Today's Law As Amended


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AB-83 Electrical restructuring: Oversight Board: Independent System Operator.(2001-2002)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.

 Section 335 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

335.
 In order to ensure that the interests of the people of California are served, a five-member Electricity Oversight Board is hereby created as provided in Section 336. For purposes of this chapter, any reference to the Oversight Board shall mean the Electricity Oversight Board. Its functions shall be all of the following:
(a) To oversee the Independent System Operator and the Power Exchange.
(b) (1) To exercise the exclusive right to decline to confirm the appointments of members of the governing board of the Independent System Operator.
(b) (2)  To determine the composition and terms of service and to exercise the exclusive right to decline to confirm the appointments of specific members of the governing board of the Power Exchange.
(c) To serve as an appeal board for majority decisions of the Independent System Operator governing board, as they relate to matters subject to exclusive state jurisdiction, as specified in Section 339.
(d) Those members of the Power Exchange governing board whose appointments the Oversight Board has the exclusive right to decline to confirm include proposed governing board members representing agricultural end users, industrial end users, commercial end users, residential end users, end users at large, nonmarket participants, and public interest groups.
(e) To act on any matters made subject to approval or determination by the Oversight Board under law.
(e) (f)  To investigate any matter related to the wholesale market for electricity and otherwise act consistent with this chapter  to ensure that the interests of California’s citizens and consumers are served, protected, and represented in relation to the availability of  electric transmission grid  and generation system  and related costs, during periods of peak demand. costs. 

SEC. 2.

 Section 341.6 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

341.6.
 (a) The Oversight Board, acting through an authorized officer of the board, may direct the inspection or production of records, data, accounts, books, or documents of the Independent System Operator or the Power Exchange that are reasonably related to the public interest of the people of California, including, but not limited to, the reliability, availability, and cost of electric service to California consumers.
(b) The Oversight Board, acting through an authorized officer of the board, may direct the production of information described in subdivision (a), from an entity that owns or operates generation or transmission facilities located in California or that engages in the sale of electricity in California related to the reliability, availability, or cost of electric service to California consumers.
(c) An entity providing information to the Oversight Board may request confidential treatment for specific information that it provides, which request shall be made at the time the request for information is received. The request for confidentiality shall specifically identify the information for which confidentiality is sought and the justification for that treatment. No information submitted under a request for confidentiality shall be open to public inspection or made public except pursuant to an order of the Oversight Board finding that confidential treatment is not warranted, which order shall be made after notice and an opportunity for hearing. The Oversight Board or an authorized officer of the board may adopt orders governing the handling of information as appropriate to protect legitimate confidentiality.
(d) The Oversight Board may direct the Independent System Operator to report to the board on those matters and at those times as the board determines are necessary and appropriate to the exercise of its public oversight duties.

SEC. 3.

 Section 341.7 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

341.7.
 In developing maintenance, operation, and availability standards for qualified facilities and cogenerators, the Independent System Operator shall consider the specific characteristics of operations of these facilities, including, but not limited to, the manner in which they are tied into the system or grid, and the production of energy through a cooperated industrial process.

SEC. 4.

 Section 342 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

342.
 (a) The Legislature finds and declares that electric generation and transmission facilities are critical infrastructure and their predictable availability is essential to the public welfare.
(b) Electric generation and transmission facilities shall be subject to standards related to their availability, in accordance with this section.
(c) Owners or operators of electric generating facilities in the State of California shall comply with all standards approved or established pursuant to this chapter.
(d) The Independent System Operator shall prepare and submit to the Oversight Board, a proposed protocol for the scheduling of transmission and generation equipment outages for the purposes of maintenance, repair, or upgrade. The Independent System Operator shall resubmit this protocol, including any proposed revisions of the protocol, at least annually. The Oversight Board shall review and approve or direct revision of the proposed protocol as it determines is appropriate and necessary to protect the public interest after notice and public hearing. The Independent System Operator shall utilize an approved protocol for the purpose of scheduling maintenance or other planned outages of equipment including the preparation of a coordinated outage plan. The Independent System Operator shall prepare and submit to the Oversight Board, a coordinated outage plan that shall be updated not less than once each quarter.
(e) The Independent System Operator shall develop and submit to the Oversight Board proposed generation facility maintenance criteria. The Oversight Board shall review the proposed generation maintenance criteria and approve or direct revision of the criteria as it determines necessary to protect the public interest after notice and public hearing.
(f) The Independent System Operator shall maintain records of generation facility outages and shall provide those records to the Oversight Board on a daily basis. Each entity that owns or operates an electric generating facility in California with a rated maximum combined capacity of 10 megawatts or greater for all units at a single location, shall provide a monthly report to the Independent System Operator and the Oversight Board that identifies any periods during the preceding month when the facility was unavailable to produce electricity or was available only at reduced capacity. The report shall identify the reasons for any such unavailability or reduced capacity.
(g) The Independent System Operator and the Oversight Board may engage in audits or inspection of facilities that fail to comply with procedures, criteria, or standards established pursuant to this section or for which compliance is in question. Owners or operators of generation or transmission facilities shall provide information and access to the Independent System Operator and the Oversight Board as necessary to accomplish reasonable audit or inspection. The Oversight Board may, on petition of the Independent System Operator or acting on its own motion, and after public notice and hearing, assess a monetary penalty against the owner or operator of a facility found to have failed to comply with criteria, standards, or procedures approved or established pursuant to this section.
(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the provisions of this section and any rules, regulations, standards, or protocols issued in furtherance of this section shall not apply to a local publicly owned electric utility as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 9604.

SEC. 5.

 Section 342.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

342.5.
 (a) Each local publicly owned electric utility that owns or operates generation or transmission facilities shall file with the Oversight Board an annual schedule of maintenance, updated quarterly, for all generation and transmission facilities of 10 megawatts or greater. A local publicly owned electric utility shall make good faith efforts to conduct its maintenance of those facilities in compliance with its filed plan and shall report to the Oversight Board any significant variations from its filed plan.
(b) The Oversight Board shall facilitate the formation of an advisory committee that shall include, but not be limited to, representatives of the Independent System Operator, local publicly owned electric utilities, other public and private owners of transmission facilities, and owners of privately owned generation facilities. The advisory committee shall develop procedures to coordinate planned outages of generation and transmission facilities owned by local publicly owned electric utilities and the federal government with planned outages for other facilities. The advisory committee shall consider planned outage and maintenance protocols taking into account several factors, including, but not limited to, the primary purpose of facilities of local publicly owned electric utilities to serve customer-owners, overall system reliability, water delivery, and other obligations that may encumber operation of mutual agreements between local publicly owned electric utilities and the Independent System Operator to govern coordination of facility maintenance. The advisory committee shall report to the Oversight Board regularly on the development of outage coordination protocols and shall provide those protocols to the board when they are completed or modified.
(c) Each local publicly owned electric utility that owns or operates generation facilities or transmission facilities of 10 megawatts or greater shall report to the Oversight Board all actual planned and unplanned outages of those facilities.
(d) Each local publicly owned electric utility that owns or operates any generation or transmission facility of 10 megawatts or greater shall adopt standards for the maintenance of those facilities. Each local publicly owned electric utility shall file its standards with the Oversight Board and shall identify any significant variations between the local publicly owned electric utility standard and any standard approved pursuant to the criteria of subdivision (e) of Section 342. Each local publicly owned electric utility shall report the daily operational status and availability of its generation facilities to the Oversight Board on a daily basis.
SEC. 6.
 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district because in that regard 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.
However, notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code. If the statewide cost of the claim for reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000), reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund.