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SB-8 Electric power: retail sales.(2001-2002)

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SB8:v95#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Senate  February 13, 2001
Amended  IN  Senate  March 15, 2001
Amended  IN  Senate  April 16, 2001
Amended  IN  Senate  April 25, 2001

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2001–2002 1st Ext.

Senate Bill
No. 8

Introduced  by  Senator Alarcon
 (Coauthor(s): Senator Escutia, Soto, Vincent)
 (Coauthor(s): Assembly Member Firebaugh, Koretz, Washington)

January 18, 2001

An act to amend Sections 366 and 9601 of Section 366 of, and to amend, repeal, and add Section 9601 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 8, as amended, Alarcon. Electric power: retail sales.
(1) Existing law The Public Utilities Act requires the Public Utilities Commission to take necessary action to facilitate direct transactions between electricity suppliers and end-use customers. Existing law The act requires the commission to authorize all customer classes to voluntarily aggregate their electrical loads. Existing law The act requires a public agency that seeks to serve as a community aggregator on behalf of residential customers to offer the opportunity to purchase electricity to all residential customers within its jurisdiction.
This bill would permit a public agency that seeks to serve as a community aggregator for direct access customers to provide aggregation service to all of the customers within its jurisdiction after a majority vote of its elected governing body. If a customer of the public agency desires to receive service from a different service provider, it may the bill would authorize it do so upon written notice to the public agency and pursuant to the opt out rules established by the public agency.
(2)  Existing law prohibits a local publicly owned electric utility or electrical corporation from selling electric power to the retail customers of another local publicly owned electric utility or electrical corporation unless the first utility has agreed to let the second utility make sales of electric power to the retail customers of the first utility.
This bill would exempt from that prohibition a local publicly owned electric utility that proposes to sell electric power to the current retail customers of an electrical corporation if certain criteria are satisfied.
The bill would provide that the provisions described in (2) would remain in effect for 18 months from the date of enactment of this bill. After 18 months from the date of enactment of this bill, the bill would prohibit a local publicly owned electric utility or electrical corporation from selling electric power to the retail customers of another local publicly owned electric utility or electrical corporation unless the regulatory body of the first utility has agreed to let the second utility make sales of electric power to the retail customers of the first utility.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NO   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The multifaceted energy crisis that has California in its grasp, needs multifaceted solutions. Many efforts are being made to reduce the demand on the energy grid and ensure the people of California a stable, reasonably priced supply of energy in as timely a manner as possible, including efforts to increase public power in California.
(b) One of the key factors making resolution of the energy crisis more burdensome is the lack of control by Californians over various aspects of energy pricing and supply. One way to increase control is to increase access to public power in California.
(c) During this energy crisis, the electrical corporations have not been in a position to provide a stable, reasonably priced supply of energy to all of the customers in their service territory.
(d) Where a local publicly owned utility may be available to provide retail sale of energy to customers in the service territory of an electrical corporation, and the customers of that electrical corporation choose to contract with the local publicly owned utility for their energy supply, they should be permitted to do so in as expeditious a manner as possible.
(e) Therefore, for a period of 18 months, the requirement that the agreement of an electrical corporation that is currently serving customers be obtained before those customers can contract with a local publicly owned utility for retail sale of energy should be waived.
Section 366 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

366.
 (a) The commission shall take actions as needed to facilitate direct transactions between electricity suppliers and end use customers. Customers shall be entitled to aggregate their electric loads on a voluntary basis, provided that each customer does so by a positive written declaration. If no positive declaration is made by a customer, that customer shall continue to be served by the existing electrical corporation or its successor in interest.
(b) Aggregation of customer electrical load shall be authorized by the commission for all customer classes, including, but not limited to, small commercial or residential customers. Aggregation may be accomplished by private market aggregators, cities, counties, special districts or on any other basis made available by market opportunities and agreeable by positive written declaration by individual consumers.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including, but not limited to, this chapter, a public agency that seeks to serve as a community aggregator for direct access customers of the electrical corporation may, after a majority vote of its elected governing body, provide aggregation service to all of the customers within its jurisdiction. If a customer of the public agency desires to receive service from a different service provider it may do so upon written notice to the public agency and pursuant to the opt-out rules established by the public agency. Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 56100) of Part 1 of Division 3 of the Government Code does not apply to aggregation service provided by a public agency under this section.

SEC. 2.

Section 9601 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

9601.
 (a) Except with respect to supply options of the nature specified in Section 218, with the exception of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of that section, as it existed on December 20, 1995, no person, corporation, electrical corporation, or local publicly owned electric utility or other governmental entity other than a retail customer’s existing electric service provider as of December 20, 1995, shall provide partial or full electric service to a retail customer of a local publicly owned electric utility unless the customer first confirms in writing an obligation to pay, through tariff or otherwise, to the utility currently providing electric service, a nonbypassable generation-related severance fee or transition charge established by the regulatory body for that utility. The severance fee or transition charge shall be paid directly to the local publicly owned electric utility providing electricity service in the service area in which the consumer is located.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (a) of Section 374, no local publicly owned electric utility or other governmental entity shall provide partial or full electric service to a retail customer of an electrical corporation unless the customer of that electrical corporation first confirms in writing an obligation to pay, through tariff or otherwise, to the electrical corporation currently providing electric service, a nonbypassable generation-related transition charge established by the regulatory body for that electrical corporation. The charge shall be paid directly to the electrical corporation providing electricity in the service area in which the consumer is located.
(c) (1) Except as specified in paragraph (2), no local publicly owned electric utility or electrical corporation shall sell electric power to the retail customers of another local publicly owned electric utility or electrical corporation unless the first utility has agreed to let the second utility make sales of electric power to the retail customers of the first utility.
(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to a local publicly owned electric utility that proposes to sell electric power to the current retail customers of an electrical corporation, if both of the following criteria are satisfied:
(A) The retail customers in the service area of the electrical corporation agree to switch to the local publicly owned electric utility.
(B) The local publicly owned electric utility that proposes to sell electric power to the retail customers of an electrical corporation provides low-income public benefit programs that provide benefits that are equal to or greater than those provided by the electrical corporation.
(d) This section shall remain in effect for 18 months after the effective date of the act amending this section, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 4.

 Section 9601 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

9601.
 (a) Except with respect to supply options of the nature specified in Section 218, with the exception of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of that section, as it existed on December 20, 1995, no person, corporation, electrical corporation, or local publicly owned electric utility or other governmental entity other than a retail customer’s existing electric service provider as of December 20, 1995, shall provide partial or full electric service to a retail customer of a local publicly owned electric utility unless the customer first confirms in writing an obligation to pay, through tariff or otherwise, to the utility currently providing electric service, a nonbypassable generation-related severance fee or transition charge established by the regulatory body for that utility. The severance fee or transition charge shall be paid directly to the local publicly owned utility providing electricity service in the service area in which the consumer is located.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (a) of Section 374, no local publicly owned electric utility or other governmental entity shall provide partial or full electric service to a retail customer of an electrical corporation unless the customer of that electrical corporation first confirms in writing an obligation to pay, through tariff or otherwise, to the electrical corporation currently providing electric service, a nonbypassable generation-related transition charge established by the regulatory body for that electrical corporation. The charge shall be paid directly to the electrical corporation providing electricity in the service area in which the consumer is located.
(c) No local publicly owned electric utility or electrical corporation shall sell electric power to the retail customers of another local publicly owned electric utility or electrical corporation unless the regulatory body of the first utility has agreed to let the second utility make sales of electric power to the retail customers of the first utility after making a finding that the remaining retail customers of the first utility will not be harmed by the transaction.
(d) This section shall become operative 18 months after the effective date of the act adding this section.