Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical and gas corporations, as defined. 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 requires the commission to designate a baseline quantity of electricity and gas necessary to supply a significant portion of the reasonable energy needs of the average residential customer and requires that electrical and gas corporations file rates and charges, to be approved by the commission, providing baseline rates. Existing law requires the commission, in establishing the baseline rates, to avoid excessive rate increases for residential customers. Existing law requires the commission to establish a program of assistance to low-income electric and gas customers, referred to as the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program. The CARE program provides lower rates to low-income customers that are financed through a separate rate component, which is required to be a nonbypassable element of the local distribution service and collected on the basis of usage. Eligibility for the CARE program is for those electric and gas customers with annual household incomes that are no greater than 200% of the federal poverty guideline levels. Existing law revises certain prohibitions upon raising residential electrical rates adopted during the energy crisis of 2000–01, to authorize the commission to increase the rates charged residential customers for electricity usage up to 130% of the baseline quantities by the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index from the prior year plus 1%, but not less than 3% and not more than 5% per year. Existing law additionally authorizes the commission to increase the rates in effect for CARE program participants for electricity usage up to 130% of baseline quantities by the annual percentage increase in benefits under the CalWORKs program, as defined, not to exceed 3%, and subject to the limitation that the CARE rates not exceed 80% of the corresponding rates charged to residential customers not participating in the CARE program. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that CARE program participants be afforded the lowest possible electric and gas rates and, to the extent possible, be exempt from additional surcharges attributable to the energy crisis of 2000–01. This bill would repeal the limitations upon increasing the electric service rates of residential customers, including the rate increase limitations applicable to electric service provided to CARE customers, but would require the commission, in establishing rates for CARE program participants, to ensure that low-income ratepayers are not jeopardized or overburdened by monthly energy expenditures and to adopt CARE rates in which the level of discount for low-income electricity and gas ratepayers correctly reflects their level of need, as determined by a specified needs assessment. The bill would require that this needs assessment be performed not less often than every 3rd year. The bill would revise the CARE program eligibility requirements to provide that for one-person households, program eligibility would be based on 2-person household guideline levels. The bill would require the commission, when establishing the CARE discounts for an electrical corporation with 100,000 or more customer accounts in California, to ensure that the average effective CARE discount be no less than 30% and no more than 35% of the revenues that would have been produced for the same billed usage by non-CARE customers and that the entire discount be provided in the form of a reduction in the overall bill for the eligible CARE customer. The bill would require that increases to rates and charges in rate design proceedings, including any reduction in the CARE discount, be reasonable and subject to a reasonable phase-in schedule relative to the rates and charges in effect prior to January 1, 2014. The bill would authorize the commission to approve new, or expand existing, fixed charges, as defined, for an electrical corporation for the purpose of collecting a reasonable portion of the fixed costs of providing service to residential customers. The bill would require the commission to ensure that any new or expanded fixed charges reasonably reflect an appropriate portion of the different costs of serving small and large customers, do not unreasonably impair incentives for conservation and energy efficiency, and do not overburden low-income and moderate-income customers. The bill would impose a $10 limit per residential customer account per month for customers not enrolled in the CARE program, would impose a $5 per month limit per residential customer account per month for customers enrolled in the CARE program, and would, beginning January 1, 2016, authorize the commission to adjust this maximum allowable fixed charge by no more than the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for the prior calendar year. The bill would authorize the commission to consider whether minimum bills are an appropriate substitute for any fixed charges. Existing law prohibits the commission from requiring or permitting an electrical corporation to do any of the following: (1) employ mandatory or default time-variant pricing, as defined, with or without bill protection, as defined, for residential customers prior to January 1, 2013, (2) employ mandatory or default time-variant pricing, without bill protection, for residential customers prior to January 1, 2014, or (3) employ mandatory or default real-time pricing, without bill protection, for residential customers prior to January 1, 2020. Existing law authorizes the commission to authorize an electrical corporation to offer residential customers the option of receiving service pursuant to time-variant pricing and to participate in other demand response programs. Existing law requires the commission to only approve an electrical corporation's use of default time-variant pricing for residential customers, beginning January 1, 2014, if those residential customers have the option to not receive service pursuant to time-variant pricing and incur no additional charges, as specified, as a result of the exercise of that option. Existing law exempts certain customers from being subject to default time-variant pricing. This bill would delete these provisions and instead prohibit the commission from requiring or permitting an electrical corporation from employing mandatory or default time-variant pricing, as defined, 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. The bill would permit the commission to authorize an electrical corporation to offer residential customers the option of receiving service pursuant to time-variant pricing and to participate in other demand response programs. The bill would provide that a residential customer would have the option to not receive service pursuant to time-variant pricing and not incur any additional charge as a result of the exercise of that option. Unless the commission has authorized an electrical corporation to employ default time-of-use pricing, the bill would require the commission to require each electrical corporation to offer default rates to residential customers with at least 2 usage tiers and would require that the first tier include electricity usage of no less than the baseline quantity established by the commission. The bill would authorize the commission to modify the baseline seasonal definitions and applicable percentage of average consumption for one or more climate zones. Existing law requires every electric utility, defined to include an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, or an electrical cooperative, to develop a standard contract or tariff providing for net energy metering, as defined, and to make this contract or tariff available to eligible customer generators, as defined, upon request for generation by a renewable electrical generation facility, as defined. An electric utility, upon request, is required to make available to eligible customer generators contracts or tariffs for net energy metering on a first-come-first-served basis until the time that the total rated generating capacity used by eligible customer generators exceeds 5% of the electric utility's aggregate customer peak demand. Existing law authorizes a local publicly owned electric utility to elect to instead offer co-energy metering, which uses a generation-to-generation energy and time-of-use credit formula, as specified. This bill would require a large electrical corporation, defined as an electrical corporation with more than 100,000 service connections in California, to provide net energy metering to additional eligible customer-generators in its service area through July 1, 2017, or until the corporation reaches its net energy metering program limit, as specified. The bill would require the commission, no later than December 31, 2015, to develop a standard contract or tariff for eligible customer-generators with a renewable electrical generation facility that is a customer of a large electrical corporation. In developing the standard contract or tariff for large electrical corporations, the commission would be required to take specified actions. The bill would require the large electrical corporation to offer the standard contract or tariff to an eligible customer-generator beginning July 1, 2017, or prior to that date if ordered to do so by the commission because it has reached the net energy metering program limit established for the corporation. The bill would provide that there shall be no limitation on the number of new eligible customer-generators entitled to receive service pursuant to the new standard contract or tariff developed by the commission for a large electrical corporation. Existing law provides that a fuel cell electrical generation facility is not eligible for the tariff unless it commences operation before January 1, 2015. This bill would instead provide that a fuel cell electrical generation facility is not eligible for the tariff unless it commences operation before January 1, 2017. The Public Utilities Act requires each electrical corporation, as a part of its distribution planning process, to consider specified nonutility owned distributed energy resources as an alternative to investments in its distribution system to ensure reliable electric services at the lowest possible costs. This bill would require an electrical corporation, by July 1, 2015, to submit to the commission a distribution resources plan proposal, as specified, to identify optimal locations for the deployment of distributed resources, as defined. The bill would require the commission to review each distribution resources plan proposal submitted by an electrical corporation and approve, or modify and approve, a distribution resources plan for the corporation. The bill would require that any electrical corporation spending on distribution infrastructure necessary to accomplish the distribution resources plan be proposed and considered as part of the next general rate case for the corporation and would authorize the commission to approve this proposed spending if it concludes that ratepayers would realize net benefits and the associated costs are just and reasonable. The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish a rewewables portfolio standard requiring all retail sellers, as defined, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, at specified percentages of the total kilowatthours sold to their retail end-customers during specified compliance periods. The program additionally requires each local publicly owned electric utility, as defined, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources to achieve the targets established by the program. Existing law prohibits the commission from requiring the procurement of eligible renewable energy resources in excess of the specified quantities. This bill would authorize the commission to require a retail seller to procure eligible renewable energy resources in excess of the specified quantities. 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 portions of this bill are within the act and require action by the commission to implement their requirements, a violation of these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime or expanding an existing 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.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, until January 1, 2014, authorizes certain state and local transportation entities, if authorized by the California Transportation Commission, to use a design‑build process for contracts on transportation projects, as specified. Existing law establishes a procedure for submitting bids that includes a requirement that design-build entities provide a statement of qualifications submitted to the transportation entity that is verified under oath, subject to penalty of perjury. This bill would authorize the Department of Transportation to utilize design-build procurement for up to 10 projects on the state highway system, based on either best value or lowest responsible bid. The bill would authorize regional transportation agencies, as defined, to utilize design-build procurement for projects on or adjacent to the state highway system. The bill would also authorize those regional transportation agencies to utilize design-build procurement for projects on expressways that are not on the state highway system, as specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2024, or one year from the date that the Department of Transportation posts on its Internet Web site that the provisions related to the construction inspection services of these projects are invalid. The bill would provide that these design-build authorizations do not include construction inspection services for projects on or interfacing with the state highway system. The bill would require the Department of Transportation to perform construction inspection services for projects on or interfacing with the state highway system, as specified. The bill would require a transportation entity, as defined, awarding a contract for a public works project pursuant to these provisions, to reimburse the Department of Industrial Relations for costs of performing prevailing wage monitoring and enforcement of the public works project and would require moneys collected to be deposited into the State Public Works Enforcement Fund, a continuously appropriated fund. By depositing money in a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would extend the use of design-build procurement to regional transportation agencies, as defined, and extend the period of time for which the Department of Transportation may use design-build procurement, subject to existing procedures. The bill would, by extension, impose the statement of qualifications requirement upon regional transportation agencies and the department, subject to penalty of perjury, thereby creating a new crime and imposing 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
This measure would honor the California Council on Science and Technology for 25 years of service and unbiased advice to the State of California.
This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to enact President Barack Obama's budget proposal to increase funding for preschool and early learning. This measure would also urge the Superintendent of Public Instruction to prepare a plan for making California competitive for future increases in federal funding to preschool and early learning programs.
This measure would designate December 4, 2013, as Keeping Kids in School and Out of Court Day.
Existing property tax law requires the county auditor, in each fiscal year, to allocate property tax revenue to local jurisdictions in accordance with specified formulas and procedures, and generally requires that each jurisdiction be allocated an amount equal to the total of the amount of revenue allocated to that jurisdiction in the prior fiscal year, subject to certain modifications, and that jurisdiction's portion of the annual tax increment, as defined. Existing property tax law requires that, for purposes of determining property tax revenue allocations in each county for the 1992–93 and 1993–94 fiscal years, the amounts of property tax revenue deemed allocated in the prior fiscal year to the county, cities, and special districts be reduced in accordance with certain formulas. It requires that the revenues not allocated to the county, cities, and special districts as a result of these reductions be transferred to the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund in that county for allocation to school districts, community college districts, and the county office of education. For the 2004–05 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, existing law requires that each city, county, and city and county receive additional property tax revenues in the form of a vehicle license fee adjustment amount, as defined, from a Vehicle License Fee Property Tax Compensation Fund that exists in each county treasury. Existing law requires that these additional allocations be funded from ad valorem property tax revenues otherwise required to be allocated to each county's Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund for the benefit of educational entities. This bill would modify these reduction and transfer provisions by increasing the vehicle license fee adjustment amount for the County of Orange by $53,000,000 for the 2013–14 fiscal year and requiring that amount to be included in the calculation of the vehicle license fee adjustment amount for that county for each fiscal year thereafter. This bill would direct the Department of Finance and the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to work with the County of Orange, the county auditor-controller for the County of Orange, and intervenors in obtaining a final and complete resolution to a specified case in which all parties agree not to seek appellate review. The bill would include findings and declarations that an appropriate resolution would be for the County of Orange to repay specified amounts over a specified period. By changing the manner in which property tax revenues are allocated by the county officials in the County of Orange, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, for the 2009–10 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, requires the auditor of a qualified county, as defined, to increase the total amount of ad valorem property tax revenue otherwise required to be allocated to that county by the county equity amount, as defined, and to commensurately reduce the total amount of ad valorem property tax revenue otherwise required to be allocated to the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund in the county, as specified. This bill would repeal these provisions. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Orange. 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.
This measure would proclaim October 5, 2013, as California Firefighters Memorial Day.
This measure would recognize September 2013 as Hmong History Month, urge all citizens to join in celebrating the accomplishments of the Hmong people during Hmong History Month, and encourage the people of California to recognize the many talents, achievements, and contributions that the Hmong people make to their communities.
This measure would formally endorse the invaluable work of California's Africana studies programs, and their faculty, staff, and students. The measure would recognize the leadership provided by the beneficiaries of those programs, and would support the continuation of Africana studies programs in California's institutions of higher education.
This measure would designate September 22, 2013, and September 22, 2014, as "California Business Women's Day" and would encourage all Californians to celebrate the occasion with appropriate activities.