SB 1364

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, gas corporations, telephone corporations, and water corporations, as defined. The Public Utilities Act authorizes the PUC, each commissioner, and each officer and person employed by the PUC at any time to inspect the accounts, books, papers, and documents of any public utility. This authorization applies to inspections of the accounts, books, papers, and documents of any business that is a subsidiary or affiliate of, or a corporation that holds a controlling interest in, an electrical, gas, or telephone corporation. This bill would additionally authorize the inspection of the accounts, books, papers, and documents of any business that is a subsidiary or affiliate of, or a corporation that holds controlling interest in, a water corporation that has 2,000 or more service connections. (2) Existing law 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, with certain exceptions, prohibits a public utility from changing any rate, except upon a showing before the commission and a finding by the commission that the new rate is justified. With certain exceptions, whenever any electrical, gas, heat, telephone, water, or sewer system corporation files an application to change any rate for the services or commodities furnished by it, existing law requires that the corporation furnish its customers notice of its application to the PUC for approval of the new rate. This bill, for a water corporation with more than 2,000 service connections, would require the notice to include estimated rate impacts on the various customer classes of the corporation. The bill would authorize the commission to require the water corporation to inform customers of the outcome of the general rate case, as prescribed. (3) Existing law requires every electrical, gas, and telephone corporation to annually prepare and submit to the PUC a report describing all significant transactions between the corporation and every subsidiary or affiliate of, or corporation holding a controlling interest in, the electrical, gas, or telephone corporation. Existing law requires that the report identify the nature of the transactions and the terms and conditions applying to them, including the basis upon which cost allocations and transfer pricing were established for the transactions. Existing law requires the PUC to periodically audit all significant transactions between an electrical, gas, or telephone corporation and every subsidiary or affiliate of, or corporation holding a controlling interest in, that electrical, gas, or telephone corporation. Existing law authorizes the commission to utilize the services of an independent auditor, to be selected and supervised by the commission. This bill would make these requirements applicable to water corporations with more than 2,000 service connections. The bill would authorize the commission to direct a water corporation with more than 2,000 service connections, or an electrical, gas, or telephone corporation, to utilize the services of an independent auditor, to be selected and supervised by that water, electrical, gas, or telephone corporation. (4) If the PUC finds and determines that any electrical, gas, or telephone corporation has willfully made an imprudent payment to, or received a less than reasonable payment from, any subsidiary or affiliate of, or corporation holding a controlling interest in, the electrical, gas, or telephone corporation in violation of any rule or order of the PUC, and the corporation has sought to recover the payment in any proceeding before the PUC, existing law authorizes the PUC, following a hearing, to levy a penalty against the corporation not to exceed 3 times the required or prohibited payment if the PUC finds that the payment was made or received by the corporation for the purpose of benefiting its subsidiary, affiliate, or holding corporation. This bill would extend this authority to water corporations with more than 2,000 service connections. (5) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and certain provisions of the bill would extend existing requirements to water corporations, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the application of a 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.