Electricity: Pacific Gas and Electric Company: seismic fault.

(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to conduct various assessments and forecasts on energy industry supply, production, transportation, delivery and distribution, demand, and prices. This bill would require Pacific Gas and Electric Company, in furtherance of the recommendations made by the Energy Commission, to conduct seismic fault studies or surveys in areas at or near the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in order to maintain reliable operation of the electrical grid and mitigate impacts to customer rates that could result from a seismic event. Because a violation of this requirement would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. The bill would require the commission, in consultation with the California Geologic Survey and the Seismic Safety Commission, to conduct or facilitate a peer review of any fault studies or surveys conducted pursuant to that requirement within 120 days of receipt of a final study or survey. The bill would require the Pacific Gas and Electric Company to fund all costs associated with a peer review of any studies or surveys and would require the commission to authorize the utility to fully recover, in its generation procurement rates, all reasonable costs associated with any studies, surveys, or peer review required pursuant to the bill. (2) 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. (3) This bill would state the findings and declarations of the Legislature concerning the need for special legislation.