California Senate Bill SB481 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 481INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Wright FEBRUARY 17, 2011 An act to amend Section 392.1 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 481, as introduced, Wright. Electrical restructuring: information practices. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to compile and regularly update specific consumer information regarding electrical service. This bill would, instead, specifically require the commission to compile and update that information every six months. 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 392.1 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read: 392.1. (a) The commission shall compile and  regularly  update  every six months all of  the following information: names and contact numbers of registered providers, information to assist consumers in making service choices, and the number of customer complaints against specific providers in relation to the number of customers served by those providers and the disposition of those complaints. To facilitate this function, registered entities shall file with the commission information describing the terms and conditions of any standard service plan made available to residential and small commercial customers. The commission shall adopt a standard format for this filing. The commission shall maintain and make generally available a list of entities offering electrical services operating in California. This list shall include all registered providers and those providers not required to be registered  who   that  request the commission to be included in the list. The commission  shall  , upon request,  shall  make this information available at no charge. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, public agencies  which   that  are registered entities shall be required to disclose their terms and conditions of service contracts only to the same extent that other registered entities would be required to disclose the same or similar service contracts. (b) The commission shall issue public alerts about companies attempting to provide electric service in the state in an unauthorized or fraudulent manner as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 394.25. (c) The commission shall direct the Office of Ratepayer Advocates to collect and analyze information provided pursuant to subdivision (a) for purposes of preparing easily understandable informational guides or other tools to help residential and small commercial customers understand how to evaluate competing electric service options. In implementing these provisions, the commission shall direct the Office of Ratepayer Advocates to pay special attention to ensuring that customers, especially those with limited-English-speaking ability or other disadvantages when dealing with marketers, receive correct, reliable, and easily understood information to help them make informed choices. The Office of Ratepayer Advocates shall not make specific recommendations or rank the relative attractiveness of specific service offerings of registered providers of electric services.