Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to require each electrical corporation under the operational control of the Independent System Operator as of January 1, 2001, to modify tariffs so that all customers that install new distributed energy resources, as defined, in accordance with specified criteria are served under rates, rules, and requirements identical to those of a customer within the same rate schedule that does not use distributed energy resources, and to withdraw any provisions in otherwise applicable tariffs that activate other tariffs, rates, or rules if a customer uses distributed energy resources. Existing law provides, notwithstanding these requirements, that a customer that installs new distributed energy resources not be exempted from (1) reasonable interconnection charges, (2) charges imposed pursuant to the Reliable Electric Service Investment Act, and (3) charges imposed to repay the Department of Water Resources for electricity procurement expenses incurred in response to the electricity crisis of 2000–01. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission, in establishing the rates applicable to customers that install new distributed energy resources, to create a firewall that segregates distribution cost recovery so that any net costs, taking into account the actual costs and benefits of distributed energy resources, proportional to each customer class, as determined by the Public Utilities Commission, resulting from the tariff modifications granted to members of each customer class may be recovered only from that class. This bill would, to the extent authorized by federal law, require the Public Utilities Commission, by July 1, 2017, to do both of the following for those customers of the state's 3 largest electrical corporations that install clean distributed energy resources, as defined, after January 1, 2016: (1) require those electrical corporations to collect all applicable nonbypassable charges fixed, implemented, administered, or imposed by the Public Utilities Commission based only on the actual metered consumption of electricity delivered to the customer through the electrical corporation's transmission or distribution system, which charges are to be at the same rate per kilowatthour as paid by other customers that do not employ a clean distributed energy resource, and (2) calculate a reserve capacity for standby service, if applicable, based on the capacity needed by the electrical corporation to serve a customer's electrical demand during an outage of the clean distributed energy resource providing electric service for that customer. The bill would require the state's 3 largest electrical corporations to identify the total amount of nonbypassable charges that would be collected each year from customers served by clean distributed energy resources installed after January 1, 2016, based on gross consumption without any adjustment for the generation of the clean distributed energy resources. The bill would require that this total amount be fully recovered from customers in the same customer class as those customers served by clean distributed energy resources installed after January 1, 2016, and would prohibit any amount from being shifted to any other customer class. The bill would require a customer served by a clean distributed energy resource to provide relevant data to the Public Utilities Commission and the State Air Resources Board annually. The bill would provide that the facility is subject to onsite inspection to verify equipment operation and performance, including capacity, thermal output, and usage, to verify applicable criteria air pollutant and greenhouse gases emissions performance. The bill would require the Public Utilities Commission to suspend the eligibility of new customers to receive service pursuant to the rate program established pursuant to the bill on December 31, 2020. Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, beginning November 1, 2003, and every 2 years thereafter, to adopt an integrated energy policy report which includes an overview of major energy trends and issues facing the state, including supply, demand, pricing, reliability, efficiency, and impacts on public health and safety, the economy, resources, and the environment. The bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, to report on the impacts of the rate program established pursuant to the bill in the integrated energy policy report to be filed on or before November 1, 2017, and November 1, 2019. 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 the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its 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.
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(1) Existing law creates the Local Agency Investment Fund, a trust fund in the custody of the Treasurer, in which local governments and other specified governmental entities may deposit, for investment, moneys that are not required for immediate needs. Existing law authorizes the Treasurer, with the advice of the Local Investment Advisory Board, to invest the moneys in the fund. Existing law requires the board to be made up of 5 members, including the Treasurer or his or her representative, 2 members appointed by the Treasurer who are experienced in the field of investment, and 2 members appointed by the Treasurer who are treasurers, finance or fiscal officers, or business managers employed by a county, city or local district, or municipal corporation of this state. Existing law establishes that the term of office of each appointed member of the board is 2 years. This bill would extend the term of each of the appointed members of the board to 3 years. The bill would also make several nonsubstantive changes. (2) Existing law creates the Pooled Money Investment Board and authorizes it to determine whether any money on deposit in the State Treasury, with specified exceptions, is not necessary for immediate use and to designate that money as "surplus money." Existing law requires transfer of this surplus money to the Surplus Money Investment Fund and requires that the moneys be invested by the Treasurer in specified eligible investment vehicles. Existing law creates the Local Agency Investment Fund, a trust fund in the custody of the Treasurer, in which local governments and other specified governmental entities may deposit, for investment, moneys that are not required for immediate needs. Existing law authorizes the Treasurer, with the advice of the Local Investment Advisory Board, to invest the moneys in the fund in specified securities that are eligible for the investment of surplus state funds. This bill would create the Intermediate and Long Term Investment Fund to receive voluntary deposit of funds by a governmental entity so that those funds may benefit from the intermediate or long-term investments authorized by this bill. The bill would, in addition, authorize investment of moneys that are deposited in the Intermediate and Long Term Investment Fund in long-term corporate and government bonds, in gold, and in convertible securities. This bill would establish the Long Term Investment Board. The board would consist of 5 members with the Treasurer as the chair. The Treasurer would select the remaining 4 members, based upon specified criteria, for 2-year terms. The board's primary purpose would be to advise and assist the Treasurer in formulating the investment and reinvestment of moneys in the fund and the acquisition, retention, management, and disposition of investments of the fund. The bill would require the board to submit quarterly and annual reports regarding the performance of the investments in the fund to the Legislature and to the Department of Finance.
The California Public Records Act requires that public records, as defined, be open to inspection at all times during the office hours of a state or local agency and that every person has a right to inspect any public record, with specified exceptions. The act exempts the disclosure of specific records regarding alternative investments in which public investment funds invest, unless the information has already been publicly released by the keeper of the information, including alternative investment agreements and all related documents. This bill would require a state agency to disclose the cover page and signature block of a proposed alternative investment agreement and certain provisions in the alternative investment agreement or related documents that govern the reclaiming of money or benefits under stated conditions.
The Passenger Charter-Party Carriers' Act generally requires charges for transportation offered or afforded by a charter-party carrier of passengers to be computed and assessed on a vehicle mileage or time-of-use basis, rather than on an individual-fare basis, subject to certain exemptions. This bill would also exempt from these provisions a service operated by a transportation network company or a charter-party carrier of passengers that prearranges a ride among multiple passengers who share the ride in whole or in part, provided that the vehicle seats no more than 7 passengers, not including the driver, is operated by a participating driver, as defined, is not used to provide public transit services or carry passengers over a fixed route, is not used to provide pupil transportation services or public paratransit services, and the fare for each passenger is less than the fare that would be charged to a passenger traveling alone.
The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities Commission, with jurisdiction over all public utilities. The California Constitution grants the commission certain general powers over all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature, and, among other things, authorizes the Legislature, unlimited by the other provisions of the Constitution, to confer additional authority and jurisdiction upon the commission that is cognate and germane to the regulation of public utilities, to establish the manner and scope of review of commission action in a court of record, and to enable the commission to fix just compensation for utility property taken by eminent domain. The Public Utilities Act and other provisions of the Public Utilities Code set forth the structure, funding, and responsibilities of the commission. This measure would authorize the Legislature to reallocate or reassign all or a portion of the functions of the commission to other state agencies, departments, boards, or other entities, consistent with specified purposes. The measure would direct the Legislature to adopt appropriate structures to provide greater accountability for the public utilities of the state and provide the necessary guidance to the commission to focus its regulatory efforts on safety, reliability, and ratesetting and to implement statutorily authorized programs for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. This measure would repeal the provisions of the California Constitution pertaining to the commission effective January 1, 2019, while specifying that a statute that was valid at the time the statute was enacted is not invalid by virtue of the repeal of those constitutional provisions.
Under existing law, a wireless telecommunications collocation facility, as specified, is subject to a city or county discretionary permit and is required to comply with specified criteria, but a collocation facility, which is the placement or installation of wireless facilities, including antennas and related equipment, on or immediately adjacent to a wireless telecommunications collocation facility, is a permitted use not subject to a city or county discretionary permit. This bill would permit the use of a small cell, as defined, without a city or county discretionary permit or aesthetic review in all zoning districts, subject only to a building permit or administrative permit, as applicable. The bill would require a city or county to issue those permits, as applicable, within 60 days, except as specified. Under existing law, a city or county, as a condition of approval of an application for a permit for construction or reconstruction of a development project for a wireless telecommunications facility, may not require an escrow deposit for removal of a wireless telecommunications facility or any component thereof, unreasonably limit the duration of any permit for a wireless telecommunications facility, or require that all wireless telecommunications facilities be limited to sites owned by particular parties within the jurisdiction of the city or county, as specified. This bill would require the city or county to renew a permit with a duration of less than 10 years for an equivalent duration unless the city or county finds that wireless telecommunications facility does not comply with the codes and permit conditions applicable at the time the permit was initially approved. The bill would also prohibit a city or county from precluding the leasing or licensing of a site owned by the city or county for the installation of a small cell, except as specified. The bill would authorize a city or county to impose a fee associated with a permit application for construction or reconstruction of a development project for a wireless telecommunications facility only if similar fees are charged within the city or county for similar types of commercial development. By imposing new duties on local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
Existing law, the State Civil Service Act, establishes standards for the use of personal services contracts by state agencies. The act provides that personal services contracting is permissible to achieve cost savings when certain conditions are met, including, but not limited to, that the contracting agency demonstrates that the proposed contract will result in actual overall cost savings to the state and that the contract will not cause the displacement of civil service employees. The act also authorizes state agencies to enter into personal services contracts for functions exempted from civil service. The California Constitution excludes the officers and employees of the California State University from the state civil service. Existing law authorizes the Trustees of the California State University to enter into agreements with any public or private agency, person, or institution for the furnishing of services, facilities, goods, supplies, or equipment, among others, and requires the trustees to prescribe policies and procedures for the acquisition of those services, facilities, materials, goods, supplies, or equipment. This bill would establish standards for the use of personal services contracts by the trustees similar to those in the State Civil Service Act for services that are currently or customarily performed by employees of the university.