Wildfire mitigation plans: deenergizing of electrical lines: notifications: mobile telephony service providers.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and telephone corporations. Local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. Electrical cooperatives are subject to the regulatory authority of the commission, except as specified. Existing law requires each electrical corporation to annually prepare a wildfire mitigation plan and to submit its plan to the commission for review and approval, as specified. Existing law requires each local publicly owned electric utility and electrical cooperative, before January 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, to prepare a wildfire mitigation plan and to verify that the wildfire mitigation plan complies with all applicable rules, regulations, and standards, as appropriate. Existing law requires that the wildfire mitigation plans include, among other things, appropriate and feasible procedures for notifying a customer who may be impacted by the deenergizing of electrical lines and requires that the procedures consider the need to notify, as a priority, critical first responders, health care facilities, and operators of telecommunications infrastructure. This bill would require that the procedures for notifying a customer who may be impacted by the deenergizing of electrical lines by a local publicly owned electric utility, an electrical cooperative, or an electrical corporation direct notification to all public safety offices, critical first responders, health care facilities, and operators of telecommunications infrastructure with premises within the footprint of potential deenergization for a given event. The bill would require each electrical corporation to also include protocols for the deenergization of the electrical corporation's transmission infrastructure in the wildfire mitigation plan, for instances when the deenergization may impact customers who, and entities that, are dependent upon the infrastructure. The bill would require a facilities-based mobile telephony services provider to undertake specified steps in preparation for receiving notifications regarding the deenergization of electrical lines. The bill would require a facilities-based mobile telephony services provider, upon receipt of a notification regarding the deenergization of electrical lines, to communicate relevant situational information relative to communications capabilities during the projected outage to electrical corporations, local publicly owned electric utilities, electrical cooperatives, and appropriate public safety stakeholders, including, but not limited to, public safety offices and emergency response offices, for the affected area. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 8386 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by SB 70 and SB 167, contingent on the prior enactment of one or both of those bills. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because certain provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing the bill's requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. 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.