Bill Text: CA SB656 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Electrical restructuring: natural gas restructuring: information practices.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2013-10-05 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 604, Statutes of 2013. [SB656 Detail]

Download: California-2013-SB656-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 656	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 13, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 22, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Wright

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2013

   An act to amend  Sections 394.3 and 394.5 of, and to repeal
 Section 392.1  of   of,  the Public
Utilities Code, relating to electricity.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 656, as amended, Wright. Electrical restructuring: information
practices.
   Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has broad
regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical
corporations, as defined. Existing law restructuring the electrical
industry requires the commission to authorize and facilitate direct
transactions between electricity suppliers and end-use customers
subject to the implementation of a nonbypassable charge, as
specified. Electrical restructuring requires electric service
providers, which are entities that offer electrical service to
customers within the service territory of an electrical corporation
but which are not electrical corporations, to register with the
commission and to disclose specified information, among other things
and authorizes the commission to enforce specific statutes with
respect to electric service providers, but does not grant the
commission jurisdiction to regulate electric service providers other
than as specified.
   Existing law restructuring the electrical industry requires the
commission to compile and regularly update information regarding
registered electric service providers, including the names and
contact numbers of providers, information to assist consumers in
making service choices, the number of customer complaints against
specific providers in relation to the number of customers served by
those providers, and the disposition of those complaints. In this
regard, existing law requires the commission to direct the Office,
now Division, of Ratepayer Advocates to collect and analyze this
information for purposes of preparing easily understandable
informational guides or other tools to help residential and small
commercial customers understand how to evaluate competing electric
service options.
   This bill would  require the commission to compile and to
update, every 6 months, the above-described information regarding
registered electric service providers. The bill would delete the
requirement that the commission direct the Office of Ratepayer
Advocates to collect and analyze the information for purposes of
making available informational guides or other tools. 
repeal the above provisions relating to informational guides for
consumers and would make conforming changes in related provisions.

   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 392.1 of the   Public
Utilities Code   is repealed.  
   392.1.  (a) The commission shall compile and regularly update the
following information: names and contact numbers of registered
providers, information to assist consumers in making service choices,
and the number of customer complaints against specific providers in
relation to the number of customers served by those providers and the
disposition of those complaints. To facilitate this function,
registered entities shall file with the commission information
describing the terms and conditions of any standard service plan made
available to residential and small commercial customers. The
commission shall adopt a standard format for this filing. The
commission shall maintain and make generally available a list of
entities offering electrical services operating in California. This
list shall include all registered providers and those providers not
required to be registered who request the commission to be included
in the list. The commission shall, upon request, make this
information available at no charge. Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, public agencies which are registered entities shall
be required to disclose their terms and conditions of service
contracts only to the same extent that other registered entities
would be required to disclose the same or similar service contracts.
   (b) The commission shall issue public alerts about companies
attempting to provide electric service in the state in an
unauthorized or fraudulent manner as defined in subdivision (b) of
Section 394.25.
   (c) The commission shall direct the Office of Ratepayer Advocates
to collect and analyze information provided pursuant to subdivision
(a) for purposes of preparing easily understandable informational
guides or other tools to help residential and small commercial
customers understand how to evaluate competing electric service
options. In implementing these provisions, the commission shall
direct the Office of Ratepayer Advocates to pay special attention to
ensuring that customers, especially those with
limited-English-speaking ability or other disadvantages when dealing
with marketers, receive correct, reliable, and easily understood
information to help them make informed choices. The Office of
Ratepayer Advocates shall not make specific recommendations or rank
the relative attractiveness of specific service offerings of
registered providers of electric services. 
   SEC. 2.    Section 394.3 of the   Public
Utilities Code   is amended to read: 
   394.3.   In order to   To  carry out
essential elements of a sustainable and effective consumer protection
program in connection with electric service providers offering
electrical service to residential and small commercial customers as
intended by the Legislature in this article, the following shall
apply:
   (a)  A   The commission shall collect a 
registration fee of one hundred dollars ($100)  shall be
collected from electric service providers required to
register under this article, and  deposit  the fee proceeds
 shall be deposited  in the Public Utilities
Reimbursement Account established under Section 402.
   (b) The commission shall annually determine the costs of
administering the registration program and other facets of consumer
protection directly related to the direct access transactions of
electric service  providers, including the cost for the
duties imposed pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 392.1 
 providers  . The commission shall  only 
collect  only  those costs not already being collected
elsewhere.  Registrants   A registrant  who
 fail   fails  to submit to the commission
 a  required  fees   fee  or 
a piece of  information upon which fees are calculated within
30 days of billing shall be subject to a 15-percent penalty.
   SEC. 3.    Section 394.5 of the   Public
Utilities Code   is amended to read: 
   394.5.  (a) Except for an electrical corporation as defined in
Section 218, or a local publicly owned electric utility offering
electrical service to residential and small commercial customers
within its service territory, each electric service provider offering
electrical service to residential and small commercial customers
shall, prior to the commencement of service, provide the potential
customer with a written notice of the service describing the price,
terms, and conditions of the service.  The notices 
 A notice  shall include all of the following:
   (1) A clear description of the price, terms, and conditions of
service, including:
   (A) The price of electricity expressed in a format  which
  that  makes it possible for residential and small
commercial customers to compare and select among similar products
and services on a standard basis. The commission shall adopt rules to
implement this subdivision. The commission shall require disclosure
of the total price of electricity on a cents-per-kilowatthour basis,
including the costs of all electric services and charges regulated by
the commission. The commission shall also require estimates of the
total monthly bill for the electric service at varying consumption
levels, including the costs of all electric services and charges
regulated by the commission. In determining these rules, the
commission may consider alternatives to the cents-per-kilowatthour
disclosure if other information would provide the customer with
sufficient information to compare among alternatives on a standard
basis.
   (B) Separate disclosure of all recurring and nonrecurring charges
associated with the sale of electricity.
   (C) If services other than electricity are offered, an itemization
of the services and the charge or charges associated with each.
   (2) An explanation of the applicability and amount of the
competition transition charge, as determined pursuant to Sections 367
to 376, inclusive.
   (3) A description of the potential customer's right to rescind the
contract without fee or penalty as described in Section 395.
   (4) An explanation of the customer's financial obligations, as
well as the procedures regarding past due payments, discontinuance of
service, billing disputes, and service complaints.
   (5) The electric service provider's registration number, if
applicable.
   (6) The right to change service providers upon written notice,
including disclosure of any fees or penalties assessed by the
supplier for early termination of a contract.
   (7) A description of the availability of low-income assistance
programs for qualified customers and how customers can apply for
these programs.
   (b) The commission may assist electric service providers in
developing the notice. The commission may suggest inclusion of
additional information it deems necessary for the consumer protection
purposes of this section. On at least a semiannual basis, electric
service providers shall provide the commission with a copy of the
form of notice included in standard service plans made available to
residential and small commercial customers  as described in
subdivision (a) of Section 392.1  .
   (c)  Any   An  electric service provider
offering electric services who declines to provide those services to
a consumer shall, upon request of the consumer, disclose to that
consumer the reason for the denial in writing within 30 days. At the
time service is denied, the electric service provider shall disclose
to the consumer  his or her   the  right to
make this request.  Consumers   A consumer
 shall have at least 30 days from the date service is denied to
make the request. 
  SECTION 1.    Section 392.1 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
   392.1.  (a) The commission shall compile and update every six
months all of the following information: names and contact numbers of
registered providers, information to assist consumers in making
service choices, and the number of customer complaints against
specific providers in relation to the number of customers served by
those providers and the disposition of those complaints. To
facilitate this function, registered entities shall file with the
commission information describing the terms and conditions of any
standard service plan made available to residential and small
commercial customers. The commission shall adopt a standard format
for this filing. The commission shall maintain and make generally
available a list of entities offering electrical services operating
in California. This list shall include all registered providers and
those providers not required to be registered that request the
commission to be included in the list. The commission, upon request,
shall make this information available at no charge. Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, public agencies that are registered
entities shall be required to disclose their terms and conditions of
service contracts only to the same extent that other registered
entities would be required to disclose the same or similar service
contracts.
   (b) The commission shall issue public alerts about companies
attempting to provide electric service in the state in an
unauthorized or fraudulent manner as defined in subdivision (b) of
Section 394.25.