AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 20, 2024

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 15, 2024

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 11, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

94

CHAPTER 740

Statutes of 2024

[ Approved by Governor September 27, 2024. Filed with Secretary of State September 27, 2024. ]

Introduced by Assembly Member Pellerin

February 15, 2024

An act to amend Section 910 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to telecommunications.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to develop, publish, and annually update a report containing specified information, including the commission’s annual work plan, performance criteria for the commission and its executive director, an accounting of the commission’s transactions and proceedings from the prior year, a description of activities taken and processes instituted to solicit the input of customers from diverse regions of the state in ratesetting and quasi-legislative proceedings, a list of its public meetings held outside San Francisco in the previous year, a schedule of its meetings anticipated to be held outside San Francisco during the coming year, and a summary of deenergization event trends and the effect of deenergization events on telecommunications service and public safety, as specified. Existing law requires the commission to post the report in a conspicuous area of its internet website.

This bill would require the report to also contain a description of the audits and inspections conducted to ensure compliance with the commission’s backup electricity rules for providers of telecommunications service, including, but not limited to, the total number of violations identified by the commission in the prior year, aggregated by company, and a summary of enforcement actions taken for those violations.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 910 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

910.

(a) The commission shall develop, publish, and annually update a report that contains all of the following information:

(1) A workplan that describes in clear detail the scheduled proceedings and other decisions that may be considered by the commission during the calendar year.

(2) Performance criteria for the commission and the executive director, and an evaluation of the performance of the executive director during the previous year based on criteria established in the prior year’s workplan.

(3) An accounting of the commission’s transactions and proceedings from the prior year, together with other facts, suggestions, and recommendations that the commission deems of value to the people of the state. The accounting shall include the activities that the commission has taken, and plans to take, to reduce the costs of, and the rates for, water and energy, including electricity, to improve the competitiveness of the state’s industries, including agriculture, and, to the extent possible, shall include suggestions and recommendations for the reduction of those costs and rates.

(4) A description of activities taken and processes instituted to both solicit the input of customers from diverse regions of the state in ratesetting and quasi-legislative proceedings and to process that input in a way that makes it usable in commission decisionmaking. The report shall describe the successes and challenges of these processes, the effect of resource constraints, and efforts to be made during the calendar year to further the goal of increased public participation.

(5) A list of the public meetings held outside San Francisco in the previous year, and a schedule of meetings anticipated to be held outside San Francisco during the coming year.

(6) A description of the actions taken by the commission using the information provided to it pursuant to Section 53122 of the Government Code, a summary of deenergization event trends and the effect of deenergization events on telecommunications service and public safety, and an analysis of how the impacts of deenergization events on telecommunications service could be mitigated.

(7) A description of the audits and inspections conducted to ensure compliance with the commission’s backup electricity rules for providers of telecommunications service, including, but not limited to, the total number of violations identified by the commission in the prior year, aggregated by company, and a summary of enforcement actions taken for those violations.

(b) (1) The commission shall submit the report required pursuant to subdivision (a) to the Governor and the Legislature, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, no later than February 1 of each year.

(2) The commission shall post the report in a conspicuous area of its internet website and shall have a program to disseminate the information in the report using computer mailing lists to provide regular updates on the information to those members of the public and organizations that request that information.