Marks-Roos Local Bond Pooling Act of 1985: electric utilities: rate reduction bonds.

Existing law, the Marks-Roos Local Bond Pooling Act of 1985, authorizes certain joint powers authorities, upon application by a local agency that owns and operates a publicly owned utility, defined to mean certain utilities furnishing water or wastewater service to not less than 25,000 retail customers, to issue rate reduction bonds to finance utility projects, as defined, subject to certain requirements. Under the act, these rate reduction bonds are secured by a pledge of utility project property, and the joint powers authority issuing the bonds may impose on, and collect from, customers of the publicly owned utility a utility project charge to finance the bonds, as provided. This bill would expand the definition of a publicly owned utility for these purposes to include a local publicly owned electric utility, as defined. The bill would authorize an authority to issue rate reduction bonds to finance or refinance utility projects for the provision of generation, transmission, or distribution of electrical service. The bill would include in the allowable costs of a public capital improvement, a utility project, or portion of the improvement or utility project financed with rate reduction bonds the cost of tangible and intangible property that is related to all or any part of the cost of construction, renovation, and acquisition of all lands, structures, real or personal property, rights, rights-of-way, franchises, easements, and interests acquired to be used for a public capital improvement or a utility project. The bill would include in the definition of local agency a party to the agreement creating the authority, or an agency or subdivision of that party sponsoring a project of public capital improvements or other utility project, as defined. The act authorizes a local agency that owns and operates a publicly owned utility to apply to specified joint powers authorities to finance costs of a utility project for the publicly owned utility with the proceeds of rate reduction bonds if specified conditions are met, including that the local agency make specified determinations. The act requires the California Pollution Control Financing Authority, among other things, to review each issuance of rate reduction bonds issued under these provisions, except as provided, and to submit an annual report to the Legislature of its activities related to these bond issuance requirements. Under existing law, the authority to issue rate reduction bonds, as described above, terminates after December 31, 2026. This bill would extend this sunset date to December 31, 2036. The bill would also make clarifying changes to the act. The bill would require the annual report to be submitted to the relevant legislative policy committees with jurisdiction over energy and public utilities issues.