360-380
PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE
SECTION 360-380
360. The commission shall ensure that existing, and if necessary,
additional filings at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
request confirmation of the relevant provisions of this chapter and
seek the authority needed to give the Independent System Operator the
ability to secure generating and transmission resources necessary to
guarantee achievement of planning and operating reserve criteria no
less stringent than those established by the Western Electricity
Coordinating Council and the North American Electric Reliability
Council.
360.5. The commission shall determine that portion of each existing
electrical corporation's retail rate effective on January 5, 2001,
that is equal to the difference between the generation related
component of the retail rate and the sum of the costs of the utility'
s own generation, qualifying facility contracts, existing bilateral
contracts, and ancillary services. That portion of the retail rate
shall be known as the California Procurement Adjustment. The
commission shall further determine the amount of the California
Procurement Adjustment that is allocable to the power sold by the
department. That amount shall be payable, by each electrical
corporation, upon receipt by the electrical corporation of the
revenues from its retail end use customers, to the department for
deposit in the Department of Water Resources Electric Power Fund,
established by Section 80200 of the Water Code. The amount determined
pursuant to this subdivision shall be known as the Fixed Department
of Water Resources Set-Aside.
361. The commission shall ensure that any funds secured by the
restructuring trusts established for the purposes of developing the
Independent System Operator and the Power Exchange shall be placed at
the disposal of the Independent System Operator and the Power
Exchange respectively.
362. (a) In proceedings pursuant to Section 455.5, 851, or 854, the
commission shall ensure that facilities needed to maintain the
reliability of the electric supply remain available and operational,
consistent with maintaining open competition and avoiding an
overconcentration of market power. In order to determine whether the
facility needs to remain available and operational, the commission
shall utilize standards that are no less stringent than the Western
Electricity Coordinating Council and North American Electric
Reliability Council standards for planning reserve criteria.
(b) The commission shall require that generation facilities
located in the state that have been disposed of in proceedings
pursuant to Section 851 are operated by the persons or corporations
who own or control them in a manner that ensures their availability
to maintain the reliability of the electric supply system.
363. (a) In order to ensure the continued safe and reliable
operation of public utility electric generating facilities, the
commission shall require in any proceeding under Section 851
involving the sale, but not spinoff, of a public utility electric
generating facility, for transactions initiated prior to December 31,
2001, and approved by the commission by December 31, 2002, that the
selling utility contract with the purchaser of the facility for the
selling utility, an affiliate, or a successor corporation to operate
and maintain the facility for at least two years. The commission may
require these conditions to be met for transactions initiated on or
after January 1, 2002. The commission shall require the contracts to
be reasonable for both the seller and the buyer.
(b) Subdivision (a) shall apply only if the facility is actually
operated during the two-year period following the sale. Subdivision
(a) shall not require the purchaser to operate a facility, nor shall
it preclude a purchaser from temporarily closing the facility to make
capital improvements.
(c) For those bayside fossil fueled electric generation and
associated transmission facilities that an electrical corporation has
proposed to divest in a public auction and for which the Legislature
has appropriated state funds in the Budget Act of 1998 to assist
local governmental entities in acquiring the facilities or to
mitigate environmental and community issues, and where the local
governmental entity proposes that the closure of the power plant
would serve the public interest by mitigating air, water and other
environmental, health and safety, and community impacts associated
with the facilities, and where the local governmental entity and
electrical corporation have engaged in significant negotiations with
the purpose of shutting down the power plant, and where there is an
agreement between the electrical corporation and the local
governmental entity for closure of the facilities or for the local
governmental entity to acquire the facilities, the commission shall
approve the closure of these facilities or the transfer of these
electric generation and associated transmission facilities to the
local governmental entity and shall consider the utility transactions
with the community to be just and reasonable for its ratepayers. For
purposes of calculating the Competition Transition Charge, the
commission shall not use any inferred market value for the facilities
predicated on the continued use of the plant, the construction of
successor facilities or alternative use of the site and shall net the
costs of the depreciated book value of the power plant and the
unrecovered costs of decommissioning, environmental remediation and
site restoration against the net proceeds received from the local
governmental entity for the acquisition or closure of the facilities.
Thereafter, any net proceeds received from the ultimate disposition,
by the electrical corporation, of the site shall be credited to
recovery of Competition Transition Charges.
364. (a) The commission shall adopt inspection, maintenance,
repair, and replacement standards for the distribution systems of
investor-owned electric utilities no later than March 31, 1997. The
standards, which shall be performance or prescriptive standards, or
both, as appropriate, for each substantial type of distribution
equipment or facility, shall provide for high quality, safe and
reliable service.
(b) In setting its standards, the commission shall consider: cost,
local geography and weather, applicable codes, national electric
industry practices, sound engineering judgment, and experience. The
commission shall also adopt standards for operation, reliability, and
safety during periods of emergency and disaster. The commission
shall require each utility to report annually on its compliance with
the standards. That report shall be made available to the public.
(c) The commission shall conduct a review to determine whether the
standards prescribed in this section have been met. If the
commission finds that the standards have not been met, the commission
may order appropriate sanctions, including penalties in the form of
rate reductions or monetary fines. The review shall be performed
after every major outage. Any money collected pursuant to this
subdivision shall be used to offset funding for the California
Alternative Rates for Energy Program.
365. The actions of the commission pursuant to this chapter shall
be consistent with the findings and declarations contained in Section
330. In addition, the commission shall do all of the following:
(a) Facilitate the efforts of the state's electrical corporations
to develop and obtain authorization from the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission for the creation and operation of an
Independent System Operator and an independent Power Exchange, for
the determination of which transmission and distribution facilities
are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the commission, and for
approval, to the extent necessary, of the cost recovery mechanism
established as provided in Sections 367 to 376, inclusive. The
commission shall also participate fully in all proceedings before the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in connection with the
Independent System Operator and the independent Power Exchange, and
shall encourage the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to adopt
protocols and procedures that strengthen the reliability of the
interconnected transmission grid, encourage all publicly owned
utilities in California to become full participants, and maximize
enforceability of such protocols and procedures by all market
participants.
(b) (1) Authorize direct transactions between electricity
suppliers and end use customers, subject to implementation of the
nonbypassable charge referred to in Sections 367 to 376, inclusive.
Direct transactions shall commence simultaneously with the start of
an Independent System Operator and Power Exchange referred to in
subdivision (a). The simultaneous commencement shall occur as soon as
practicable, but no later than January 1, 1998. The commission shall
develop a phase-in schedule at the conclusion of which all customers
shall have the right to engage in direct transactions. Any phase-in
of customer eligibility for direct transactions ordered by the
commission shall be equitable to all customer classes and
accomplished as soon as practicable, consistent with operational and
other technological considerations, and shall be completed for all
customers by January 1, 2002.
(2) Customers shall be eligible for direct access irrespective of
any direct access phase-in implemented pursuant to this section if at
least one-half of that customer's electrical load is supplied by
energy from a renewable resource provider certified pursuant to
Section 383, provided however that nothing in this section shall
provide for direct access for electric consumers served by municipal
utilities unless so authorized by the governing board of that
municipal utility.
365.1. (a) Except as expressly authorized by this section, and
subject to the limitations in subdivisions (b) and (c), the right of
retail end-use customers pursuant to this chapter to acquire service
from other providers is suspended until the Legislature, by statute,
lifts the suspension or otherwise authorizes direct transactions. For
purposes of this section, "other provider" means any person,
corporation, or other entity that is authorized to provide electric
service within the service territory of an electrical corporation
pursuant to this chapter, and includes an aggregator, broker, or
marketer, as defined in Section 331, and an electric service
provider, as defined in Section 218.3. "Other provider" does not
include a community choice aggregator, as defined in Section 331.1,
and the limitations in this section do not apply to the sale of
electricity by "other providers" to a community choice aggregator for
resale to community choice aggregation electricity consumers
pursuant to Section 366.2.
(b) The commission shall allow individual retail nonresidential
end-use customers to acquire electric service from other providers in
each electrical corporation's distribution service territory, up to
a maximum allowable total kilowatthours annual limit. The maximum
allowable annual limit shall be established by the commission for
each electrical corporation at the maximum total kilowatthours
supplied by all other providers to distribution customers of that
electrical corporation during any sequential 12-month period between
April 1, 1998, and the effective date of this section. Within six
months of the effective date of this section, or by July 1, 2010,
whichever is sooner, the commission shall adopt and implement a
reopening schedule that commences immediately and will phase in the
allowable amount of increased kilowatthours over a period of not less
than three years, and not more than five years, raising the
allowable limit of kilowatthours supplied by other providers in each
electrical corporation's distribution service territory from the
number of kilowatthours provided by other providers as of the
effective date of this section, to the maximum allowable annual limit
for that electrical corporation's distribution service territory.
The commission shall review and, if appropriate, modify its currently
effective rules governing direct transactions, but that review shall
not delay the start of the phase-in schedule.
(c) Once the commission has authorized additional direct
transactions pursuant to subdivision (b), it shall do both of the
following:
(1) Ensure that other providers are subject to the same
requirements that are applicable to the state's three largest
electrical corporations under any programs or rules adopted by the
commission to implement the resource adequacy provisions of Section
380, the renewables portfolio standard provisions of Article 16
(commencing with Section 399.11), and the requirements for the
electricity sector adopted by the State Air Resources Board pursuant
to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5
(commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code). This
requirement applies notwithstanding any prior decision of the
commission to the contrary.
(2) (A) Ensure that, in the event that the commission authorizes,
in the situation of a contract with a third party, or orders, in the
situation of utility-owned generation, an electrical corporation to
obtain generation resources that the commission determines are needed
to meet system or local area reliability needs for the benefit of
all customers in the electrical corporation's distribution service
territory, the net capacity costs of those generation resources are
allocated on a fully nonbypassable basis consistent with departing
load provisions as determined by the commission, to all of the
following:
(i) Bundled service customers of the electrical corporation.
(ii) Customers that purchase electricity through a direct
transaction with other providers.
(iii) Customers of community choice aggregators.
(B) The resource adequacy benefits of generation resources
acquired by an electrical corporation pursuant to subparagraph (A)
shall be allocated to all customers who pay their net capacity costs.
Net capacity costs shall be determined by subtracting the energy and
ancillary services value of the resource from the total costs paid
by the electrical corporation pursuant to a contract with a third
party or the annual revenue requirement for the resource if the
electrical corporation directly owns the resource. An energy auction
shall not be required as a condition for applying this allocation,
but may be allowed as a means to establish the energy and ancillary
services value of the resource for purposes of determining the net
costs of capacity to be recovered from customers pursuant to this
paragraph, and the allocation of the net capacity costs of contracts
with third parties shall be allowed for the terms of those contracts.
(C) It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this
paragraph, to provide additional guidance to the commission with
respect to the implementation of subdivision (g) of Section 380, as
well as to ensure that the customers to whom the net costs and
benefits of capacity are allocated are not required to pay for the
cost of electricity they do not consume.
(d) (1) If the commission approves a centralized resource adequacy
mechanism pursuant to subdivisions (h) and (i) of Section 380, upon
the implementation of the centralized resource adequacy mechanism the
requirements of paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) shall be suspended.
If the commission later orders that electrical corporations cease
procuring capacity through a centralized resource adequacy mechanism,
the requirements of paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) shall again
apply.
(2) If the use of a centralized resource adequacy mechanism is
authorized by the commission and has been implemented as set forth in
paragraph (1), the net capacity costs of generation resources that
the commission determines are required to meet urgent system or
urgent local grid reliability needs, and that the commission
authorizes to be procured outside of the Section 380 or Section 454.5
processes, shall be recovered according to the provisions of
paragraph (2) of subdivision (c).
(3) Nothing in this subdivision supplants the resource adequacy
requirements of Section 380 or the resource procurement procedures
established in Section 454.5.
(e) The commission may report to the Legislature on the efficacy
of authorizing individual retail end-use residential customers to
enter into direct transactions, including appropriate consumer
protections.
365.5. Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the commission from
exercising its authority to investigate a process for certification
and regulation of the rates, charges, terms, and conditions of
default service. If the commission determines that a process for
certification and regulation of default service is in the public
interest, the commission shall submit its findings and
recommendations to the Legislature for approval.
366. (a) The commission shall take actions as needed to facilitate
direct transactions between electricity suppliers and end-use
customers. Customers shall be entitled to aggregate their electrical
loads on a voluntary basis, provided that each customer does so by a
positive written declaration. If no positive declaration is made by a
customer, that customer shall continue to be served by the existing
electrical corporation or its successor in interest, except
aggregation by community choice aggregators, accomplished pursuant to
Section 366.2.
(b) Aggregation of customer electrical load shall be authorized by
the commission for all customer classes, including, but not limited,
to small commercial or residential customers. Aggregation may be
accomplished by private market aggregators, special districts, or on
any other basis made available by market opportunities and agreeable
by positive written declaration by individual consumers, except
aggregation by community choice aggregators, which shall be
accomplished pursuant to Section 366.2.
366.1. (a) As used in this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Department" means the Department of Water Resources with
respect to its power program described in Chapter 2 (commencing with
Section 80100) of Division 27 of the Water Code.
(2) "Existing project participant" means a city with rights and
obligations to the Magnolia Power Project under the Magnolia Power
Project Planning Agreement, dated May 1, 2001.
(3) "Magnolia Power Project" means a proposed natural gas-fired
electric generating facility to be located at an existing site in
Burbank and for which an application for certification has been filed
with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act
(Docket No. 00-SIT-1) and deemed data adequate pursuant to the
expedited six-month licensing process established under Section 25550
of the Public Resources Code.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 80110 of the Water Code or Commission
Decision 01-09-060, if the Magnolia Power Project has been
constructed and is otherwise capable of beginning deliveries of
electricity to the existing project participants, an existing project
participant may serve as a community aggregator on behalf of all
retail end-use customers within its jurisdiction.
(c) Subdivision (b) shall not become operative until both of the
following occur:
(1) The commission implements a cost-recovery mechanism,
consistent with subdivision (d), that is applicable to customers that
elected to purchase electricity from an alternate provider between
February 1, 2001, and the effective date of the act adding this
section.
(2) The commission submits a report certifying its satisfaction of
paragraph (1) to the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications
Committee, or its successor, and the Assembly Committee on Utilities
and Commerce, or its successor.
(d) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that each retail
end-use customer that has purchased power from an electrical
corporation on or after February 1, 2001, should bear a fair share of
the department's power purchase costs, as well as power purchase
contract obligations incurred as of January 1, 2003, that are
recoverable from electrical corporation customers in
commission-approved rates. It is the further intent of the
Legislature to prevent any shifting of recoverable costs between
customers.
(2) The Legislature finds and declares that the provisions in this
subdivision are consistent with the requirements of Section 360.5
and Division 27 (commencing with Section 80000) of the Water Code,
and are therefore declaratory of existing law.
(e) A retail end-use customer purchasing power from a community
aggregator pursuant to subdivision (b) shall reimburse the department
for all of the following:
(1) A charge equivalent to the charge which would otherwise be
imposed on the customer by the commission to recover bond related
costs pursuant to an agreement between the commission and the
Department of Water Resources pursuant to Section 80110 of the Water
Code, that charge shall be payable until all obligations of the
Department of Water Resources pursuant to Division 27 of the Water
Code are fully paid or otherwise discharged.
(2) The costs of the department, equal to the share of the
department's estimated net unavoidable power purchase contract costs
attributable to the customer, as determined by the commission, for
the period commencing with the customer's purchases of electricity
from a community aggregator, through the expiration of all then
existing power purchase contracts entered into by the department.
(f) A retail end-use customer purchasing power from a community
aggregator pursuant to subdivision (b) shall reimburse the electrical
corporation that previously served the customer for all of the
following:
(1) The electrical corporation's unrecovered past
undercollections, including all financing costs attributable to that
customer, that the commission lawfully determines may be recovered in
rates.
(2) The costs of the electrical corporation recoverable in
commission-approved rates, equal to the share of the electrical
corporation's estimated net unavoidable power purchase contract costs
attributable to the customer, as determined by the commission, for
the period commencing with the customer's purchases of electricity
from the community aggregator, through the expiration of all then
existing power purchase contracts entered into by the electrical
corporation.
(g) (1) A charge or cost imposed pursuant to subdivision (e), and
all revenues received to pay the charge or cost, shall be the
property of the Department of Water Resources. A charge or cost
imposed pursuant to subdivision (f), and all revenues received to pay
the charge or cost, shall be the property of the particular
electrical corporation. The commission shall establish mechanisms,
including agreements with, or orders with respect to, electrical
corporations necessary to assure that the revenues received to pay a
charge or cost payable pursuant to this section are promptly remitted
to the party entitled to those revenues.
(2) A charge or cost imposed pursuant to this section shall be
nonbypassable.
366.2. (a) (1) Customers shall be entitled to aggregate their
electric loads as members of their local community with community
choice aggregators.
(2) Customers may aggregate their loads through a public process
with community choice aggregators, if each customer is given an
opportunity to opt out of their community's aggregation program.
(3) If a customer opts out of a community choice aggregator's
program, or has no community choice program available, that customer
shall have the right to continue to be served by the existing
electrical corporation or its successor in interest.
(b) If a public agency seeks to serve as a community choice
aggregator, it shall offer the opportunity to purchase electricity to
all residential customers within its jurisdiction.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding Section 366, a community choice aggregator
is hereby authorized to aggregate the electrical load of interested
electricity consumers within its boundaries to reduce transaction
costs to consumers, provide consumer protections, and leverage the
negotiation of contracts. However, the community choice aggregator
may not aggregate electrical load if that load is served by a local
publicly owned electric utility. A community choice aggregator may
group retail electricity customers to solicit bids, broker, and
contract for electricity and energy services for those customers. The
community choice aggregator may enter into agreements for services
to facilitate the sale and purchase of electricity and other related
services. Those service agreements may be entered into by a single
city or county, a city and county, or by a group of cities, cities
and counties, or counties.
(2) Under community choice aggregation, customer participation may
not require a positive written declaration, but all customers shall
be informed of their right to opt out of the community choice
aggregation program. If no negative declaration is made by a
customer, that customer shall be served through the community choice
aggregation program.
(3) A community choice aggregator establishing electrical load
aggregation pursuant to this section shall develop an implementation
plan detailing the process and consequences of aggregation. The
implementation plan, and any subsequent changes to it, shall be
considered and adopted at a duly noticed public hearing. The
implementation plan shall contain all of the following:
(A) An organizational structure of the program, its operations,
and its funding.
(B) Ratesetting and other costs to participants.
(C) Provisions for disclosure and due process in setting rates and
allocating costs among participants.
(D) The methods for entering and terminating agreements with other
entities.
(E) The rights and responsibilities of program participants,
including, but not limited to, consumer protection procedures, credit
issues, and shutoff procedures.
(F) Termination of the program.
(G) A description of the third parties that will be supplying
electricity under the program, including, but not limited to,
information about financial, technical, and operational capabilities.
(4) A community choice aggregator establishing electrical load
aggregation shall prepare a statement of intent with the
implementation plan. Any community choice load aggregation
established pursuant to this section shall provide for the following:
(A) Universal access.
(B) Reliability.
(C) Equitable treatment of all classes of customers.
(D) Any requirements established by state law or by the commission
concerning aggregated service.
(5) In order to determine the cost-recovery mechanism to be
imposed on the community choice aggregator pursuant to subdivisions
(d), (e), and (f) that shall be paid by the customers of the
community choice aggregator to prevent shifting of costs, the
community choice aggregator shall file the implementation plan with
the commission, and any other information requested by the commission
that the commission determines is necessary to develop the
cost-recovery mechanism in subdivisions (d), (e), and (f).
(6) The commission shall notify any electrical corporation serving
the customers proposed for aggregation that an implementation plan
initiating community choice aggregation has been filed, within 10
days of the filing.
(7) Within 90 days after the community choice aggregator
establishing load aggregation files its implementation plan, the
commission shall certify that it has received the implementation
plan, including any additional information necessary to determine a
cost-recovery mechanism. After certification of receipt of the
implementation plan and any additional information requested, the
commission shall then provide the community choice aggregator with
its findings regarding any cost recovery that must be paid by
customers of the community choice aggregator to prevent a shifting of
costs as provided for in subdivisions (d), (e), and (f).
(8) No entity proposing community choice aggregation shall act to
furnish electricity to electricity consumers within its boundaries
until the commission determines the cost-recovery that must be paid
by the customers of that proposed community choice aggregation
program, as provided for in subdivisions (d), (e), and (f). The
commission shall designate the earliest possible effective date for
implementation of a community choice aggregation program, taking into
consideration the impact on any annual procurement plan of the
electrical corporation that has been approved by the commission.
(9) All electrical corporations shall cooperate fully with any
community choice aggregators that investigate, pursue, or implement
community choice aggregation programs. Cooperation shall include
providing the entities with appropriate billing and electrical load
data, including, but not limited to, data detailing electricity needs
and patterns of usage, as determined by the commission, and in
accordance with procedures established by the commission. Electrical
corporations shall continue to provide all metering, billing,
collection, and customer service to retail customers that participate
in community choice aggregation programs. Bills sent by the
electrical corporation to retail customers shall identify the
community choice aggregator as providing the electrical energy
component of the bill. The commission shall determine the terms and
conditions under which the electrical corporation provides services
to community choice aggregators and retail customers.
(10) (A) A city, county, or city and county that elects to
implement a community choice aggregation program within its
jurisdiction pursuant to this chapter shall do so by ordinance.
(B) Two or more cities, counties, or cities and counties may
participate as a group in a community choice aggregation pursuant to
this chapter, through a joint powers agency established pursuant to
Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 6500) of Division 7 of Title 1 of
the Government Code, if each entity adopts an ordinance pursuant to
subparagraph (A).
(11) Following adoption of aggregation through the ordinance
described in paragraph (10), the program shall allow any retail
customer to opt out and to continue to be served as a bundled service
customer by the existing electrical corporation, or its successor in
interest. Delivery services shall be provided at the same rates,
terms, and conditions, as approved by the commission, for community
choice aggregation customers and customers that have entered into a
direct transaction where applicable, as determined by the commission.
Once enrolled in the aggregated entity, any ratepayer that chooses
to opt out within 60 days or two billing cycles of the date of
enrollment may do so without penalty and shall be entitled to receive
default service pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a).
Customers that return to the electrical corporation for procurement
services shall be subject to the same terms and conditions as are
applicable to other returning direct access customers from the same
class, as determined by the commission, as authorized by the
commission pursuant to this code or any other provision of law. Any
reentry fees to be imposed after the opt-out period specified in this
paragraph, shall be approved by the commission and shall reflect the
cost of reentry. The commission shall exclude any amounts previously
determined and paid pursuant to subdivisions (d), (e), and (f) from
the cost of reentry.
(12) Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing any
city or any community choice retail load aggregator to restrict the
ability of retail electricity customers to obtain or receive service
from any authorized electric service provider in a manner consistent
with law.
(13) (A) The community choice aggregator shall fully inform
participating customers at least twice within two calendar months, or
60 days, in advance of the date of commencing automatic enrollment.
Notifications may occur concurrently with billing cycles. Following
enrollment, the aggregated entity shall fully inform participating
customers for not less than two consecutive billing cycles.
Notification may include, but is not limited to, direct mailings to
customers, or inserts in water, sewer, or other utility bills. Any
notification shall inform customers of both of the following:
(i) That they are to be automatically enrolled and that the
customer has the right to opt out of the community choice aggregator
without penalty.
(ii) The terms and conditions of the services offered.
(B) The community choice aggregator may request the commission to
approve and order the electrical corporation to provide the
notification required in subparagraph (A). If the commission orders
the electrical corporation to send one or more of the notifications
required pursuant to subparagraph (A) in the electrical corporation's
normally scheduled monthly billing process, the electrical
corporation shall be entitled to recover from the community choice
aggregator all reasonable incremental costs it incurs related to the
notification or notifications. The electrical corporation shall fully
cooperate with the community choice aggregator in determining the
feasibility and costs associated with using the electrical
corporation's normally scheduled monthly billing process to provide
one or more of the notifications required pursuant to subparagraph
(A).
(C) Each notification shall also include a mechanism by which a
ratepayer may opt out of community choice aggregated service. The opt
out may take the form of a self-addressed return postcard indicating
the customer's election to remain with, or return to, electrical
energy service provided by the electrical corporation, or another
straightforward means by which the customer may elect to derive
electrical energy service through the electrical corporation
providing service in the area.
(14) The community choice aggregator shall register with the
commission, which may require additional information to ensure
compliance with basic consumer protection rules and other procedural
matters.
(15) Once the community choice aggregator's contract is signed,
the community choice aggregator shall notify the applicable
electrical corporation that community choice service will commence
within 30 days.
(16) Once notified of a community choice aggregator program, the
electrical corporation shall transfer all applicable accounts to the
new supplier within a 30-day period from the date of the close of
their normally scheduled monthly metering and billing process.
(17) An electrical corporation shall recover from the community
choice aggregator any costs reasonably attributable to the community
choice aggregator, as determined by the commission, of implementing
this section, including, but not limited to, all business and
information system changes, except for transaction-based costs as
described in this paragraph. Any costs not reasonably attributable to
a community choice aggregator shall be recovered from ratepayers, as
determined by the commission. All reasonable transaction-based costs
of notices, billing, metering, collections, and customer
communications or other services provided to an aggregator or its
customers shall be recovered from the aggregator or its customers on
terms and at rates to be approved by the commission.
(18) At the request and expense of any community choice
aggregator, electrical corporations shall install, maintain and
calibrate metering devices at mutually agreeable locations within or
adjacent to the community aggregator's political boundaries. The
electrical corporation shall read the metering devices and provide
the data collected to the community aggregator at the aggregator's
expense. To the extent that the community aggregator requests a
metering location that would require alteration or modification of a
circuit, the electrical corporation shall only be required to alter
or modify a circuit if such alteration or modification does not
compromise the safety, reliability or operational flexibility of the
electrical corporation's facilities. All costs incurred to modify
circuits pursuant to this paragraph, shall be borne by the community
aggregator.
(d) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that each retail
end-use customer that has purchased power from an electrical
corporation on or after February 1, 2001, should bear a fair share of
the Department of Water Resources' electricity purchase costs, as
well as electricity purchase contract obligations incurred as of the
effective date of the act adding this section, that are recoverable
from electrical corporation customers in commission-approved rates.
It is further the intent of the Legislature to prevent any shifting
of recoverable costs between customers.
(2) The Legislature finds and declares that this subdivision is
consistent with the requirements of Division 27 (commencing with
Section 80000) of the Water Code and Section 360.5, and is therefore
declaratory of existing law.
(e) A retail end-use customer that purchases electricity from a
community choice aggregator pursuant to this section shall pay both
of the following:
(1) A charge equivalent to the charges that would otherwise be
imposed on the customer by the commission to recover bond related
costs pursuant to any agreement between the commission and the
Department of Water Resources pursuant to Section 80110 of the Water
Code, which charge shall be payable until any obligations of the
Department of Water Resources pursuant to Division 27 (commencing
with Section 80000) of the Water Code are fully paid or otherwise
discharged.
(2) Any additional costs of the Department of Water Resources,
equal to the customer's proportionate share of the Department of
Water Resources' estimated net unavoidable electricity purchase
contract costs as determined by the commission, for the period
commencing with the customer's purchases of electricity from the
community choice aggregator, through the expiration of all then
existing electricity purchase contracts entered into by the
Department of Water Resources.
(f) A retail end-use customer purchasing electricity from a
community choice aggregator pursuant to this section shall reimburse
the electrical corporation that previously served the customer for
all of the following:
(1) The electrical corporation's unrecovered past undercollections
for electricity purchases, including any financing costs,
attributable to that customer, that the commission lawfully
determines may be recovered in rates.
(2) Any additional costs of the electrical corporation recoverable
in commission-approved rates, equal to the share of the electrical
corporation's estimated net unavoidable electricity purchase contract
costs attributable to the customer, as determined by the commission,
for the period commencing with the customer's purchases of
electricity from the community choice aggregator, through the
expiration of all then existing electricity purchase contracts
entered into by the electrical corporation.
(g) (1) Any charges imposed pursuant to subdivision (e) shall be
the property of the Department of Water Resources. Any charges
imposed pursuant to subdivision (f) shall be the property of the
electrical corporation. The commission shall establish mechanisms,
including agreements with, or orders with respect to, electrical
corporations necessary to ensure that charges payable pursuant to
this section shall be promptly remitted to the party entitled to
payment.
(2) Charges imposed pursuant to subdivisions (d), (e), and (f)
shall be nonbypassable.
(h) Notwithstanding Section 80110 of the Water Code, the
commission shall authorize community choice aggregation only if the
commission imposes a cost-recovery mechanism pursuant to subdivisions
(d), (e), (f), and (g). Except as provided by this subdivision, this
section shall not alter the suspension by the commission of direct
purchases of electricity from alternate providers other than by
community choice aggregators, pursuant to Section 80110 of the Water
Code.
(i) (1) The commission shall not authorize community choice
aggregation until it implements a cost-recovery mechanism, consistent
with subdivisions (d), (e), and (f), that is applicable to customers
that elected to purchase electricity from an alternate provider
between February 1, 2001, and January 1, 2003.
(2) The commission shall not authorize community choice
aggregation until it submits a report certifying compliance with
paragraph (1) to the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications
Committee, or its successor, and the Assembly Committee on Utilities
and Commerce, or its successor.
(3) The commission shall not authorize community choice
aggregation until it has adopted rules for implementing community
choice aggregation.
(j) The commission shall prepare and submit to the Legislature, on
or before January 1, 2006, a report regarding the number of
community choices aggregations, the number of customers served by
community choice aggregations, third party suppliers to community
choice aggregations, compliance with this section, and the overall
effectiveness of community choice aggregation programs.
366.5. (a) No change in the aggregator or supplier of electric
power for any small commercial customer may be made until one of the
following means of confirming the change has been completed:
(1) Independent third-party telephone verification.
(2) Receipt of a written confirmation received in the mail from
the consumer after the consumer has received an information package
confirming the agreement.
(3) The customer signs a document fully explaining the nature and
effect of the change in service.
(4) The customer's consent is obtained through electronic means,
including, but not limited to, computer transactions.
(b) No change in the aggregator or provider of electric power for
any residential customer may be made over the telephone until the
change has been confirmed by an independent third-party verification
company, as follows:
(1) The third-party verification company shall meet each of the
following criteria:
(A) Be independent from the entity that seeks to provide the new
service.
(B) Not be directly or indirectly managed, controlled, or
directed, or owned wholly or in part, by an entity that seeks to
provide the new service or by any corporation, firm, or person who
directly or indirectly manages, controls, or directs, or owns more
than 5 percent of the entity.
(C) Operate from facilities physically separate from those of the
entity that seeks to provide the new service.
(D) Not derive commission or compensation based upon the number of
sales confirmed.
(2) The entity seeking to verify the sale shall do so by
connecting the resident by telephone to the third-party verification
company or by arranging for the third-party verification company to
call the customer to confirm the sale.
(3) The third-party verification company shall obtain the customer'
s oral confirmation regarding the change, and shall record that
confirmation by obtaining appropriate verification data. The record
shall be available to the customer upon request. Information obtained
from the customer through confirmation shall not be used for
marketing purposes. Any unauthorized release of this information is
grounds for a civil suit by the aggrieved resident against the entity
or its employees who are responsible for the violation.
(4) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), an aggregator or
provider of electric power shall not be required to comply with
these provisions when the customer directly calls an aggregator or
provider of electric power to change service providers. However, an
aggregator or provider of electric power shall not avoid the
verification requirements by asking a customer to contact an
aggregator or provider of electric power directly to make any change
in the service provider.
(c) No change in the aggregator or provider of electric power for
any residential customer may be made via an Internet transaction, in
which the customer accesses the website of the aggregator or
provider, unless both of the following occur with respect to
confirming the change:
(1) In addition to any other information gathered in the course of
the transaction, the customer shall be asked to read and respond to
a separate screen that states, in easily legible text, the following:
"I acknowledge that in entering this transaction I am voluntarily
choosing to change the entity that supplies me with my electric
power."
(2) The separate screen shall offer the customer the option to
complete or terminate the transaction.
(d) (1) No change in the aggregator or provider of electric power
for any residential customer may be made via a written transaction
unless the change has been confirmed, as provided in this
subdivision. In order to comply with this subdivision, in addition to
any other information gathered in the course of the transaction, and
in addition to any other signature required, the customer shall be
asked to sign and date a document separate from that written
transaction, containing the following words printed in 10-point type
or larger:
"I acknowledge that in signing this contract or agreement, I am
voluntarily choosing to change the entity that supplies me with
electric power."
(2) The acknowledgment document described in paragraph (1) may not
be included with a check or in connection with a sweepstakes
solicitation.
(e) Any aggregator or provider of electric power offering
electricity service to residential and small commercial customers
that switches the electric service of a customer without the customer'
s consent shall be liable to the aggregator or provider of electric
power offering electricity services previously selected by the
customer in an amount equal to all charges paid by the customer after
the violation and shall refund to the customer any amount in excess
of the amount that the customer would have been obligated to pay had
the customer not been switched.
(f) An aggregator or provider of electric power shall keep a
record of the confirmation of a change pursuant to subdivision (b),
(c), or (d) for two years from the date of that confirmation, and
shall make those records available, upon request, to the customer and
to the commission in the course of a commission investigation of a
customer complaint or an investigation pursuant to subdivision (c) of
Section 394.2.
(g) Public agencies are exempt from this section to the extent
they are serving customers within their jurisdiction.
(h) Notwithstanding subdivisions (c) and (d), the commission may
require third-party verification for all residential changes to
electric service providers if it finds that the application of
subdivisions (c) and (d) results in the unauthorized changing of a
customer's electric service provider.
(i) An electrical corporation is exempt from this section for
customers that default to the service of the electrical corporation.
(j) Electric power sold to customers pursuant to Section 80100 of
the Water Code is not subject to this section.
367. The commission shall identify and determine those costs and
categories of costs for generation-related assets and obligations,
consisting of generation facilities, generation-related regulatory
assets, nuclear settlements, and power purchase contracts, including,
but not limited to, restructurings, renegotiations or terminations
thereof approved by the commission, that were being collected in
commission-approved rates on December 20, 1995, and that may become
uneconomic as a result of a competitive generation market, in that
these costs may not be recoverable in market prices in a competitive
market, and appropriate costs incurred after December 20, 1995, for
capital additions to generating facilities existing as of December
20, 1995, that the commission determines are reasonable and should be
recovered, provided that these additions are necessary to maintain
the facilities through December 31, 2001. These uneconomic costs
shall include transition costs as defined in subdivision (f) of
Section 840, and shall be recovered from all customers or in the case
of fixed transition amounts, from the customers specified in
subdivision (a) of Section 841, on a nonbypassable basis and shall:
(a) Be amortized over a reasonable time period, including
collection on an accelerated basis, consistent with not increasing
rates for any rate schedule, contract, or tariff option above the
levels in effect on June 10, 1996; provided that, the recovery shall
not extend beyond December 31, 2001, except as follows:
(1) Costs associated with employee-related transition costs as set
forth in subdivision (b) of Section 375 shall continue until fully
collected; provided, however, that the cost collection shall not
extend beyond December 31, 2006.
(2) Power purchase contract obligations shall continue for the
duration of the contract. Costs associated with any buy-out,
buy-down, or renegotiation of the contracts shall continue to be
collected for the duration of any agreement governing the buy-out,
buy-down, or renegotiated contract; provided, however, no power
purchase contract shall be extended as a result of the buy-out,
buy-down, or renegotiation.
(3) Costs associated with contracts approved by the commission to
settle issues associated with the Biennial Resource Plan Update may
be collected through March 31, 2002; provided that only 80 percent of
the balance of the costs remaining after December 31, 2001, shall be
eligible for recovery.
(4) Nuclear incremental cost incentive plans for the San Onofre
nuclear generating station shall continue for the full term as
authorized by the commission in Decision 96-01-011 and Decision
96-04-059; provided that the recovery shall not extend beyond
December 31, 2003.
(5) Costs associated with the exemptions provided in subdivision
(a) of Section 374 may be collected through March 31, 2002, provided
that only fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) of the balance of the
costs remaining after December 31, 2001, shall be eligible for
recovery.
(6) Fixed transition amounts, as defined in subdivision (d) of
Section 840, may be recovered from the customers specified in
subdivision (a) of Section 841 until all rate reduction bonds
associated with the fixed transition amounts have been paid in full
by the financing entity.
(b) Be based on a calculation mechanism that nets the negative
value of all above market utility-owned generation-related assets
against the positive value of all below market utility-owned
generation related assets. For those assets subject to valuation, the
valuations used for the calculation of the uneconomic portion of the
net book value shall be determined not later than December 31, 2001,
and shall be based on appraisal, sale, or other divestiture. The
commission's determination of the costs eligible for recovery and of
the valuation of those assets at the time the assets are exposed to
market risk or retired, in a proceeding under Section 455.5, 851, or
otherwise, shall be final, and notwithstanding Section 1708 or any
other provision of law, may not be rescinded, altered or amended.
(c) Be limited in the case of utility-owned fossil generation to
the uneconomic portion of the net book value of the fossil capital
investment existing as of January 1, 1998, and appropriate costs
incurred after December 20, 1995, for capital additions to generating
facilities existing as of December 20, 1995, that the commission
determines are reasonable and should be recovered, provided that the
additions are necessary to maintain the facilities through December
31, 2001. All "going forward costs" of fossil plant operation,
including operation and maintenance, administrative and general, fuel
and fuel transportation costs, shall be recovered solely from
independent Power Exchange revenues or from contracts with the
Independent System Operator, provided that for the purposes of this
chapter, the following costs may be recoverable pursuant to this
section:
(1) Commission-approved operating costs for particular
utility-owned fossil powerplants or units, at particular times when
reactive power/voltage support is not yet procurable at market-based
rates in locations where it is deemed needed for the reactive
power/voltage support by the Independent System Operator, provided
that the units are otherwise authorized to recover market-based rates
and provided further that for an electrical corporation that is also
a gas corporation and that serves at least four million customers as
of December 20, 1995, the commission shall allow the electrical
corporation to retain any earnings from operations of the reactive
power/voltage support plants or units and shall not require the
utility to apply any portions to offset recovery of transition costs.
Cost recovery under the cost recovery mechanism shall end on
December 31, 2001.
(2) An electrical corporation that, as of December 20, 1995,
served at least four million customers, and that was also a gas
corporation that served less than four thousand customers, may
recover, pursuant to this section, 100 percent of the uneconomic
portion of the fixed costs paid under fuel and fuel transportation
contracts that were executed prior to December 20, 1995, and were
subsequently determined to be reasonable by the commission, or 100
percent of the buy-down or buy-out costs associated with the
contracts to the extent the costs are determined to be reasonable by
the commission.
(d) Be adjusted throughout the period through March 31, 2002, to
track accrual and recovery of costs provided for in this subdivision.
Recovery of costs prior to December 31, 2001, shall include a return
as provided for in Decision 95-12-063, as modified by Decision
96-01-009, together with associated taxes.
(e) (1) Be allocated among the various classes of customers, rate
schedules, and tariff options to ensure that costs are recovered from
these classes, rate schedules, contract rates, and tariff options,
including self-generation deferral, interruptible, and standby rate
options in substantially the same proportion as similar costs are
recovered as of June 10, 1996, through the regulated retail rates of
the relevant electric utility, provided that there shall be a
firewall segregating the recovery of the costs of competition
transition charge exemptions such that the costs of competition
transition charge exemptions granted to members of the combined class
of residential and small commercial customers shall be recovered
only from these customers, and the costs of competition transition
charge exemptions granted to members of the combined class of
customers, other than residential and small commercial customers,
shall be recovered only from these customers.
(2) Individual customers shall not experience rate increases as a
result of the allocation of transition costs. However, customers who
elect to purchase energy from suppliers other than the Power Exchange
through a direct transaction, may incur increases in the total price
they pay for electricity to the extent the price for the energy
exceeds the Power Exchange price.
(3) The commission shall retain existing cost allocation
authority, provided the firewall and rate freeze principles are not
violated.
367.7. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
section to ensure that individual customers do not experience rate
increases as a result of the allocation of transition costs, in
accordance with paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section 367.
(b) The commission shall implement a methodology whereby the Power
Exchange energy credit for a customer with a meter installed on or
after June 30, 2000, that is capable of recording hourly data is
calculated based on the actual hourly data for that customer. The
Power Exchange energy credit for a customer with a meter installed
before June 30, 2000, that is capable of recording hourly data shall,
at the election of the customer, on a one-time basis before June 30,
2000, be calculated based on either (1) the actual hourly data for
that customer or (2) the average load profile for that customer
class. If the customer fails to make an election, that customer's
Power Exchange energy credit shall continue to be based on the
average load profile for that customer class.
(c) Additional incremental billing costs incurred as a result of
the methodology implemented by the commission pursuant to subdivision
(b) may be recoverable through rates for that customer class, if the
commission finds that the costs are reasonable.
(d) The methodology implemented by the commission pursuant to
subdivisions (b) and (c) shall not result in any shifts in cost
between customer classes and shall be consistent with the firewall
provision set forth in subdivision (e) of Section 367.
368. Each electrical corporation shall propose a cost recovery plan
to the commission for the recovery of the uneconomic costs of an
electrical corporation's generation-related assets and obligations
identified in Section 367. The commission shall authorize the
electrical corporation to recover the costs pursuant to the plan if
the plan meets the following criteria:
(a) The cost recovery plan shall set rates for each customer
class, rate schedule, contract, or tariff option, at levels equal to
the level as shown on electric rate schedules as of June 10, 1996,
provided that rates for residential and small commercial customers
shall be reduced so that these customers shall receive rate
reductions of no less than 10 percent for 1998 continuing through
2002. These rate levels for each customer class, rate schedule,
contract, or tariff option shall remain in effect until the earlier
of March 31, 2002, or the date on which the commission-authorized
costs for utility generation-related assets and obligations have been
fully recovered. The electrical corporation shall be at risk for
those costs not recovered during that time period. Each utility shall
amortize its total uneconomic costs, to the extent possible, such
that for each year during the transition period its recorded rate of
return on the remaining uneconomic assets does not exceed its
authorized rate of return for those assets. For purposes of
determining the extent to which the costs have been recovered, any
over-collections recorded in Energy Costs Adjustment Clause and
Electric Revenue Adjustment Mechanism balancing accounts, as of
December 31, 1996, shall be credited to the recovery of the costs.
(b) The cost recovery plan shall provide for identification and
separation of individual rate components such as charges for energy,
transmission, distribution, public benefit programs, and recovery of
uneconomic costs. The separation of rate components required by this
subdivision shall be used to ensure that customers of the electrical
corporation who become eligible to purchase electricity from
suppliers other than the electrical corporation pay the same
unbundled component charges, other than energy, that a bundled
service customer pays. No cost shifting among customer classes, rate
schedules, contract, or tariff options shall result from the
separation required by this subdivision. Nothing in this provision is
intended to affect the rates, terms, and conditions or to limit the
use of any Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-approved contract
entered into by the electrical corporation prior to the effective
date of this provision.
(c) In consideration of the risk that the uneconomic costs
identified in Section 367 may not be recoverable within the period
identified in subdivision (a) of Section 367, an electrical
corporation that, as of December 20, 1995, served more than four
million customers, and was also a gas corporation that served less
than four thousand customers, shall have the flexibility to employ
risk management tools, such as forward hedges, to manage the market
price volatility associated with unexpected fluctuations in natural
gas prices, and the out-of-pocket costs of acquiring the risk
management tools shall be considered reasonable and collectible
within the transition freeze period. This subdivision applies only to
the transaction costs associated with the risk management tools and
shall not include any losses from changes in market prices.
(d) In order to ensure implementation of the cost recovery plan,
the limitation on the maximum amount of cost recovery for nuclear
facilities that may be collected in any year adopted by the
commission in Decision 96-01-011 and Decision 96-04-059 shall be
eliminated to allow the maximum opportunity to collect the nuclear
costs within the transition cap period.
(e) As to an electrical corporation that is also a gas corporation
serving more than four million California customers, so long as any
cost recovery plan adopted in accordance with this section satisfies
subdivision (a), it shall also provide for annual increases in base
revenues, effective January 1, 1997, and January 1, 1998, equal to
the inflation rate for the prior year plus two percentage points, as
measured by the consumer price index. The increase shall do both of
the following:
(1) Remain in effect pending the next general rate case review,
which shall be filed not later than December 31, 1997, for rates that
would become effective in January 1999. For purposes of any
commission-approved performance-based ratemaking mechanism or general
rate case review, the increases in base revenue authorized by this
subdivision shall create no presumption that the level of base
revenue reflecting those increases constitute the appropriate
starting point for subsequent revenues.
(2) Be used by the utility for the purposes of enhancing its
transmission and distribution system safety and reliability,
including, but not limited to, vegetation management and emergency
response. To the extent the revenues are not expended for system
safety and reliability, they shall be credited against subsequent
safety and reliability base revenue requirements. Any excess revenues
carried over shall not be used to pay any monetary sanctions imposed
by the commission.
(f) The cost recovery plan shall provide the electrical
corporation with the flexibility to manage the renegotiation,
buy-out, or buy-down of the electrical corporation's power purchase
obligations, consistent with review by the commission to assure that
the terms provide net benefits to ratepayers and are otherwise
reasonable in protecting the interests of both ratepayers and
shareholders.
(g) An example of a plan authorized by this section is the
document entitled "Restructuring Rate Settlement" transmitted to the
commission by Pacific Gas and Electric Company on June 12, 1996.
368.5. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon the
termination of the 10-percent rate reduction for residential and
small commercial customers set forth in subdivision (a) of Section
368, the commission may not subject those residential and small
commercial customers to any rate increases or future rate obligations
solely as a result of the termination of the 10-percent rate
reduction.
(b) The provisions of subdivision (a) do not affect the authority
of the commission to raise rates for reasons other than the
termination of the 10-percent rate reduction set forth in subdivision
(a) of Section 368.
(c) Nothing in this section shall further extend the authority to
impose fixed transition amounts, as defined in subdivision (d) of
Section 840, or further authorize or extend rate reduction bonds, as
defined in subdivision (e) of Section 840.
369. The commission shall establish an effective mechanism that
ensures recovery of transition costs referred to in Sections 367,
368, 375, and 376, and subject to the conditions in Sections 371 to
374, inclusive, from all existing and future consumers in the service
territory in which the utility provided electricity services as of
December 20, 1995; provided, that the costs shall not be recoverable
for new customer load or incremental load of an existing customer
where the load is being met through a direct transaction and the
transaction does not otherwise require the use of transmission or
distribution facilities owned by the utility. However, the obligation
to pay the competition transition charges cannot be avoided by the
formation of a local publicly owned electrical corporation on or
after December 20, 1995, or by annexation of any portion of an
electrical corporation's service area by an existing local publicly
owned electric utility.
This section shall not apply to service taken under tariffs,
contracts, or rate s