California Assembly Bill AB2218 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 2218AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2014 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bradford FEBRUARY 20, 2014 An act to  amend Section 739.1 of   add Section 739.3 to  the Public Utilities Code, relating to energy. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2218, as amended, Bradford. Electricity and natural gas rates. 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 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, that 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.   This bill would require the commission to establish a program of electric and gas service rate assistance to food banks, as defined, with specified discounts to be provided in the form of a reduction in the overall bill for the eligible food bank customer.   This bill would require electrical corporations and gas corporations to develop and implement a program of rate assistance to eligible food banks, as defined, subject to direction and supervision by the commission.  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 the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new 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. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 739.1 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read: 739.1. (a) The commission shall continue a program of assistance to low-income electric and gas customers with annual household incomes that are no greater than 200 percent of the federal poverty guideline levels, the cost of which shall not be borne solely by any single class of customer. For one-person households, program eligibility shall be based on two-person household guideline levels. The program shall be referred to as the California Alternate Rates for Energy or CARE program. The commission shall ensure that the level of discount for low-income electric and gas customers correctly reflects the level of need. (b) The commission shall establish rates for CARE program participants, subject to both of the following: (1) That the commission ensure that low-income ratepayers are not jeopardized or overburdened by monthly energy expenditures, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 382. (2) That the level of the discount for low-income electricity and gas ratepayers correctly reflects the level of need as determined by the needs assessment conducted pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 382. (c) In establishing CARE discounts for an electrical corporation with 100,000 or more customer accounts in California, the commission shall ensure all of the following: (1) The average effective CARE discount shall not be less than 30 percent or more than 35 percent of the revenues that would have been produced for the same billed usage by non-CARE customers. The average effective discount determined by the commission shall reflect any charges not paid by CARE customers, including payments for the California Solar Initiative, payments for the self-generation incentive program made pursuant to Section 379.6, payment of the separate rate component to fund the CARE program made pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 381, payments made to the Department of Water Resources pursuant to Division 27 (commencing with Section 80000) of the Water Code, and any discount in a fixed charge. The average effective CARE discount shall be calculated as a weighted average of the CARE discounts provided to individual customers. (2) If an electrical corporation provides an average effective CARE discount in excess of the maximum percentage specified in paragraph (1), the electrical corporation shall not reduce, on an annual basis, the average effective CARE discount by more than a reasonable percentage decrease below the discount in effect on January 1, 2013, or that the electrical corporation had been authorized to place in effect by that date. (3) The entire discount shall be provided in the form of a reduction in the overall bill for the eligible CARE customer. (d) The commission shall work with electrical and gas corporations to establish penetration goals. The commission shall authorize recovery of all administrative costs associated with the implementation of the CARE program that the commission determines to be reasonable, through a balancing account mechanism. Administrative costs shall include, but are not limited to, outreach, marketing, regulatory compliance, certification and verification, billing, measurement and evaluation, and capital improvements and upgrades to communications and processing equipment. (e) The commission shall examine methods to improve CARE enrollment and participation. This examination shall include, but need not be limited to, comparing information from CARE and the Universal Lifeline Telephone Service (ULTS) to determine the most effective means of utilizing that information to increase CARE enrollment, automatic enrollment of ULTS customers who are eligible for the CARE program, customer privacy issues, and alternative mechanisms for outreach to potential enrollees. The commission shall ensure that a customer consents prior to enrollment. The commission shall consult with interested parties, including ULTS providers, to develop the best methods of informing ULTS customers about other available low-income programs, as well as the best mechanism for telephone providers to recover reasonable costs incurred pursuant to this section. (f) (1) The commission shall improve the CARE application process by cooperating with other entities and representatives of California government, including the California Health and Human Services Agency and the Secretary of California Health and Human Services, to ensure that all gas and electric customers eligible for public assistance programs in California that reside within the service territory of an electrical corporation or gas corporation, are enrolled in the CARE program. The commission may determine that gas and electric customers are categorically eligible for CARE assistance if they are enrolled in other public assistance programs with substantially the same income eligibility requirements as the CARE program. To the extent practicable, the commission shall develop a CARE application process using the existing ULTS application process as a model. The commission shall work with electrical and gas corporations and the Low-Income Oversight Board established in Section 382.1 to meet the low-income objectives in this section. (2) The commission shall ensure that an electrical corporation or gas corporation with a commission-approved program to provide discounts based upon economic need in addition to the CARE program, including a Family Electric Rate Assistance program, utilize a single application form, to enable an applicant to alternatively apply for any assistance program for which the applicant may be eligible. It is the intent of the Legislature to allow applicants under one program, that may not be eligible under that program, but that may be eligible under an alternative assistance program based upon economic need, to complete a single application for any commission-approved assistance program offered by the public utility. (g) It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission ensure CARE program participants receive affordable electric and gas service that does not impose an unfair economic burden on those participants. (h) The commission's program of assistance to low-income electric and gas customers shall, as soon as practicable, include nonprofit group living facilities specified by the commission, if the commission finds that the residents in these facilities substantially meet the commission's low-income eligibility requirements and there is a feasible process for certifying that the assistance shall be used for the direct benefit, such as improved quality of care or improved food service, of the low-income residents in the facilities. The commission shall authorize utilities to offer discounts to eligible facilities licensed or permitted by appropriate state or local agencies, and to facilities, including women's shelters, hospices, and homeless shelters, that may not have a license or permit but provide other proof satisfactory to the utility that they are eligible to participate in the program. (i) (1) In addition to existing assessments of eligibility, an electrical corporation may require proof of income eligibility for those CARE program participants whose electricity usage, in any monthly or other billing period, exceeds 400 percent of baseline usage. The authority of an electrical corporation to require proof of income eligibility is not limited by the means by which the CARE program participant enrolled in the program, including if the participant was automatically enrolled in the CARE program because of participation in a governmental assistance program. If a CARE program participant's electricity usage exceeds 400 percent of baseline usage, the electrical corporation may require the CARE program participant to participate in the Energy Savings Assistance Program (ESAP), which includes a residential energy assessment, in order to provide the CARE program participant with information and assistance in reducing his or her energy usage. Continued participation in the CARE program may be conditioned upon the CARE program participant agreeing to participate in ESAP within 45 days of notice being given by the electrical corporation pursuant to this paragraph. The electrical corporation may require the CARE program participant to notify the utility of whether the residence is rented, and if so, a means by which to contact the landlord, and the electrical corporation may share any evaluation and recommendation relative to the residential structure that is made as part of an energy assessment, with the landlord of the CARE program participant. Requirements imposed pursuant to this paragraph shall be consistent with procedures adopted by the commission. (2) If a CARE program participant's electricity usage exceeds 600 percent of baseline usage, the electrical corporation shall require the CARE program participant to participate in ESAP, which includes a residential energy assessment, in order to provide the CARE program participant with information and assistance in reducing his or her energy usage. Continued participation in the CARE program shall be conditioned upon the CARE program participant agreeing to participate in ESAP within 45 days of a notice made by the electrical corporation pursuant to this paragraph. The electrical corporation may require the CARE program participant to notify the utility of whether the residence is rented, and if so, a means by which to contact the landlord, and the electrical corporation may share any evaluation and recommendation relative to the residential structure that is made as part of an energy assessment, with the landlord of the CARE program participant. Following the completion of the energy assessment, if the CARE program participant's electricity usage continues to exceed 600 percent of baseline usage, the electrical corporation may remove the CARE program participant from the program if the removal is consistent with procedures adopted by the commission. Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a CARE program participant with electricity usage exceeding 600 percent of baseline usage from participating in an appeals process with the electrical corporation to determine whether the participant's usage levels are legitimate. (3) A CARE program participant in a rental residence shall not be removed from the program in situations where the landlord is nonresponsive when contacted by the electrical corporation or does not provide for ESAP participation. (j) (1) For purposes of this subdivision, the following terms have the following meanings: (A) "Food bank" means a surplus food collection and distribution system operated and established to assist in bringing donated agricultural products or food to nonprofit charitable organizations and individuals for the purposes of reducing hunger and supplying nutritional needs. In order to qualify as a food bank that brings donated agricultural products to nonprofit charitable organizations or individuals, an organization shall meet the minimum standards of Section 58503.1 of the Food and Agricultural Code. (B) "Nonprofit charitable organization" means an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c)(3)), that is exempt from taxation under Section 501(a) of that code (16 U.S.C. Sec. 501(a)). (2) The commission shall establish a program of electric and gas service rate assistance to food banks, the cost of which shall not be borne solely by any single class of customer. The average effective food bank discount shall not be less than 30 percent or more than 35 percent of the revenues that would have been produced for the same billed usage without the discount. The average effective discount determined by the commission shall reflect any charges not paid by food banks receiving service pursuant to the food bank tariff, including payments for the California Solar Initiative, payments for the self-generation incentive program made pursuant to Section 379.6, payment of the separate rate component to fund the CARE program made pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 381, payments made to the Department of Water Resources pursuant to Division 27 (commencing with Section 80000) of the Water Code, and any discount in a fixed charge. The entire discount shall be provided in the form of a reduction in the overall bill for the eligible food bank customer.   SECTION 1.   Section 739.3 is added to the   Public Utilities Code   , to read:   739.3. Subject to direction and supervision by the commission, electrical corporations and gas corporations shall develop and implement a program of rate assistance to eligible food banks. For purposes of this section, "eligible food bank" means a public or charitable institution that participates in The Emergency Food Assistance Program administered by the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.  SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.