Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations 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, relative to electrical restructuring, requires the commission to authorize and facilitate direct transactions between electricity suppliers and retail end-use customers. Existing law, enacted during the energy crisis of 2000–01, authorized the Department of Water Resources, until January 1, 2003, to enter into contracts for the purchase of electricity, and to sell electricity to retail end-use customers at not more than the department's acquisition costs and to recover those costs through the issuance of bonds to be repaid by ratepayers. That law suspended the right of retail end-use customers, other than community choice aggregators and a qualifying direct transaction customer, as defined, to acquire service through a direct transaction until the Department of Water Resources no longer supplies electricity under that law. Existing law continues the suspension of direct transactions except as expressly authorized, until the Legislature, by statute, repeals the suspension or otherwise authorizes direct transactions. Existing law requires the commission to authorize direct transactions for nonresidential end-use customers subject to a reopening schedule that will phase in over a period of not less than 3 years and not more than 5 years, and is subject to an annual maximum allowable total kilowatthour limit established, as specified, for each electrical corporation. This bill would restrict the annual maximum allowable total kilowatthour limit for permissable direct transactions so that it is applicable only to nonresidential for-profit end-use customers and is not applicable to not-for-profit end-use customers.
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Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations, as defined. The existing Telecommunications Customer Service Act of 1993 requires the commission to require telephone corporations to provide certain customer services to telecommunication customers, as specified. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the act.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law define gross income as all income from whatever source derived, unless specifically excluded. This bill would exclude from gross income any amount provided to a person by the State Air Resources Board, an air pollution control district, or an air quality management district, as defined, for the purpose of air pollution reduction. The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, determine the basis for property when determining a gain or loss on the sale or other disposition of that property or when determining a depreciation deduction relating to that property. This bill would provide, under both laws, that for purposes of determining the gain or loss from the sale or other deposition of the property or when determining the depreciation deduction, the basis of the property shall be reduced to the extent the property was acquired with a grant amount by the State Air Resources Board, an air pollution control district, or an air quality management district, as defined, for the purpose of air pollution reduction. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, the 9 California regional water quality control boards are among the principal state agencies that carry out responsibilities relating to water quality. This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would transfer responsibility for the investigation and remediation of perchloroethylene contamination to the regional boards.
Existing law governs conditional sales contracts for motor vehicles, as defined. A willful violation of those provisions is a misdemeanor. In an action on a contract or purchase order subject to those provisions, existing law requires reasonable attorney's fees and costs to be awarded to the prevailing party. This bill would limit the award of attorney's fees to a prevailing party in an action instituted by a person who has suffered injury in fact and has lost money or property as a result of a violation of those provisions.
The Department of Water Resources operates the State Water Resources Development System, commonly referred to as the State Water Project, in accordance with the California Water Resources Development Bond Act. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to a provision that authorizes the issuance of bond funds in the amount of $1,750,000,000 for the purposes of that bond act.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to prepare an integrated energy policy report every 2 years. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating greenhouse gas emission sources. The act requires the state board to adopt regulations to require the reporting and verification of statewide greenhouse gas emissions and to monitor and enforce compliance with this program. The act also requires the state board to adopt regulations to provide for a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit to be achieved by 2020, equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions levels in 1990. Existing law authorizes the state board to include market-based compliance mechanisms, as defined, to comply with the regulations. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to this authorization.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities. Existing law, with certain exceptions, provides that any person, firm, corporation, their lessees, trustees, receivers, or trustees appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any water system within this State, who sells, leases, rents, or delivers water to any person, firm, corporation, municipality, or any other political subdivision of the State, whether under contract or otherwise, is a public utility, and is subject to the provisions of the Public Utilities Act and to the jurisdiction, control, and regulation of the commission. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the above-described provision making every person, firm, or corporation, their lessees, trustees, receivers, or trustees appointed by any court, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any water system within the state subject to the jurisdiction, control, and regulation of the commission.
Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. Under existing law, a regulation or an order of repeal of a regulation becomes effective on the 30th day after it is filed with the Secretary of State, except as provided. This bill would require that a regulation or an order of repeal of a regulation that has been identified by the agency as having, or as being reasonably likely to have, an adverse economic impact of at least $10,000,0000 become effective 180 days after the date it is filed with the Secretary of State, except as provided.