Public utilities: inspection and audit of books and records.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, gas corporations, heat corporations, telegraph corporations, telephone corporations, and water corporations. The California Constitution authorizes the commission to establish rules, examine records, and prescribe a uniform system of accounts for all public utilities. The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to inspect and audit the books and records of electrical corporations, gas corporations, heat corporations, telegraph corporations, telephone corporations, and water corporations for regulatory and tax purposes. An inspection and audit is required to be done at least every 3 years if the utility has over 1,000 customers and at least once every 5 years if the utility has 1,000 or fewer customers. This bill would require the more frequent inspection and audit only for a utility with more than 10,000 customers. The bill would, for those utilities, alternatively authorize the commission to inspect and audit the books and records of those utilities in accordance with the commission authorized general rate case cycle, if that cycle provides for a rate case no less frequently than once every five years.