Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to authorize direct transactions between electricity suppliers and retail end-use customers. However, other existing law suspends the right of retail end-use customers to acquire service from certain electricity suppliers after a period of time to be determined by the commission until the Department of Water Resources no longer supplies electricity under that law. Existing law authorizes the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District’s (BART) system to elect to obtain electricity from multiple sources, including (1) preference power purchased from a federal power marketing agency or its successor, (2) electricity supplied by one or more direct transactions, and (3) electricity supplied by any electric utility regulated by the commission that owns and operates transmission and distribution facilities that deliver electricity at one or more locations to the BART District’s system. Existing law requires any electrical corporation that owns and operates transmission and distribution facilities that deliver electricity to BART, upon request by BART, to deliver preference power purchased from a federal power marketing agency or its successor, without discrimination or delay.
This bill would additionally require any electrical corporation that owns and operates transmission and distribution facilities that deliver electricity to BART, upon request by BART, to deliver electricity purchased from a local publicly owned electric utility, as defined, without discrimination or delay.
Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act is a crime.
Certain provisions of the bill would be a part of the act. Because a violation of those provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.
The bill would declare that, due to the special circumstances applicable only to the BART District, a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution, and the enactment of a special statute is therefore necessary.
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 reason.
The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.