BILL NUMBER: SB 837INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Florez JANUARY 5, 2010 An act to relating to electricity. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 837, as introduced, Florez. Electricity: smart meters. The federal Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 states that it is the policy of the United States to maintain a reliable and secure electricity structure that achieves certain objectives that characterize a Smart Grid. Existing federal law requires each state regulatory authority, with respect to each electric utility for which it has ratemaking authority, and each nonregulated electric utility, to consider certain standards and to determine whether or not it is appropriate to implement those standards to carry out the purposes of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act. The existing standards include time-based metering and communications, consideration of smart grid investments, and providing purchases with smart grid information, as specified. Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law authorizes the commission to establish rules for all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that requires the commission to ensure that electrical corporations that are authorized to deploy Smart Grid technology, including smart meters, are meeting their intended goals and have not shifted unnecessary deployment costs onto consumers. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that requires the Public Utilities Commission to ensure that electrical corporations that are authorized to deploy Smart Grid technology, including smart meters, are meeting their intended goals and have not shifted unnecessary deployment costs onto consumers.