AB 901

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical, gas, water, and telephone corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to establish rules for all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature, authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law directs the commission to require every electrical, gas, telephone, and water corporation with annual gross revenues exceeding $25,000,000, and their regulated subsidiaries and affiliates, to implement a program developed by the commission to encourage, recruit, and utilize minority-, women-, and disabled veteran-owned business enterprises, as defined, in the procurement of contracts from those corporations or from their regulated subsidiaries and affiliates, and to require the reporting of certain information. This bill would require the commission to compile and make publicly available a comprehensive list of corporate responsibility principals to be followed by all public utilities whose rates and charges are regulated under rate-of-return regulation by the commission. This bill would require that a public utility whose rates and charges are regulated under rate-of-return regulation by the commission, with annual gross revenue of $50,000,000 or more, report by April 1 of each year, to the Legislature and the commission, and make publicly available on a company Internet Web site certain information relative to employee and executive compensation. The bill would require the commission to annually poll 1,000 ratepayers within the service territory of the public utility to obtain an advisory opinion on the ratepayers' views of the executive compensation paid by the public utility and report those views to the public utility and the Legislature and make the results available, in summary form, on the commission's Internet Web site. The bill would require the commission to consider the information in any ratemaking case involving the public utility and in any merger or acquisition involving the public utility, and include findings relative to this information in the decision of the commission. This bill would require the commission to consider corporate philanthropy when considering any ratemaking case, or merger or acquisition of a public utility whose rates and charges are regulated under rate-of-return regulation by the commission, with annual gross revenue of $50,000,000 or more and to include information relative to the public utility's philanthropy in the utility's triennial general ratemaking case. This bill would require the commission to require any public utility whose rates and charges are regulated under rate-of-return regulation by the commission, to gather data by ethnicity and gender for labor, management, and executive employees, and for the board of directors, and submit this information by April 1 of each year, to the Legislature and the commission, and to make the information publicly available on a company Internet Web site. This bill would require the commission to include information on a public utility's compliance with the program developed by the commission to encourage, recruit, and utilize minority-, women-, and disabled veteran-owned business enterprises in any decision in a ratemaking case, or involving a merger or acquisition involving the public utility. This bill would require the commission, for any public utility whose rates and charges are regulated under rate-of-return regulation by the commission, with annual gross revenue of $50,000,000 or more, to schedule hearings for the convenience of ratepayers in the community of affected ratepayers to ensure that ratepayers have reasonable notice of any proceeding of the commission that may have a substantial effect upon the rates and charges of a public utility and have a reasonable opportunity to participate in the proceeding. The bill would require the commission to establish a procedure whereby newspapers and other media sources may request notices of hearings and proceedings and would require the commission to consider the comments of ratepayers in reaching any decision in the proceeding. This bill would require the commission to annually make available on its Internet Web site, a summary of the disposition of all credible local, state, federal, and international rulings relating to a public utility's corporate responsibilities, including any disciplinary or enforcement activity with respect to the public utility. The bill would require the commission to consider this information in any proceeding involving the public utility, and would authorize the commission to order any remediatory action be taken that is determined to be reasonable, as a condition for approving any rate increase, merger, acquisition, or other approval by the commission. The bill would require the commission, by April 1 of each year, to report to the Legislature and make publicly available on the commission's Internet Web site, a summary of all actions taken by the commission relative to a public utility's corporate responsibilities pursuant to the above-described requirements, and to include a summary of the effect of the commission's actions on the interests of ratepayers. Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. 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.