Electricity: rates: time-variant pricing.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law permits the commission to authorize an electrical corporation to offer residential customers the option of receiving service pursuant to time-variant pricing, including time-of-use rates, critical peak pricing, and real-time pricing, and to participate in other demand reduction response programs, but prohibits the commission from requiring or authorizing an electrical corporation to employ mandatory or default time-variant pricing for any residential customer, except that beginning January 1, 2018, the commission may require or authorize an electrical corporation to employ default time-of-use pricing to residential customers, subject to specified limitations and conditions. Existing law requires the commission to report to the Legislature on various matters. This bill would require the commission to include a summary of the adoption and implementation of time-variant pricing by electrical corporations in a specified report to be filed with the Legislature by May 1, 2021.