BILL NUMBER: AB 1736 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Buchanan
FEBRUARY 14, 2014
An act to amend Section 739 of the Public Utilities Code, relating
to energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1736, as introduced, Buchanan. Energy: baseline quantities of
electricity and natural gas.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations
and gas corporations, as defined. 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. The
Public Utilities Act requires the commission to designate a baseline
quantity of electricity and gas necessary for a significant portion
of the reasonable energy needs of the average residential customer,
and to establish a higher energy allowance above the baseline, for
residential customers dependent on life-support equipment. The act
requires that electrical corporations and gas corporations file rates
and charges, to be approved by the commission, providing baseline
rates that are applicable to the first block of usage and requires
the commission, in establishing baseline rates, to avoid excessive
rate increases for residential customers and to establish an
appropriate gradual differential between the rates for the respective
blocks of usage.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive revisions to the
requirement that the commission designate a baseline quantity of
electricity and gas necessary for a significant portion of the
reasonable energy needs of the average residential customer.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 739 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
739. (a) As used in this section:
(1) "Baseline quantity" means a quantity of electricity or gas
allocated by the commission for residential customers based on from
50 to 60 percent of average residential consumption of these
commodities, except that, for residential gas customers and for
all-electric residential customers, the baseline quantity shall be
established at from 60 to 70 percent of average residential
consumption during the winter heating season. In establishing the
baseline quantities, the commission shall take into account climatic
and seasonal variations in consumption and the availability of gas
service. The commission shall review and revise baseline quantities
as average consumption patterns change in order to maintain these
ratios.
(2) "Residential customer" means those customers receiving
electrical or gas service pursuant to a domestic rate schedule and
excludes industrial, commercial, and every other category of
customer.
(b) The commission shall designate a baseline quantity of gas and
electricity which that is necessary to
supply a significant portion of the reasonable energy needs of the
average residential customer. In estimating those quantities, the
commission shall take into account differentials in energy needs
between customers whose residential energy needs are currently
supplied by electricity alone or by both electricity and gas. The
commission shall develop a separate baseline quantity for
all-electric residential customers. For these purposes, "all-electric
residential customers" are residential customers having electrical
service only or whose space heating is provided by electricity, or
both. The commission shall also take into account differentials in
energy use by climatic zone and season.
(c) (1) The commission shall establish a standard limited
allowance which that shall be in
addition to the baseline quantity of gas and electricity for
residential customers dependent on life-support equipment, including,
but not limited to, emphysema and pulmonary patients. A residential
customer dependent on life-support equipment shall be allocated a
higher energy allocation than the average residential customer.
(2) "Life-support equipment" means that equipment which
that utilizes mechanical or artificial means to
sustain, restore, or supplant a vital function, or mechanical
equipment which that is relied upon for
mobility both within and outside of buildings. "Life-support
equipment," as used in this subdivision, includes all of the
following: all types of respirators, iron lungs, hemodialysis
machines, suction machines, electric nerve stimulators, pressure pads
and pumps, aerosol tents, electrostatic and ultrasonic nebulizers,
compressors, IPPB machines, and motorized wheelchairs.
(3) The limited allowance specified in this subdivision shall also
be made available to paraplegic and quadriplegic persons in
consideration of the increased heating and cooling needs of those
persons.
(4) The limited allowance specified in this subdivision shall also
be made available to multiple sclerosis patients in consideration of
the increased heating and cooling needs of those persons.
(5) The limited allowance specified in this subdivision shall also
be made available to scleroderma patients in consideration of the
increased heating needs of those persons.
(6) The limited allowance specified in this subdivision shall also
be made available to persons who are being treated for a
life-threatening illness or have a compromised immune system, if a
licensed physician and surgeon or a person licensed pursuant to the
Osteopathic Initiative Act certifies in writing to the utility that
the additional heating or cooling allowance, or both, is medically
necessary to sustain the life of the person or prevent deterioration
of the person's medical condition.
(d) (1) The commission shall require that every electrical and gas
corporation file a schedule of rates and charges providing baseline
rates. The baseline rates shall apply to the first or lowest block of
an increasing block rate structure which shall be the baseline
quantity. In establishing these rates, the commission shall avoid
excessive rate increases for residential customers, and shall
establish an appropriate gradual differential between the rates for
the respective blocks of usage.
(2) In establishing residential electric and gas rates, including
baseline rates, the commission shall ensure that the rates are
sufficient to enable the electrical corporation or gas corporation to
recover a just and reasonable amount of revenue from residential
customers as a class, while observing the principle that electricity
and gas services are necessities, for which a low affordable rate is
desirable and while observing the principle that conservation is
desirable in order to maintain an affordable bill.
(3) At least until December 31, 2003, the commission shall require
that all charges for residential electric customers are volumetric,
and shall prohibit any electrical corporation from imposing any
charges on residential consumption that are independent of
consumption, unless those charges are in place prior to April 12,
2001.
(e) (1) Each electrical corporation and each gas corporation
shall, in a timeframe consistent with each electrical and gas
corporation's next general rate case, disclose on the billing
statement of a residential customer all of the following:
(A) Cost per kilowatthour or gas therm per tier.
(B) Allocation of kilowatthour or gas therm per tier.
(C) Visual representation of usage and cost per tier.
(D) Usage comparison with prior periods.
(E) Itemized cost components in the bill to identify state and
local taxes.
(F) Identification of delivery, generation, public purpose, and
other charges.
(G) Contact information for the commission's Consumer Affairs
Branch.
(2) An electrical corporation and a gas corporation shall make
available online to residential customers both of the following:
(A) Examples of how conservation measures, including changing
thermostat settings and turning off unused lights, could reduce
energy usage and costs.
(B) Examples of how energy-saving devices and weatherization
measures could reduce energy usage and costs.
(3) The commission may modify, adjust, or add to the requirements
of this subdivision as the individual circumstances of each
electrical corporation or gas corporation merits, or for master-meter
customers, as individual circumstances merit.
(4) The commission shall, as part of the general rate case of an
electrical corporation or gas corporation, assess opportunities to
improve the quality of information contained in the utility's
periodic billings.
(f) Wholesale electrical or gas purchases, and the rates charged
therefor, are exempt from this section.
(g) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to
prohibit experimentation with alternative gas or electrical rate
schedules for the purpose of achieving energy conservation.