California Senate Bill SB1414 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 1414AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 17, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 2, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 22, 2010 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 1, 2010 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 27, 2010 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 13, 2010 AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 25, 2010 INTRODUCED BY Senator Kehoe FEBRUARY 19, 2010 An act to amend Section 321.6 of, and to amend, repeal, and add Section 1733 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to the Public Utilities Commission. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1414, as amended, Kehoe. Public Utilities Commission: procedures: rehearings. (1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities and can establish its own procedures, subject to statutory limitations or directions and constitutional requirements of due process. Existing law authorizes any party to an action or proceeding, or any stockholder or bondholder or other party pecuniarily interested in the public utility affected by an order or decision of the CPUC, to apply for a rehearing with respect to any matter determined in the action or proceeding and specified in the application for rehearing. Existing law prohibits a cause of action arising out of any order or decision of the CPUC from accruing in a court to a corporation or person unless the corporation or person has filed an application to the CPUC for a rehearing within a specified amount of time after the date of issuance of the order or decision.  Existing law provides that any application for a rehearing made 10 days or more before the effective date of a CPUC order as to which a rehearing is sought, shall be either granted or denied before the effective date of the order, or the order is suspended until the application is granted or denied. Existing law provides that, absent a further order of the CPUC, the suspension ceases after 60 days, the order becomes effective, and the party making the application is authorized to take the application as having been denied.   Beginning July 1, 2011, for an application for rehearing made 10 days or more before the effective date of the CPUC order as to which a rehearing is sought, this bill would delete the provision that the suspension ceases after 60 days if the application is not granted or denied before its effective date, thereby indefinitely suspending the effective date of the order until the CPUC either grants or denies the application.   (2) Existing   Existing  law provides that if the application for rehearing is made less than 10 days before the effective date of the order as to which a rehearing is sought, and the application is not granted within 60 days, the party making the application is authorized to take the application as having been denied, unless the effective date of the order is extended for the period of the pendency of the application.  Beginning July   This bill would provide that, beginning January  1, 2011, for an application for rehearing made less than 10 days before the effective date of the CPUC order as to which a rehearing is sought, this bill would require that the application be acted upon within  60   120  days. The bill would authorize the commission, by order, to extend the period for acting upon the application for rehearing, but would prohibit any single order from extending that period for more than an additional 120 days. The bill would authorize the applicant, beginning 61 days following the filing of the application, to treat the application as having been denied regardless of any order of extension  , unless the effective date of the order as to which the rehearing is sought is extended for the period of the pendency of the application  .  The bill would provide that, absent the consent of the applicant, if the application is not acted upon within one year, the application is denied by operation of law.   (3)   (2)  Existing law requires the CPUC to submit an annual report on the number of cases where resolution exceeded the time periods prescribed in scoping memos and the days that commissioners presided in hearings. This bill would additionally require the CPUC to include data on the disposition of applications for rehearing in that report. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 321.6 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read: 321.6. The commission shall do all of the following: (a) Develop, publish, and annually update an annual work plan that describes in clear detail the scheduled ratemaking proceedings and other decisions that may be considered by the commission during the calendar year. The plan shall include, but is not limited to, information on how members of the public and ratepayers can gain access to the commission's ratemaking process and information regarding the specific matters to be decided. The plan shall also include information on the operation of the office of the public advisor and identify the names and telephone numbers of those contact persons responsible for specific cases and matters to be decided. The plan shall also include a statement that specifies activities that the commission proposes to reduce the costs of, and rates for, energy, including electricity, and for improving the competitive opportunities for state agriculture and other rural energy consumers. The commission shall post the plan under the Official Documents area of its Internet Web site and shall develop a program to disseminate the information in the plan utilizing computer mailing lists to provide regular updates on the information to those members of the public and organizations which request that information. (b) Produce a complete accounting of its transactions and proceedings for the preceding year, together with other facts, suggestions, and recommendations that it deems of value to the people of the state and a statement that specifies the activities and achievements of the commission in reducing the costs of, and rates for, energy, including electricity, for state agriculture and other rural energy consumers. (c) Create a report on the number of cases where resolution exceeded the time periods prescribed in scoping memos, data on the disposition of applications for rehearing, and the days that commissioners presided in hearings. (d) Submit annually the plan, accounting, and report required by subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) to the Governor and Legislature no later than February 1 of each year. SEC. 2. Section 1733 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read: 1733. (a) Any application for a rehearing made 10 days or more before the effective date of the order as to which a rehearing is sought, shall be either granted or denied before the effective date, or the order shall stand suspended until the application is granted or denied; but, absent further order of the commission the order shall not stand so suspended for more than 60 days after the date of filing of the application, at which time the suspension shall lapse, the order shall become effective, and the application may be taken by the party making it to be denied. (b) Any application for a rehearing made within less than 10 days before the effective date of the order as to which a rehearing is sought, and not granted within 60 days, may be taken by the party making the application to be denied, unless the effective date of the order is extended for the period of the pendency of the application. (c) This section shall apply to an application for rehearing filed on or before  June 30, 2011   December 31, 2010  . (d) This section shall remain in effect only until December 31, 2012, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before December 31, 2012, deletes or extends that date. SEC. 3. Section 1733 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read: 1733. (a) Any application for a rehearing made 10 days or more before the effective date of the order as to which a rehearing is sought shall be either granted or denied before the effective date, or the order shall be suspended until the application is granted or denied  ; but, absent further order of the commission, the order shall not stand so suspended for more than 60 days after the date of filing of the application, at which time the suspension shall lapse, the order shall become effectiv  e, and the application may be taken by the party making it to be denied  . (b) Any application for a rehearing made within less than 10 days before the effective date of the order as to which a rehearing is sought shall be acted upon within  60   120  days. The commission, by order, may extend the  60-day   120-day  period for acting upon the application, but any single order shall not extend that period for more than an additional 120 days. Regardless of any order of extension,  unless the effective date of the order as to which the rehearing is sought is extended for the period of the pendency of the application,  beginning 61 days following the filing of the application, the applicant may treat the application as having been denied.  The commission shall not extend the period for acting on the application beyond one year after the day on which the application was filed unless the applicant consents to the extension. Absent the consent of the applicant, if the commission has not acted upon the application within one year, the application is denied by operation of law.  (c) This section shall apply to an application for rehearing filed on or after  July 1   January 1  , 2011.