Bill Text: CA SB48 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Public Utilities Commission.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2016-04-25 - Last day to consider Governors veto pursuant to Joint Rule 58.5. [SB48 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB48-Amended.html
Bill Title: Public Utilities Commission.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2016-04-25 - Last day to consider Governors veto pursuant to Joint Rule 58.5. [SB48 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB48-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 48 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 9, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 28, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 7, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 24, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 6, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hill
DECEMBER 18, 2014
An act to amend Sections 306, 311.5, 321.6, 765, 960, 1701, and
1759 of, to amend and renumber Sections 911 and 915 of, to amend,
renumber, and add Section 910 of, and to add Sections 910.1, 911.1,
916.4, and 1711 to, the Public Utilities Code, relating to the Public
Utilities Commission.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 48, as amended, Hill. Public Utilities Commission.
(1) The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities
Commission, with jurisdiction over all public utilities. The Public
Utilities Act provides that the office of the commission be in the
City and County of San Francisco, that the office always be open,
legal holidays and nonjudicial days excepted, that the commission
hold its sessions at least once in each calendar month in the City
and County of San Francisco, and authorizes the commission to also
meet at those other times and places as may be expedient and
necessary for the proper performance of its duties.
This bill would require that the commission hold its sessions at
least once in each calendar month in the City and County of San
Francisco or the City of Sacramento and would require that the
commission hold no less than 6 sessions each year in the City of
Sacramento.
(2) The California Constitution authorizes the commission to
establish its own procedures, subject to statutory limitations or
directions and constitutional requirements of due process. Existing
law requires the commission to determine whether a proceeding
requires a hearing and, if so, to determine whether the matter
requires a quasi-legislative, an adjudication, or a ratesetting
hearing. For these purposes, quasi-legislative cases are cases that
establish policy rulemakings and investigations which may establish
rules affecting an entire industry, adjudication cases are
enforcement cases and complaints except those challenging the
reasonableness of any rates or charges, and ratesetting cases are
cases in which rates are established for a specific company,
including general rate cases, performance-based ratemaking, and other
ratesetting mechanisms. Existing law requires the commission to
publish and maintain certain documents on the Internet, including a
docket card that lists all documents filed and all decisions or
rulings issued in those proceedings, as provided.
This bill would make the Administrative Adjudication Code of
Ethics applicable to administrative law judges of the commission.
Except for in adjudication cases, the bill would require the
commission, before instituting a proceeding on its own motion, where
feasible and appropriate, to seek the views of those who are likely
to be affected by a decision in the proceeding, including those who
are likely to benefit from, and those who are potentially subject to,
a decision in that proceeding. The bill would require the commission
to include a docket card that lists the public versions of all
prepared written testimony and advice letter filings, protests, and
responses on its Internet Web site. The bill would require the
commission to make additional information available on the Internet,
including information on how members of the public and ratepayers can
gain access to the commission's ratemaking process.
(3) The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to develop,
publish, and annually update an annual workplan that does all of the
following: (A) describes in clear detail the scheduled ratemaking
proceedings and other decisions that may be considered by the
commission during the calendar year, (B) includes information on how
members of the public and ratepayers can gain access to the
commission's ratemaking process and information regarding the
specific matters to be decided, (C) includes information on the
operation of the office of the public adviser and identifies the
names and telephone numbers of those contact persons responsible for
specific cases and matters to be decided, and (D) includes a
statement that specifies activities that the commission proposes to
reduce the costs of, and rates for, energy, including electricity,
and for improving the competitive opportunities for state agriculture
and other rural energy consumers. The act requires the commission to
submit the workplan to the Governor and Legislature by February 1 of
each year.
This bill would require the commission to develop, publish, and
annually update a report that contains certain specified information,
as provided, and would expand the requirement that the workplan, as
part of that report, describe in clear detail the scheduled
proceedings that may be considered by the commission during the
calendar year to include all proceedings and not just ratemaking
proceedings. The bill would additionally require that the report
include performance criteria for the commission and executive
director and evaluate the performance of the executive director
during the previous year based on the criteria established in the
prior year's workplan.
The bill would require the president of the commission to present
the annual report to the appropriate policy committees of the Senate
and Assembly, and the commission to post the report in a conspicuous
area of its Internet Web site and disseminate the information in the
report, as provided. The bill would recast the report requirements
and certain other requirements that the commission report information
to an article in the Public Utilities Act pertaining to reports by
the commission to the Legislature and make other conforming changes.
(4) The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to create,
and annually submit to the Governor and Legislature by February 1, a
report on the number of cases where resolution exceeded the time
periods prescribed in scoping memos and the days that commissioners
presided in hearings.
This bill would delete the requirement that the report include the
number of cases where resolution exceeded the time periods
prescribed in scoping memos and instead would require the commission
to annually submit a report to the Legislature on the commission's
timeliness in resolving cases and include information on the
disposition of applications for rehearings. The bill would require
that the report include the number of scoping memos issued in each
proceeding and to include the number of orders issued extending the
statutory deadlines for all adjudication, ratesetting, and
quasi-legislative cases.
(5) The California Constitution provides that the Legislature has
plenary power to establish the manner and scope of review of
commission action in a court of record. Existing law provides that
only the Supreme Court and the court of appeal have jurisdiction to
review, reverse, correct, or annul any order or decision of the
commission or to suspend or delay the execution or operation thereof,
or to enjoin, restrain, or interfere with the commission in the
performance of its official duties.
This bill would authorize an action to enforce the requirements of
the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act or the California Public Records
Act to be brought against the commission in the superior court.
(6) This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section
311.5 of the Public Utilities Code, proposed by AB 825, to be
operative only if AB 825 and this bill are both chaptered and become
effective on or before January 1, 2016, and this bill is chaptered
last.
(7) This bill would declare that Section 2 of this act shall not
become operative if any section of any other act enacted by the
Legislature during the 2015 calendar year and takes effect on or
before January 1, 2016, amends, amends and renumbers, adds, repeals
and adds, or repeals Section 306 of the Public Utilities Code.
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. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) On June 3, 2014, California's Fourth District Court of Appeal,
in Disenhouse v. Peevey (2014) 226 Cal.App.4th 1096, held that an
interested person desiring to enforce the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting
Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code) against the Public
Utilities Commission must do so by filing a petition for writ of
mandamus in the Supreme Court or the court of appeal and may not do
so by filing an action for injunctive relief in the superior court.
(2) The intent of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act is that
actions of state agencies be taken openly and that their deliberation
be conducted openly.
(3) The people's right to remain informed so that they may retain
control over the instruments of government that they have created is
not less of a right for some agencies than for other agencies, nor
shall the people's ability to enforce the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting
Act be more hampered for some agencies than for other agencies.
(4) The duties, responsibilities, and actions of the Public
Utilities Commission affect the well-being of current and future
generations and the public interest and principles of fundamental
fairness and due process of law require that the commission conduct
its affairs in an open, objective, and impartial manner, free of
undue influence and the abuse of power and authority.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Public Utilities
Commission should be subject to the judicial review provisions of the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act.
SEC. 2. Section 306 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
306. (a) The office of the commission shall be in the City and
County of San Francisco. The office shall always be open, legal
holidays and nonjudicial days excepted. The commission shall hold its
sessions at least once in each calendar month in the City and County
of San Francisco or the City of Sacramento. The commission may also
meet at such other times and in such other places as may be expedient
and necessary for the proper performance of its duties, and for that
purpose may rent quarters or offices. The commission shall hold no
less than six sessions each year in the City of Sacramento.
(b) The meetings of the commission shall be open and public in
accordance with the provisions of Article 9 (commencing with Section
11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code.
In addition to the requirements of Section 11125 of the Government
Code, the commission shall include in its notice of meetings the
agenda of business to be transacted, and no item of business shall be
added to the agenda subsequent to the notice in the absence of an
unforeseen emergency situation. A rate increase shall not constitute
an unforeseen emergency situation. As used in this subdivision,
"meeting" shall include all investigations, proceedings, and showings
required by law to be open and public.
(c) The commission shall have a seal, bearing the inscription
"Public Utilities Commission State of California." The seal shall be
affixed to all writs and authentications of copies of records and to
such other instruments as the commission shall direct.
(d) The commission may procure all necessary books, maps, charts,
stationery, instruments, office furniture, apparatus, and appliances.
SEC. 3. Section 311.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
311.5. (a) (1) Prior to commencement of any meeting at which
commissioners vote on items on the public agenda, the commission
shall make available to the public copies of the agenda, and upon
request, any agenda item documents that are proposed to be considered
by the commission for action or decision at a commission meeting.
(2) In addition, the commission shall publish the agenda, agenda
item documents, and adopted decisions in a manner that makes copies
of them easily available to the public, including publishing those
documents on the Internet. Publication of the agenda and agenda item
documents shall occur on the Internet at the same time as the written
agenda and agenda item documents are made available to the public.
(b) The commission shall publish and maintain the following
documents on the Internet:
(1) Each of the commission's proposed and alternate proposed
decisions and resolutions, until the decision or resolution is
adopted and published.
(2) Each of the commission's adopted decisions and resolutions.
The publication shall occur within 10 days of the adoption of each
decision or resolution by the commission.
(3) The then-current version of the commission's general orders
and Rules of Practice and Procedure.
(4) Each of the commission's rulings. The commission shall
maintain those rulings on its Internet Web site until final
disposition, including disposition of any judicial appeals, of the
respective proceedings in which the rulings were issued.
(5) A docket card that lists, by title and date of filing or
issuance, all documents filed and all decisions or rulings issued in
those proceedings, including the public versions of all prepared
written testimony and advice letter filings, protests, and responses.
The commission shall maintain the docket card until final
disposition, including disposition of any judicial appeals, of the
corresponding proceedings.
(c) The commission shall make the following information available
on the Internet:
(1) Information on how members of the public and ratepayers can
gain access to the commission's ratemaking process and to information
regarding the specific matters to be decided.
(2) Information on the operation of the office of the public
advisor established in Section 321 and how the public advisor can
connect members of the public to persons responsible for specific
cases and matters to be decided.
SEC. 3.5. Section 311.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
311.5. (a) (1) Prior to commencement of any meeting at which
commissioners vote on items on the public agenda, the commission
shall make available to the public copies of the agenda, and upon
request, any agenda item documents that are proposed to be considered
by the commission for action or decision at a commission meeting.
(2) In addition, the commission shall publish the agenda, agenda
item documents, and adopted decisions in a manner that makes copies
of them easily available to the public, including publishing those
documents on the Internet. Publication of the agenda and agenda item
documents shall occur on the Internet at the same time as the written
agenda and agenda item documents are made available to the public.
(b) The commission shall publish and maintain the following
documents on the Internet:
(1) Each of the commission's proposed and alternate proposed
decisions and resolutions, until the decision or resolution is
adopted and published.
(2) Each of the commission's adopted decisions and resolutions.
The publication shall occur within 10 days of the adoption of each
decision or resolution by the commission.
(3) The then-current version of the commission's general orders
and Rules of Practice and Procedure.
(4) Each of the commission's rulings. The commission shall
maintain those rulings on its Internet Web site until final
disposition, including disposition of any judicial appeals, of the
respective proceedings in which the rulings were issued.
(5) A docket card that lists, by title and date of filing or
issuance, all documents filed and all decisions or rulings issued in
those proceedings, including the public versions of all prepared
written testimony and advice letter filings, protests, and responses.
The commission shall maintain the docket card until final
disposition, including disposition of any judicial appeals, of the
corresponding proceedings. Each document that the commission
distributes to any service-of-process list shall be docketed and
identified on the commission's Internet Web site.
(c) The commission shall make the following information available
on the Internet:
(1) Information on how members of the public and ratepayers can
gain access to the commission's ratemaking process and to information
regarding the specific matters to be decided.
(2) Information on the operation of the office of the public
advisor established in Section 321 and how the public advisor can
connect members of the public to persons responsible for specific
cases and matters to be decided.
SEC. 4. Section 321.6 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
321.6. The president of the commission shall annually appear
before the appropriate policy committees of the Senate and Assembly
to present the annual report of the commission required pursuant to
Section 910.
SEC. 5. Section 765 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
765. (a) When the federal National Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB) submits a safety recommendation letter concerning rail safety
to the commission, the commission shall provide the NTSB with a
formal written response to each recommendation no later than 90 days
after receiving the letter. The response shall state one of the
following:
(1) The commission's intent to implement the recommendations in
full, with a proposed timetable for implementation of the
recommendations.
(2) The commission's intent to implement part of the
recommendations, with a proposed timetable for implementation of
those recommendations, and detailed reasons for the commission's
refusal to implement those recommendations that the commission does
not intend to implement.
(3) The commission's refusal to implement the recommendations,
with detailed reasons for the commission's refusal to implement the
recommendations.
(b) If the NTSB issues a safety recommendation letter concerning
any commission-regulated rail facility to the United States
Department of Transportation, the Federal Transit Administration, a
commission-regulated rail operator, or the commission, or if the
Federal Transit Administration issues a safety advisory concerning
any commission-regulated rail facility, the commission shall
determine if implementation of the recommendation or advisory is
appropriate. The basis for the commission's determination shall be
detailed in writing and shall be approved by a majority vote of the
commission.
(c) If the commission determines that a safety recommendation made
by the NTSB is appropriate, or that action concerning a safety
advisory is necessary, the commission shall issue orders or adopt
rules to implement the safety recommendation or advisory as soon as
practicable. In implementing the safety recommendation or advisory,
the commission shall consider whether a more effective, or equally
effective and less costly, alternative exists to address the safety
issue that the recommendation or advisory addresses.
SEC. 6. Section 910 of the Public Utilities Code is amended and
renumbered to read:
913.3. (a) By May 1 of each year, the commission shall prepare
and submit to the policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a
written report summarizing the following information:
(1) All electrical corporation revenue requirement increases
associated with meeting the renewables portfolio standard, as defined
in Section 399.12, including direct procurement costs for eligible
renewable energy resources and renewable energy credits,
administrative expenses for procurement, expenses incurred to ensure
a reliable supply of electricity, and expenses for upgrades to the
electrical transmission and distribution grid necessary to the
delivery of electricity from eligible renewable energy resources to
load.
(2) All cost savings experienced, or costs avoided, by electrical
corporations as a result of meeting the renewables portfolio
standard.
(3) All costs incurred by electrical corporations for incentives
for distributed and renewable generation, including the
self-generation incentive program, the California Solar Initiative,
and net energy metering.
(4) All cost savings experienced, or costs avoided, by electrical
corporations as a result of incentives for distributed and renewable
generation.
(5) All pending requests by an electrical corporation seeking
recovery in rates for renewable, fossil fuel, and nuclear procurement
costs, research, study, or pilot program costs.
(6) The decision number for each decision of the commission
authorizing recovery in rates of costs incurred by an electrical
corporation since the preceding report.
(7) Any change in the electrical load serviced by an electrical
corporation since the preceding report.
(8) The efforts each electrical corporation is taking to recruit
and train employees to ensure an adequately trained and available
workforce, including the number of new employees hired by the
electrical corporation for purposes of implementing the requirements
of Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3, the
goals adopted by the electrical corporation for increasing women,
minority, and disabled veterans trained or hired for purposes of
implementing the requirements of Article 16 (commencing with Section
399.11) of Chapter 2.3, and, to the extent information is available,
the number of new employees hired and the number of women, minority,
and disabled veterans trained or hired by persons or corporations
owning or operating eligible renewable energy resources under
contract with an electrical corporation. This paragraph does not
provide the commission with authority to engage in, regulate, or
expand its authority to include, workforce recruitment or training.
(b) The commission may combine the information required by this
section with the reports prepared pursuant to Article 16 (commencing
with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3.
SEC. 7. Section 910 is added to the Public Utilities Code, 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.
(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 Web site 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.
SEC. 8. Section 910.1 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
910.1. The commission shall annually submit a report to the
Legislature on the commission's timeliness in resolving cases,
information on the disposition of applications for rehearings, and
the days that commissioners presided in hearings. The report shall
include the number of scoping memos issued in each proceeding and the
number of orders issued extending the statutory deadlines pursuant
to subdivision (d) of Section 1701.2, for all adjudication cases, and
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1701.5, for all ratesetting
or quasi-legislative cases.
SEC. 9. Section 911 of the Public Utilities Code is amended and
renumbered to read:
913.4. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (g) of Section 454.5 and
Section 583, no later than May 1 of each year, the commission shall
release to the Legislature the costs of all electricity procurement
contracts for eligible renewable energy resources, including
unbundled renewable energy credits, and all costs for utility-owned
generation approved by the commission. The first report shall include
all costs commencing January 1, 2003. Subsequent reports shall
include only costs for the preceding calendar year.
(1) For power purchase contracts, the commission shall release
costs in an aggregated form categorized according to the year the
procurement transaction was approved by the commission, the eligible
renewable energy resource type, including bundled renewable energy
credits, the average executed contract price, and average actual
recorded costs for each kilowatthour of production. Within each
renewable energy resource type, the commission shall provide
aggregated costs for different project size thresholds.
(2) For each utility-owned renewable generation project, the
commission shall release the costs forecast by the electrical
corporation at the time of initial approval and the actual recorded
costs for each kilowatthour of production during the preceding
calendar year.
(b) This section does not require the release of the terms of any
individual electricity procurement contracts for eligible renewable
energy resources, including unbundled renewable energy credits,
approved by the commission. The commission shall aggregate data to
the extent required to ensure protection of the confidentiality of
individual contract costs even if this aggregation requires grouping
contracts of different energy resource type. The commission shall not
be required to release the data in any year when there are fewer
than three contracts approved.
(c) The commission may combine the information required by this
section with the report prepared pursuant to Section 913.3.
SEC. 10. Section 911.1 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
911.1. An action taken by the commission on a safety
recommendation letter or advisory bulletin concerning gas pipeline
safety issued by the federal National Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB) shall be reported annually, in detail, to the Legislature with
the report required by Section 910. Correspondence from the NTSB
that indicates that a recommendation of the NTSB has been closed
following an action that the NTSB finds unacceptable shall be noted
in the report required by Section 910.
SEC. 11. Section 915 of the Public Utilities Code is amended and
renumbered to read:
911. (a) Beginning February 1, 2016, the commission shall
annually publish a report that includes all investigations into gas
or electric service safety incidents reported, pursuant to commission
requirements, by any gas corporation or electrical corporation. The
report shall succinctly describe each safety investigation concluded
during the prior calendar year and each investigation that remains
open. The categories within the description shall include the month
of the safety incident, the reason for the investigation, the
facility type involved, and the owner of the facility.
(b) The commission shall include in its report required pursuant
to Section 910, a summary of the staff safety investigations
concluded during the prior calendar year and the staff safety
investigations that remain open for any gas corporation or electrical
corporation, with a link to the Internet Web site with the report
that contains the information required pursuant to subdivision (a).
SEC. 12. Section 916.4 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
916.4. An action taken by the commission on a safety
recommendation letter or safety advisory pursuant to Section 765
shall be reported annually, in detail, to the Legislature with the
report required by Section 910. Correspondence from the federal
National Transportation Safety Board indicating that a recommendation
has been closed following an action that the federal National
Transportation Safety Board finds unacceptable shall be noted in the
report required by Section 910.
SEC. 13. Section 960 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
960. (a) When the federal National Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB) submits a safety recommendation letter concerning gas pipeline
safety to the commission, the commission shall provide the NTSB with
a formal written response to each recommendation not later than 90
days after receiving the letter. The response shall state one of the
following:
(1) The commission's intent to implement the recommendations in
full, with a proposed timetable for implementation of the
recommendations.
(2) The commission's intent to implement part of the
recommendations, with a proposed timetable for implementation of
those recommendations, and detailed reasons for the commission's
refusal to implement those recommendations that the commission does
not intend to implement.
(3) The commission's refusal to implement the recommendations,
with detailed reasons for the commission's refusal to implement the
recommendations.
(b) If the NTSB issues a safety recommendation letter concerning
any commission-regulated gas pipeline facility to the United States
Department of Transportation, the federal Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), a gas corporation, or the
commission, or the PHMSA issues an advisory bulletin concerning any
commission-regulated gas pipeline facility, the commission shall
determine if implementation of the recommendation or advisory is
appropriate. The basis for the commission's determination shall be
detailed in writing and shall be approved by a majority vote of the
commission.
(c) If the commission determines that a safety recommendation made
by the NTSB is appropriate or that action concerning an advisory
bulletin is necessary, the commission shall issue orders or adopt
rules to implement the safety recommendation or advisory as soon as
practicable. In implementing the safety recommendation or advisory,
the commission shall consider whether a more effective, or equally
effective and less costly, alternative exists to address the safety
issue that the recommendation or advisory addresses.
SEC. 14 Section 1701 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
1701. (a) All hearings, investigations, and proceedings shall be
governed by this part and by rules of practice and procedure adopted
by the commission, and in the conduct thereof the technical rules of
evidence need not be applied. No informality in any hearing,
investigation, or proceeding or in the manner of taking testimony
shall invalidate any order, decision or rule made, approved, or
confirmed by the commission.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 11425.10 of the Government Code,
Articles 1 through 15, inclusive, of Chapter 4.5 (commencing with
Section 11400) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code do not apply to a hearing by the commission under this code. The
Administrative Adjudication Code of Ethics (Article 16 (commencing
with Section 11475) of Chapter 4.5 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2
of the Government Code) shall apply to administrative law judges of
the commission.
SEC. 15. Section 1711 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
1711. Where feasible and appropriate, except for adjudication
cases, before instituting a proceeding on its own motion, the
commission shall seek the views of those who are likely to be
affected, including those who are likely to benefit from, and those
who are potentially subject to, a decision in that proceeding. The
commission shall demonstrate its efforts to comply with this section
in the text of the order instituting the proceeding.
SEC. 16. Section 1759 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
1759. (a) No court of this state, except the Supreme Court and
the court of appeal, to the extent specified in this article, shall
have jurisdiction to review, reverse, correct, or annul an order or
decision of the commission or to suspend or delay the execution or
operation thereof, or to enjoin, restrain, or interfere with the
commission in the performance of its official duties, as provided by
law and the rules of court.
(b) The writ of mandamus shall lie from the Supreme Court and from
the court of appeal to the commission in all proper cases as
prescribed in Section 1085 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(c) This section does not apply to the following actions, which
may be brought in superior court:
(1) An action brought against the commission to enforce the
requirements of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9
(commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code).
(2) An action arising from the California Public Records Act
(Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1
of the Government Code) or to review a determination made under
subdivision (c) of Section 6253 of the Government Code.
SEC. 17. Section 3.5 of this bill incorporates amendments to
Section 311.5 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by both this bill
and Assembly Bill 825. It shall only become operative if (1) both
bills are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2016,
(2) each bill amends Section 311.5 of the Public Utilities Code, and
(3) this bill is enacted after Assembly Bill 825, in which case
Section 3 of this bill shall not become operative.
SEC. 18. Section 2 of this act shall not become
operative if any section of any other act, including any act related
to the Budget Act of 2015, enacted by the Legislature during the 2015
calendar year and takes effect on or before January 1, 2016
, amends, amends and renumbers, adds, repeals and adds, or
repeals Section 306 of the Public Utilities Code.
