Bill Text: CA AB1279 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: The California Climate Crisis Act.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 17-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-09-16 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 337, Statutes of 2022. [AB1279 Detail]

Download: California-2021-AB1279-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  June 13, 2022

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 25, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1279

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Introduced by Assembly Member Muratsuchi

February 19, 2021

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An act to add Section 35619 to the Public Resources Code, relating to coastal resources. An act to add Section 469 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1279, as amended, Muratsuchi. Coastal resources: sustainable kelp. Public utilities: rates: cost recovery.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory jurisdiction over electrical and gas corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, including electrical and gas corporations, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable.

This bill would, as a part of an electrical or gas corporation’s application for recovery of previously incurred costs or costs proposed to be incurred in the future, require the electrical or gas corporation to include certain information in the application. For a general rate case application, the bill would require electrical or gas corporations to take certain actions if the cumulative cost recovery request in the application added to certain amounts requested for cost recovery, as specified, results in an increase in the total costs for programs under the jurisdiction of the commission authorized to be recovered from ratepayers that exceeds the projected rate of inflation. The bill would require the commission to implement these requirements, as provided.

Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an 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 a commission action implementing the bill’s requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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.

Existing law establishes in state government the Ocean Protection Council. Existing law requires the council to, among other things, establish policies to coordinate the collection, evaluation, and sharing of scientific data related to coastal and ocean resources among agencies. Existing law requires the council to develop and implement a voluntary sustainable seafood promotion program for the state.

This bill would require the council to work with private and nonprofit entities to bring sustainable kelp to the coastal waters of the state, as provided. The bill would require the council to review and assess data from existing research and ongoing pilot projects to identify critical knowledge gaps related to, among other things, kelp forest ecosystems.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NOYES  

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 Section 469 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

469.

 (a) As a part of an application for recovery of previously incurred costs or costs proposed to be incurred in the future filed by an electrical or gas corporation, the commission shall require the electrical or gas corporation to include in the application all of the following:

(1) A comprehensive list of all applications or advice letters for cost recovery filed by the electrical or gas corporation in the past 24 months that have been authorized by the commission but not yet implemented through a rate change or that are pending before the commission. The list shall include, at a minimum, both of the following:

(A) The date of the prior applications or advice letters.

(B) The amount requested for cost recovery.

(2) An analysis showing the impact on current rates of the prior applications specified in paragraph (1) if those applications were all approved by the commission. The analysis shall include, at a minimum, both of the following:

(A) A calculation of the average rate increase for each customer class.

(B) A calculation of the impact on residential customers, including impact for customers using an average amount of electricity or gas, customers using electricity or gas in the 25th and 75th percentile of consumption, and customers who qualify for reduced low-income rates.

(b) In a general rate case application, if the cumulative cost recovery request in the application added to the amounts described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) results in an increase in the total costs of programs under the jurisdiction of the commission authorized to be recovered from ratepayers that exceeds the projected rate of inflation, calculated in a manner determined by the commission, for the period covered by the application, the electrical or gas corporation shall provide a written justification for the increase of that size and provide an alternative proposal that would increase cost recovery no more than the projected rate of inflation.

(c) The commission shall implement this section, including any necessary additional requirements, on or before December 31, 2023, through an order issued either in the existing commission Rulemaking 18-07-006 (July 12, 2018) Order Instituting Rulemaking to Establish a Framework and Processes for Assessing the Affordability of Utility Service, or in another relevant proceeding.

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.

SECTION 1.Section 35619 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

35619.

The council shall work with private and nonprofit entities, including the University of California at Davis and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, to bring sustainable kelp to the coastal waters of the state. The council shall review and assess data from existing research and ongoing pilot projects to identify critical knowledge gaps related to kelp forest ecosystems, kelp and sea urchin biological processes, kelp forest stressors, kelp-urchin population dynamics, incorporating carbon dioxide removal, and long-term carbon sequestration considerations.