Bill Text: CA SB1207 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: California Alternate Rates for Energy program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2012-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 613, Statutes of 2012. [SB1207 Detail]

Download: California-2011-SB1207-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 1207	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 16, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 9, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Fuller

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2012

   An act to amend Section 739.1 of the Public Utilities Code,
relating to public utility rates.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1207, as amended, Fuller. California Alternate Rates for Energy
program.
   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, in establishing
residential electric and gas rates, to assure that the rates are
sufficient to enable the electrical 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 while observing that conservation is desirable. The act
requires the commission to establish a program of assistance to
low-income electric and gas customers, referred to as the California
Alternate Rates for Energy or CARE program.
   This bill would authorize an electrical or gas corporation to
require proof of income eligibility for those CARE program
participants whose electricity or gas usage exceeds 400% of baseline
usage and to remove a CARE program participant from the program if
the program participant's monthly electricity or gas usage exceeds
600% of baseline usage for a period exceeding 120 days.  The bill
would authorize an electrical or gas corporation to require a CARE
program participant whose electricity or gas usage exceeds 400% of
baseline usage to participate in an energy savings assistance program
that includes a residential energy audit and would make
participation in an energy savings assistance program mandatory if a
CARE program participant's electricity or gas usage exceeds 600% of
baseline usage.  The bill would authorize an electrical or gas
corporation to back bill a CARE program participant for the
difference between the CARE rates they paid and the rate they would
have paid if they were not participating in the CARE program when the
utility determines the customer does not meet the income eligibility
requirements for program participation and the participant fails to
provide proof of income eligibility within 90 days after receiving
notice of the determination of ineligibility from the utility. The
bill would authorize the commission to establish reasonable
limitations on an electrical or gas corporation's authority to
require back payment pursuant to this authorization. The bill would
 authorize an electrical or gas corporation to declare a CARE
program participant to be ineligible for program participation for a
period of 2 years if the utility determines that the program
participant is   require that if a CARE program
participant is found to be defrauding a utility program by 
bypassing the meter  when using electricity or gas 
 , diversion, altered, imitation, or counterfeit documentation,
or misrepresentation of eligibility, that participation in the
program be immediately terminated and the person would not be
eligible for reinstatement of eligibility for 2 years  .
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 739.1 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
   739.1.  (a) As used in this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (1) "Baseline quantity" has the same meaning as defined in Section
739.
   (2) "California Solar Initiative" means the program providing
ratepayer funded incentives for eligible solar energy systems adopted
by the commission in Decision 05-12-044 and Decision 06-01-024, as
modified by Article 1 (commencing with Section 2851) of Chapter 9 of
Part 2 and Chapter 8.8 (commencing with Section 25780) of Division 15
of the Public Resources Code.
   (3) "CalWORKs program" means the program established pursuant to
the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Act
(Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code).
   (4) "Public goods charge" means the nonbypassable separate rate
component imposed pursuant to Article 7 (commencing with Section 381)
of Chapter 2.3 and the nonbypassable system benefits charge imposed
pursuant to the Reliable Electric Service Investments Act (Article 15
(commencing with Section 399) of Chapter 2.3).
   (b) (1) The commission shall establish a program of assistance to
low-income electric and gas customers with annual household incomes
that are no greater than 200 percent of the federal poverty guideline
levels, the cost of which shall not be borne solely by any single
class of customer. The program shall be referred to as the California
Alternate Rates for Energy or CARE program. The commission shall
ensure that the level of discount for low-income electric and gas
customers correctly reflects the level of need.
   (2) The commission may, subject to the limitation in paragraph
(4), increase the rates in effect for CARE program participants for
electricity usage up to 130 percent of baseline quantities by the
annual percentage increase in benefits under the CalWORKs program as
authorized by the Legislature for the fiscal year in which the rate
increase would take effect, but not to exceed 3 percent per year.
   (3) Beginning January 1, 2019, the commission may, subject to the
limitation in paragraph (4), establish rates for CARE program
participants pursuant to this section and Sections 739 and 739.9,
subject to both of the following:
   (A) The requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 382 that the
commission ensure that low-income ratepayers are not jeopardized or
overburdened by monthly energy expenditures.
   (B) The requirement that the level of the discount for low-income
electricity and gas ratepayers correctly reflects the level of need
as determined by the needs assessment conducted pursuant to
subdivision (d) of Section 382.
   (4) Tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 CARE rates shall not exceed 80
percent of the corresponding tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 rates charged
to residential customers not participating in the CARE program,
excluding any Department of Water Resources bond charge imposed
pursuant to Division 27 (commencing with Section 80000) of the Water
Code, the CARE surcharge portion of the public goods charge, any
charge imposed pursuant to the California Solar Initiative, and any
charge imposed to fund any other program that exempts CARE
participants from paying the charge.
   (5) Rates charged to CARE program participants shall not have more
than three tiers. An electrical corporation that does not have a
tier 3 CARE rate may introduce a tier 3 CARE rate that, in order to
moderate the impact on program participants whose usage exceeds 130
percent of baseline quantities, shall be phased in to 80 percent of
the corresponding rates charged to residential customers not
participating in the CARE program, excluding any Department of Water
Resources bond charge imposed pursuant to Division 27 (commencing
with Section 80000) of the Water Code, the CARE surcharge portion of
the public goods charge, any charge imposed pursuant to the
California Solar Initiative, and any other charge imposed to fund a
program that exempts CARE participants from paying the charge. For an
electrical corporation that does not have a tier 3 CARE rate that
introduces a tier 3 CARE rate, the initial rate shall be no more than
150 percent of the CARE baseline rate. Any additional revenues
collected by an electrical corporation resulting from the adoption of
a tier 3 CARE rate shall, until the utility's next periodic general
rate case review of cost allocation and rate design, be credited to
reduce rates of residential ratepayers not participating in the CARE
program with usage above 130 percent of baseline quantities.
   (c) The commission shall work with electrical and gas corporations
to establish penetration goals. The commission shall authorize
recovery of all administrative costs associated with the
implementation of the CARE program that the commission determines to
be reasonable, through a balancing account mechanism. Administrative
costs shall include, but are not limited to, outreach, marketing,
regulatory compliance, certification and verification, billing,
measurement and evaluation, and capital improvements and upgrades to
communications and processing equipment.
   (d) The commission shall examine methods to improve CARE
enrollment and participation. This examination shall include, but
need not be limited to, comparing information from CARE and the
Universal Lifeline Telephone Service (ULTS) to determine the most
effective means of utilizing that information to increase CARE
enrollment, automatic enrollment of ULTS customers who are eligible
for the CARE program, customer privacy issues, and alternative
mechanisms for outreach to potential enrollees. The commission shall
ensure that a customer consents prior to enrollment. The commission
shall consult with interested parties, including ULTS providers, to
develop the best methods of informing ULTS customers about other
available low-income programs, as well as the best mechanism for
telephone providers to recover reasonable costs incurred pursuant to
this section.
   (e) (1) The commission shall improve the CARE application process
by cooperating with other entities and representatives of California
government, including the California Health and Human Services Agency
and the Secretary of California Health and Human Services, to ensure
that all gas and electric customers eligible for public assistance
programs in California that reside within the service territory of an
electrical corporation or gas corporation, are enrolled in the CARE
program. To the extent practicable, the commission shall develop a
CARE application process using the existing ULTS application process
as a model. The commission shall work with public utility electrical
and gas corporations and the Low-Income Oversight Board established
in Section 382.1 to meet the low-income objectives in this section.
   (2) The commission shall ensure that an electrical corporation or
gas corporation with a commission-approved program to provide
discounts based upon economic need in addition to the CARE program,
including a Family Electric Rate Assistance program, utilize a single
application form, to enable an applicant to alternatively apply for
any assistance program for which the applicant may be eligible. It is
the intent of the Legislature to allow applicants under one program,
that may not be eligible under that program, but that may be
eligible under an alternative assistance program based upon economic
need, to complete a single application for any commission-approved
assistance program offered by the public utility.
   (f) The commission's program of assistance to low-income electric
and gas customers shall, as soon as practicable, include nonprofit
group living facilities specified by the commission, if the
commission finds that the residents in these facilities substantially
meet the commission's low-income eligibility requirements and there
is a feasible process for certifying that the assistance shall be
used for the direct benefit, such as improved quality of care or
improved food service, of the low-income residents in the facilities.
The commission shall authorize utilities to offer discounts to
eligible facilities licensed or permitted by appropriate state or
local agencies, and to facilities, including women's shelters,
hospices, and homeless shelters, that may not have a license or
permit but provide other proof satisfactory to the utility that they
are eligible to participate in the program.
   (g) It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission ensure
CARE program participants are afforded the lowest possible electric
and gas rates and, to the extent possible, are exempt from additional
surcharges attributable to the energy crisis of 2000-01.
   (h) (1) In addition to random audits of eligibility, an electrical
or gas corporation may require proof of income eligibility for those
CARE program participants whose electricity or gas usage  ,
  in any monthly or other billing period,  exceeds 400
percent of baseline usage.  The authority of an electrical or gas
corporation to require proof of income eligibility is not limited by
the means by which the CARE program participant enrolled in the
program, including if the participant was automatically enrolled in
the CARE program because of participation in a governmental
assistance program. If a CARE program participant's electricity or
gas usage exceeds 400 percent of baseline usage, the electrical or
gas corporation may require the CARE program participant to
participate   in an energy savings assistance program that
includes a residential energy audit, in order to provide the CARE
program participant with information and assistance in reducing his
or her energy usage. Continued participation in the CARE program may
be conditioned upon the CARE program participant agreeing to
participate in an energy savings assistance program within 45 days of
notice being given by the electrical or gas corporation pursuant to
this paragraph. The electrical or gas corporation may require the
CARE program participant to notify the utility of whether the
residence is rented, and if so, the identity of the landlord, and the
electrical or gas corporation may share any evaluation and
recommendation relative to the residential structure that is made as
part of an energy audit, with the landlord of the CARE program
participant. 
   (2) An electrical or gas corporation may remove a CARE program
participant from the program if the program participant's monthly
electricity or gas usage exceeds 600 percent of baseline usage for a
period exceeding 120 days.  If a CARE program participant's
electricity or gas usage exceeds 600 percent of baseline usage, the
electrical or gas corporation shall require the CARE program
participant to participate in an energy savings assistance program
that includes a residential energy audit, in order to provide the
CARE program participant with information and assistance in reducing
his or her energy usage. Continued participation in the CARE program
shall be conditioned upon the CARE program participant agreeing to
participate in the energy savings assistance program within 45 days
of a notice made by the electrical or gas corporation pursuant to
this paragraph. The electrical or gas corporation may require the
CARE program participant to notify the utility of whether the 
 residence is rented, and if so, the identity of the landlord,
and the electrical or gas corporation may share any evaluation and
recommendation relative to the residential structure that is made as
part of an energy audit, with the landlord of the CARE program
participant. A CARE program participant shall have 120 days following
completion of the energy audit to lower his or her energy usage or
be removed from participation in the program. 
   (3) If an electrical or gas corporation determines that a CARE
program participant does not meet the income eligibility requirements
for program participation and the participant fails to provide proof
of income eligibility within  90   45 
days after receiving notice of the determination of ineligibility,
the electrical or gas corporation may require back payment for the
difference between the CARE program rate and the rate that the
subscriber would have been required to pay if  they 
 he or she  were not a CARE program participant. The
commission may establish reasonable limitations on an electrical or
gas corporation's authority to require back payment pursuant to this
paragraph. 
   (4) An electrical or gas corporation may declare a CARE program
participant to be ineligible for program participation for a period
of two years if the utility determines that the program participant
is bypassing the meter when using electricity or gas.  
   (4) A CARE program participant found to be defrauding a utility
program, including CARE, energy savings assistance, or medical
baseline, by means of bypassing the meter, diversion, or altered,
imitation, or counterfeit documentation, or misrepresentation of
eligibility, shall be immediately terminated from the CARE program,
and shall not be eligible for reinstatement of eligibility for the
program for two years following removal from the program.