Steve Bradford
- Democratic
- Senator
- District 35
Author
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the commission to continue a program of assistance to residential customers of the state's 3 largest electrical corporations consisting of households of 3 or more persons with total household annual gross income levels between 200% and 250% of the federal poverty guideline level, which is referred to as the Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) program. This bill would expand eligibility for the FERA program by eliminating the requirement that a household consist of 3 or more persons. The bill would require the commission, by March 1, 2025, and each year thereafter, to require the state's 3 largest electrical corporations to report on their efforts to enroll customers in the FERA program. The bill would require the commission, by June 1, 2025, and each year thereafter, to review each electrical corporation's report to ensure it has made reasonable efforts to enroll eligible households in the FERA program commensurate with the proportion of households the commission determines to be eligible within the electrical corporation's service territory. If the commission, in its review of a report, determines an electrical corporation has not made reasonable efforts to enroll eligible households in the FERA program, the bill would require the commission to require the electrical corporation to develop a strategy and plan to sufficiently enroll eligible households within 3 years of the adoption of the strategy and plan. Existing law requires the commission to develop a process that enables electrical and gas customers to concurrently apply, or begin to apply, to multiple low-income customer assistance programs, including the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program and the FERA program. Existing law requires that the process complement, rather than replace, other application processes. This bill would expressly authorize electrical corporations to market enrollment for the FERA program separately from the CARE program and provide a separate FERA program-only application form. 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 codified in the act and would require action by the commission, a violation of which would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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.
Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 457, Statutes of 2024.
Approved by the Governor.
Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 34. Noes 3.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 71. Noes 0. Page 6528.) Ordered to the Senate.
In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
Ordered to third reading.
Read third time and amended.
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (August 15).
August 7 set for first hearing. Placed on suspense file.
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (June 19). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
June 5 hearing postponed by committee.
In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 35. Noes 3. Page 4025.) Ordered to the Assembly.
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 2. Page 3973.) (May 16).
Set for hearing May 16.
April 8 hearing: Placed on APPR suspense file.
Set for hearing April 8.
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 15. Noes 0. Page 3349.) (March 19). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
Set for hearing March 19.
From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 15.
Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.
| Bill Text Versions | Format |
|---|---|
| SB1130 | HTML |
| 02/13/24 - Introduced | |
| 08/22/24 - Amended Assembly | |
| 08/30/24 - Enrolled | |
| 09/22/24 - Chaptered |
| Document | Format |
|---|---|
| 03/15/24- Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications | |
| 04/05/24- Senate Appropriations | |
| 05/17/24- Sen. Floor Analyses | |
| 06/18/24- Assembly Committee on Utilities and Energy | |
| 08/06/24- Assembly Appropriations | |
| 08/19/24- ASSEMBLY FLOOR ANALYSIS | |
| 08/23/24- ASSEMBLY FLOOR ANALYSIS | |
| 08/27/24- Sen. Floor Analyses |
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