Senate Bill 1305 / SB 1305 Public utilities.

BILL NUMBER: SB 1305                 ENROLLED 09/12/97

PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 12, 1997

PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 12, 1997

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 8, 1997

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 1997

AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 5, 1997

AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 16, 1997

INTRODUCED BY Senator Sher (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Martinez) (Coauthors: Assembly members Campbell, Gallegos, Kuykendall, Murray, Wood, and Wright)

FEBRUARY 28, 1997

An act to add Article 14 (commencing with Section 398.1) to Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 1305, Sher. Public utilities.

Existing law, the Public Utilities Act, provides for the furnishing of utility services, including furnishing electricity, by privately owned public utilities subject to the jurisdiction and control of the Public Utilities Commission and similar services by publicly owned public utilities.

The bill would establish a program under which entities offering electric services disclose accurate, reliable, and simple to understand information on the generation attributes of the electricity they propose to sell.

The bill would also require the Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, in conjunction with the California Air Resources Board and affected air districts, to issue a report to the Legislature by June 1, 1999, assessing the air emission effects of electric utility restructuring.

Since existing law makes any public utility, as defined, and any person or entity other than a public utility, that violates the Public Utilities Act guilty of a misdemeanor, and the provisions of the bill would be within the act, this 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.

SECTION 1. Article 14 (commencing with Section 398.1) is added to Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, to read:

Article 14. Disclosure of Sources of Electrical Generation

398.1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that there is a need for reliable, accurate, and timely information regarding fuel sources for electric generation offered for retail sale in California.

(b) The purpose of this article is to establish a program under which entities offering electric services in California disclose accurate, reliable, and simple to understand information on the sources of energy that are used to provide electric services.

398.2. The definitions set forth in this section shall govern the construction of this article.

(a) "System operator" means the Independent System Operator with responsibility for the efficient use and reliable operation of the transmission grid, as provided by Section 345, or a local publicly owned electric utility that does not utilize the Independent System Operator.

(b) "Specific purchases" means electricity transactions which are traceable to specific generation sources by any auditable contract trail or equivalent, such as a tradable commodity system, that provides commercial verification that the electricity source claimed has been sold once and only once to a retail consumer. Retail suppliers may rely on annual data to meet this requirement, rather than hour-by-hour matching of loads and resources.

(c) "Net system power" means the mix of electricity fuel source types established by the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission representing the sources of electricity consumed in California that are not disclosed as specific purchases pursuant to Section 398.4.

398.3. (a) Beginning January 1, 1998, or as soon as practicable thereafter, each generator that provides meter data to a system operator shall report to the system operator electricity generated in kilowatthours by hour by generator, the fuel type or fuel types and fuel consumption by fuel type by month on an historical recorded quarterly basis. Facilities using only one fuel type may satisfy this requirement by reporting fuel type only. With regard to any facility using more than one fuel type, reports shall reflect the fuel consumed as a percentage of electricity generation.

(b) The California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission shall have authorization to access the electricity generation data in kilowatthours by hour for each facility that provides meter data to the system operator, and the fuel type or fuel types.

(c) With regard to out-of-state generation, the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission shall have authorization to access the electricity generation data in kilowatthours by hour at the point at which out-of-state generation is metered, to the extent the information has been submitted to a system operator.

(d) Trade secrets as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 3426.1 of the Civil Code contained in the information provided to the system operators pursuant to this section shall be treated as confidential. These data may be disclosed only by the system operators and only by authorization of the generator except that the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission shall have authorization to access these data, shall consider all these data to be trade secrets, and shall only release these data in an aggregated form such that trade secrets cannot be discerned.

398.4. (a) Every retail supplier that makes an offering to sell electricity that is consumed in California shall disclose its electricity sources. A retail supplier that does not make any claims that identify its electricity sources as different than net system power may disclose net system power. Every retail supplier that makes an offering to sell electricity that is consumed in California and makes any claims that identify any of its electricity sources as different than net system power shall disclose these sources as specific purchases.

(b) The disclosures required by this section shall be made to potential end-use consumers in all product-specific written promotional materials that are distributed to consumers by either printed or electronic means, except that advertisements and notices in general circulation media shall not be subject to this requirement.

(c) The disclosures required by this section shall be made at least quarterly to end-use consumers of the offered electricity.

(d) The disclosures required by this section shall be made separately for each offering made by the retail supplier.

(e) On or before January 1, 1998, the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission shall specify guidelines for the format and means for disclosure required by Section 398.3 and this section, based on the requirements of this article and subject to public hearing.

(f) The costs of making the disclosures required by this section shall be considered to be generation-related.

(g) The disclosures required by this section shall be expressed as a percentage of annual sales derived from each of the following categories, unless no specific purchases are disclosed, in which case only the first category shall be disclosed:

(1) Net system power.

(2) Specific purchases.

(h) (1) Each of the categories specified in subdivision (g) shall be additionally identified as a percentage of annual sales that is derived from each fuel type of the categories specified as follows:

(A) Coal.

(B) Large hydroelectric (greater than 30 megawatts).

(C) Natural gas.

(D) Nuclear.

(E) Other.

(F) Eligible renewables, which means renewable resource technologies defined as electricity produced from other than a conventional power source within the meaning of Section 2805, provided that a power source utilizing more than 25 percent fossil fuel may not be included, shall be additionally identified as a percentage of annual sales that is derived from each fuel type of the subcategories specified as follows:

(i) Biomass and waste.

(ii) Geothermal.

(iii) Small hydroelectric (less than or equal to 30 megawatts).

(iv) Solar.

(v) Wind.

(2) The category "Other" shall be used for fuel types other than those listed above that represent less than 2 percent of net system power. The California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission may specify additional categories or change these categories, consistent with the requirements of this article and subject to public hearing, if it determines that the changes will facilitate the disclosure objectives of this section.

(i) All electricity sources disclosed as specific purchases shall meet the requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 398.2.

(j) Specific purchases identified pursuant to this section shall be from sources connected to the Western Systems Coordinating Council interconnected grid.

(k) Net system power shall be disclosed for the most recent calendar year available. Disclosure of net system power shall be accompanied by this qualifying note: "The State of California determines this net system power mix annually; your actual electricity purchases may vary." The California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission may modify this note, consistent with the requirements of this article and subject to public hearing, if it determines that the changes will facilitate the disclosure objectives of this section.

(l) For each offering made by a retail supplier for which specific purchases are disclosed, the retail supplier shall disclose projected specific purchases for the current calendar year. Projected specific purchases need not be disclosed by numerical percentage at the subcategory level identified in subparagraph (F) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (h). On or before April 15, 1999, and annually thereafter, every retail supplier that discloses specific purchases shall also disclose to its customers, separately for each offering made by the retail supplier, its actual specific purchases for the previous calendar year consistent with information provided to the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission pursuant to Section 398.5. Disclosure of projected specific purchases and actual specific purchases shall each be accompanied by statements identifying whether the data are projected or actual, as developed by the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, subject to public hearing.

(m) The provisions of this section shall not apply to generators providing electric service onsite, under an over-the-fence transaction as described in Section 218, or to an affiliate or affiliates, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 372.

398.5. (a) Retail suppliers that disclose specific purchases pursuant to Section 398.4 shall report on March 1, 1999, and annually thereafter, to the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, for each electricity offering, for the previous calendar year each of the following:

(1) The kilowatthours purchased, by generator and fuel type during the previous calendar year, consistent with the meter data, including losses, reported to the system operator.

(2) For each electricity offering the kilowatthours sold at retail.

(3) For each electricity offering the disclosures made to consumers pursuant to Section 398.4.

(b) Information submitted to the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission pursuant to this section that is a trade secret as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 3426.1 of the Civil Code shall not be released except in an aggregated form such that trade secrets cannot be discerned.

(c) On or before January 1, 1998, the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission shall specify guidelines and standard formats, based on the requirements of this article and subject to public hearing, for the submittal of information pursuant to this article.

(d) In developing the rules and procedures specified in this section, the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission shall seek to minimize the reporting burden and cost of reporting that it imposes on retail suppliers.

(e) On or before October 15, 1999, and annually thereafter, the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission shall issue a report comparing information available pursuant to Section 398.3 with information submitted by retail suppliers pursuant to this section, and with information disclosed to consumers pursuant to Section 398.4. This report shall be forwarded to the California Public Utilities Commission.

(f) Beginning April 15, 1999, and annually thereafter, the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission shall issue a report calculating net system power. The California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission will establish the generation mix for net generation imports delivered at interface points and metered by the system operators. The California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission shall issue an initial report calculating preliminary net system power for calendar year 1997 on or before January 1, 1998. This report shall be updated on or before October 15, 1998.

(g) The provisions of this section shall not apply to generators providing electric service on site, under an over-the-fence transaction as described in Section 218, or to an affiliate or affiliates, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 372.

(h) The California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission may verify the veracity of environmental claims made by retail suppliers. In addition, the Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, in conjunction with the California Air Resources Board and affected air districts, shall issue a report to the Legislature by June 1, 1999, assessing the air emission effects of electric utility restructuring.

SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB 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 XIIIB of the California Constitution.

Notwithstanding Section 17580 of the Government Code, unless otherwise specified, the provisions of this act shall become operative on the same date that the act takes effect pursuant to the California Constitution.

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