate Assistance program described in Section 739.12.

(D)The lifeline program described in the Moore Universal Telephone Service Act (Article 8 (commencing with Section 871)).

(E)

(D) The Energy Savings Assistance program described in Section 2790.

(F)The federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) (42 U.S.C. Sec. 8621 et seq.).

(G)Low-income programs developed under the State Water Resources Control Board.

(2) The streamlined process developed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be known as the concurrent application process.

(3)The streamlined process developed pursuant to paragraph (1) may include the development of a digital platform to facilitate the sharing of information to populate the necessary fields of various low-income customer assistance program applications.

(b) The commission shall work with state agencies, local publicly owned utilities, electrical corporations, gas corporations, and water corporations, and telecommunications service providers corporations to notify, to the extent electronically possible, eligible individuals that they have been successfully enrolled or are in the process of being enrolled into other programs.

(c)The commission shall use the eligibility verification and enrollment process for the lifeline program in use on June 1, 2022, as a model for the collecting and sharing of third-party information and maintaining secure data.

(d)

(c) The concurrent application process shall complement, rather than replace, other application processes.

(e)

(d) Before sharing data, a utility an electrical corporation, gas corporation, or water corporation shall receive consent from its low-income applicants to use already-obtained application information to begin the enrollment process for other low-income electric, gas, or water utility customer assistance programs.

(f)All reasonable costs incurred by the commission in carrying out its duties pursuant to subdivision (a), including staffing and administrative costs, shall be reimbursed through the Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account established under Section 402 and be a part of the budget of the commission.

SEC. 3.Part 3 (commencing with Section 9530) is added to Division 4.8 of the Public Utilities Code, to read:

3.Streamlined Application Processes

9530.

(a)On or before June 30, 2024, each local publicly owned utility that provides low-income customer assistance programs shall work with the commission on upfront data sharing to facilitate the streamlining of enrollment in those low-income customer assistance programs, including through collaboration with state and local agencies and other utilities that operate within the same service territory.

(b)Before sharing customer data for purposes of this part, a local publicly owned utility shall obtain the consent of the customer.

(c)Each local publicly owned utility shall only be required to share data with the commission.

SEC. 4.

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act or because 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.

 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.