Electrical restructuring: natural gas restructuring: information practices.

(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has broad regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations, as defined. Existing law restructuring the electrical industry requires the commission to authorize and facilitate direct transactions between electricity suppliers and end-use customers subject to the implementation of a nonbypassable charge, as specified. Electrical restructuring requires electric service providers, which are entities that offer electrical service to customers within the service territory of an electrical corporation but which are not electrical corporations, to register with the commission and to disclose specified information, among other things and authorizes the commission to enforce specific statutes with respect to electric service providers, but does not grant the commission jurisdiction to regulate electric service providers other than as specified. Existing law restructuring the electrical industry requires the commission to compile and regularly update information regarding registered electric service providers, including the names and contact numbers of providers, information to assist consumers in making service choices, the number of customer complaints against specific providers in relation to the number of customers served by those providers, and the disposition of those complaints. In this regard, existing law requires the commission to direct the Division of Ratepayer Advocates to collect and analyze this information for purposes of preparing easily understandable informational guides or other tools to help residential and small commercial customers understand how to evaluate competing electric service options. This bill would, except for the compilation and updating of the names and contact numbers of providers, make inoperative the above provisions, except for those times in which providers are authorized to offer service to residential customers and enrollment increases at a specified level, and would make conforming changes in related provisions. The bill would repeal the requirement related to the informational guides. (2) Existing law relative to the restructuring of the natural gas industry requires the commission to require each gas corporation to provide bundled basic gas service, as defined, to all core customers in its service territory unless the customer chooses or contracts to have natural gas purchased and supplied by another entity. The Public Utilities Act establishes various consumer protection provisions relative to electrical restructuring, including the requirement that each entity, other than an electrical corporation, offering electrical service to residential and small commercial customers within the service territory of an electrical corporation register with the commission and provide specified information to the commission. A violation of the act is a crime. This bill would extend certain consumer protection provisions that are applicable to electrical restructuring to aspects of natural gas restructuring, including the requirement to register with, and provide specified information to the commission, to a core transport agent, as defined, offering gas service to customers within the service territory of a gas corporation. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) 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.