Legislative record

Public utilities: rates.

Existing law authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law prohibits a public utility from changing a rate or altering a classification, contract, practice, or rule that would result in a new rate, except upon a showing before the commission and a finding by the commission that the new rate is justified and the public utility notifying its customers of the rate change. This bill would require an electrical corporation or gas corporation proposing to change a rate or to alter a classification, contract, practice, or rule that would result in a new rate to include in its proposal certain information, as provided. The bill would require the commission, in approving the rate change, to take into account, and make specific findings related to, wildfire risk reduction efforts taken by the electrical corporation. Existing law requires the commission, by May 1 of each year, to prepare and submit a written report to the Governor and the Legislature that contains the commission's recommendations for actions to limit electrical corporations' and gas corporations' utility costs and rate increases or to substantially reduce monthly electricity and natural gas utility bills, and that considers how the adoption of decarbonization policies may impact the total energy costs borne by consumers. This bill would require that report to additionally include, for each electrical corporation and gas corporation, comparisons for each of the previous 5 years presented by each functional category of operations, across all operations of the corporation, of certain expenditures of the corporation, as specified. The bill would require the commission to make all source data used to produce the report available to the public in an electronic format on its internet website. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the above provisions would be part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing the bill's requirements would be a crime, this 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.