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AB-1389 Public Utilities Commission: reports: hiring: capital investment.(2003-2004)

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Assembly Bill No. 1389
CHAPTER 446

An act to add Section 7912 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities.

[ Filed with Secretary of State  September 22, 2003. Approved by Governor  September 20, 2003. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1389, Ridley-Thomas. Public Utilities Commission: reports: hiring: capital investment.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities.
This bill would require any public utility employing more than 750 total employees to annually report certain information to the commission and would require the commission to annually report that information to the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications, or successor committees, and to make the information available to the public on its Internet Web site.

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


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Public utilities serve a vital function, providing basic infrastructure essential to the efficient conduct of commerce and societal interaction.
(b) In exchange for the state’s granting of a certificate of public convenience and necessity or a wireless identification registration number, public utilities bear a heightened responsibility for contributing to the public interest.
(c) The public interest has been interpreted to include providing an adequate level of public utility service at a just and reasonable rate. A more complete interpretation of the public interest would also give consideration to the benefits of public utility employment to the state and its residents.
(d) Given the difficult economic climate and the increasing unemployment rate within the State of California, it is necessary and proper state policy to encourage the employment of Californians by California’s public utilities.
(e) The Public Utilities Commission should monitor and annually report to the Legislature, information showing the levels of employment of California residents and capital investment in California by public utilities, so that the state can ensure greater oversight of public utilities and more comprehensive, informed policymaking.

SEC. 2.

 Section 7912 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

7912.
 (a) A public utility employing more than 750 total employees shall annually report to the commission all of the following:
(1) The number of customers served in California by the public utility.
(2) The percentage of the public utility’s total domestic customer base that resides in California.
(3) The number of California residents employed by the public utility, calculated on a full-time or full-time equivalent basis.
(4) The percentage of the public utility’s total domestic workforce, calculated on a full-time or full-time equivalent basis, that resides in California.
(5) The capital investment in the public utility’s tangible and intangible plant which ordinarily have a service life of more than one year, including plant used by the company or others in providing public utility services, in California during the yearly reporting period.
(6) The number of California residents employed by independent contractors and consultants hired by the public utility, calculated on a full-time or full-time equivalent basis, when the public utility has obtained this information upon requesting it from the independent contractor or consultant, and the public utility is not contractually prohibited from disclosing the information to the public. This subdivision is inapplicable to contractors and consultants that are a public utility subject to the reporting requirements of this section. This paragraph applies only to those employees of an independent contractor or consultant that are personally providing services to the public utility, and does not apply to employees of an independent contractor or consultant not personally performing services for the public utility.
(b) The commission shall annually report the information required to be reported by public utilities pursuant to subdivision (a), to the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications, or their successor committees, and within a reasonable time thereafter, shall make the information available to the public on its Internet Web site.