Bill Text: CA AB2765 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 2765 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Public Utilities Commission: reports: telecommunications service: backup electricity.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 740, Statutes of 2024. [AB2765 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2765-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly April 15, 2024

Amended IN Assembly March 11, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2765

Introduced by Assembly Member Pellerin

February 15, 2024

An act to amend Section ~~776.2~~ 910 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to telecommunications.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2765, as amended, Pellerin. ~~Telecommunications services: backup electricity: verification.~~ Public Utilities Commission: reports: telecommunications service: backup electricity.

Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to develop, publish, and annually update a report containing specified information, including the commission’s annual work plan, performance criteria for the commission and its executive director, an accounting of the commission’s transactions and proceedings from the prior year, a description of activities taken and processes instituted to solicit the input of customers from diverse regions of the state in ratesetting and quasi-legislative proceedings, a list of its public meetings held outside San Francisco in the previous year, a schedule of its meetings anticipated to be held outside San Francisco during the coming year, and a summary of deenergization event trends and the effect of deenergization events on telecommunications service and public safety, as specified. Existing law requires the commission to post the report in a conspicuous area of its internet website.
This bill would require the report to also contain a description of the audits and inspections conducted to ensure compliance with the commission’s backup electricity rules for providers of telecommunications service, including, but not limited to, a list of violations identified, if any, and actions taken to correct those violations.
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, to develop and implement backup electricity rules to require providers of telecommunications service, as defined, to submit resiliency plans to maintain backup electricity for their telecommunications infrastructure sufficient to maintain telecommunications service for at least 72 hours, except as authorized. Existing law requires the commission, in developing and implementing those rules, to consider best practices, the feasibility of the rules, and stakeholder input.
This bill would require the commission, as part of a new or existing proceeding, to develop and implement rules to conduct random annual facility checks to verify that providers of telecommunications service are in compliance with those backup electricity rules. The bill would require that these rules annually require at least 12 random facility checks throughout the state that are equitably distributed by region and among providers of telecommunications service. The bill would authorize the commission to adopt rules governing fines, if any, or other remedial actions applicable to a provider of telecommunications service that is out of compliance with the backup electricity rules, other applicable backup electricity requirements, or the provider’s resiliency plan.
~~Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.~~
~~Because a violation of a rule developed or adopted by the commission to implement this bill’s requirements would be a crime, the 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.~~

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: ~~YES~~NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 910 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

910.

(a) The commission shall develop, publish, and annually update a report that contains all of the following information:

(1) A workplan that describes in clear detail the scheduled proceedings and other decisions that may be considered by the commission during the calendar year.

(2) Performance criteria for the commission and the executive director, and an evaluation of the performance of the executive director during the previous year based on criteria established in the prior year’s workplan.

(3) An accounting of the commission’s transactions and proceedings from the prior year, together with other facts, suggestions, and recommendations that the commission deems of value to the people of the state. The accounting shall include the activities that the commission has taken, and plans to take, to reduce the costs of, and the rates for, water and energy, including electricity, to improve the competitiveness of the state’s industries, including agriculture, and, to the extent possible, shall include suggestions and recommendations for the reduction of those costs and rates.

(4) A description of activities taken and processes instituted to both solicit the input of customers from diverse regions of the state in ratesetting and quasi-legislative proceedings and to process that input in a way that makes it usable in commission decisionmaking. The report shall describe the successes and challenges of these processes, the effect of resource constraints, and efforts to be made during the calendar year to further the goal of increased public participation.

(5) A list of the public meetings held outside San Francisco in the previous year, and a schedule of meetings anticipated to be held outside San Francisco during the coming year.

(6) A description of the actions taken by the commission using the information provided to it pursuant to Section 53122 of the Government Code, a summary of deenergization event trends and the effect of deenergization events on telecommunications service and public safety, and an analysis of how the impacts of deenergization events on telecommunications service could be mitigated.

(7) A description of the audits and inspections conducted to ensure compliance with the commission’s backup electricity rules for providers of telecommunications service, including, but not limited to, a list of violations identified, if any, and actions taken to correct those violations.

(b) (1) The commission shall submit the report required pursuant to subdivision (a) to the Governor and the Legislature, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, no later than February 1 of each year.

(2) The commission shall post the report in a conspicuous area of its internet website and shall have a program to disseminate the information in the report using computer mailing lists to provide regular updates on the information to those members of the public and organizations that request that information.

SECTION 1.Section 776.2 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
776.2.
(a)For purposes of this section, “telecommunications service” has the same meaning as defined in Section 2892.1, but does not include voice communication provided by a provider of satellite telephone service.
(b)As part of a new or existing proceeding, the commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall develop and implement backup electricity rules to require providers of telecommunications service to submit resiliency plans to maintain backup electricity for their telecommunications infrastructure sufficient to maintain telecommunications service for at least 72 hours, except as provided in subdivision (c).
(c)In developing and implementing backup electricity rules pursuant to subdivision (b), the commission shall consider best practices, the feasibility of the rules, and stakeholder input. In considering best practices and feasibility, the commission may authorize, in appropriate circumstances, providers of telecommunications service to maintain backup electricity for their telecommunications infrastructure sufficient to maintain telecommunications service for less than 72 hours.
(d)This section does not require the commission to modify the communications resiliency requirements adopted in commission Decision 20-07-011 (July 16, 2020), Decision Adopting Wireless Provider Resiliency Strategies, or Decision 21-02-029 (February 11, 2021), Decision Adopting Wireline Provider Resiliency Strategies.
(e)As part of a new or existing proceeding, the commission shall develop and implement rules to conduct random annual facility checks to verify that providers of telecommunications service are in compliance with the backup electricity rules developed pursuant to this section. The rules shall annually require at least 12 random facility checks throughout the state that are equitably distributed by region and among providers of telecommunications service.
(f)The commission may adopt rules governing fines, if any, or other remedial actions applicable to a provider of telecommunications service that is out of compliance with the backup electricity rules developed pursuant to this section, other applicable backup electricity requirements, or the provider’s resiliency plan.
SEC. 2.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.