ARTICLE 3. Equipment, Practices, and Facilities [761. - 788.]

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC 3.

in effect

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 761. Section 761.

Whenever the commission, after a hearing, finds that the rules, practices, equipment, appliances, facilities, or service of any public utility, or the methods of manufacture, distribution, transmission, storage, or supply employed by it, are unjust, unreasonable, unsafe, improper, inadequate, or insufficient, the commission shall determine and, by order or rule, fix the rules, practices, equipment, appliances, facilities, service, or methods to be observed, furnished, constructed, enforced, or employed. The commission shall prescribe rules for the performance of any service or the furnishing of any commodity of the character furnished or supplied by any public utility, and, on proper demand and tender of rates, such public utility shall furnish such commodity or render such service within the time and upon the conditions provided in such rules.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 761.3. Section 761.3.

(a) Notwithstanding subdivision (g) of Section 216 and subdivision (c) of Section 218.5, the commission shall implement and enforce standards for the maintenance and operation of facilities for the generation and storage of electricity owned by an electrical corporation or located in the state to ensure their reliable operation. The commission shall enforce the protocols for the scheduling of powerplant outages of the Independent System Operator. (b) This section does not authorize the commission to establish rates for wholesale sales in interstate commerce from those facilities, or to approve the sale or transfer of control of facilities if an exempt wholesale generator, as defined in the federal Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 16451(6)). (c) (1) (A) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, this section does not apply to nuclear powered generating facilities that are federally regulated and subject to standards developed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and that participate as members of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations. (B) The owner or operator of a nuclear powered generating facility shall file with the commission an annual schedule of maintenance, including repairs and upgrades, updated quarterly, for each generating facility. The owner or operator of a nuclear powered generating facility shall make good faith efforts to conduct its maintenance in compliance with its filed plan and shall report to the Independent System Operator any significant variations from its filed plan. (C) The owner or operator of a nuclear powered generating facility shall report on a monthly basis to the commission all actual planned and unplanned outages of each facility during the preceding month. The owner or operator of a nuclear powered generating facility shall report on a daily basis to the Independent System Operator the daily operational status and availability of each facility. (2) (A) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, this section does not apply to a qualifying small power production facility or a qualifying cogeneration facility within the meaning of Sections 201 and 210 of Title 11 of the federal Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. Secs. 796(17), 796(18), and 824a-3), and the regulations adopted pursuant to those sections by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (18 C.F.R. Secs. 292.101 to 292.602, inclusive), nor does this section apply to other generation units installed, operated, and maintained at a customer site exclusively to serve that customer’s load. (B) An electrical corporation that has a contract with a qualifying small power production facility, or a qualifying cogeneration facility, with a name plate rating of 10 megawatts or greater, shall report to the commission maintenance schedules for each facility, including all actual planned and unplanned outages of the facility and the daily operational status and availability of the facility. Each facility with a name plate rating of 10 megawatts or greater shall be responsible for directly reporting to the Independent System Operator maintenance schedules for each facility, including all actual planned and unplanned outages of the facility and the daily operational status and availability of the facility, if that information is not provided to the electrical corporation pursuant to a contract. (d) This section shall not result in the modification, delay, or abrogation of any deadline, standard, rule, or regulation adopted by a federal, state, or local agency for the purposes of protecting public health or the environment, including, but not limited to, any requirements imposed by the State Air Resources Board or by an air pollution control district or an air quality management district pursuant to Division 26 (commencing with Section 39000) of the Health and Safety Code. The Independent System Operator shall consult with the State Air Resources Board and the appropriate local air pollution control districts and air quality management districts to coordinate scheduled outages to provide for compliance with those retrofits. (e) The Independent System Operator shall maintain records of generation and storage facility outages and shall provide those records to the commission on a daily basis. Each entity that owns or operates an electric generating unit in California with a rated maximum capacity of 10 megawatts or greater shall provide a monthly report to the Independent System Operator that identifies any periods during the preceding month when the unit was unavailable to produce electricity or was available only at reduced capacity. The report shall identify the reasons for any such unscheduled unavailability or reduced capacity. The Independent System Operator shall immediately transmit the information to the commission. (f) This section does not apply to any of the following: (1) A facility owned by a local publicly owned electric utility. (2) A public agency that may generate electricity incidental to the provision of water or wastewater treatment. (3) A facility owned by a city and county operating as a public utility, furnishing electric service as provided in Section 10001. (g) (1) In order to ensure the safety of employees, emergency responders, and surrounding communities, each battery energy storage facility located in the state and subject to subdivision (a) shall have an emergency response and emergency action plan that covers the premises of the battery energy storage facility, consistent with Sections 142.3 and 6401 of the Labor Code and any related regulations, including the regulatory requirements applicable to emergency action plans pursuant to Section 3220 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations. (2) The emergency response and emergency action plan shall do all of the following: (A) Establish response procedures for an equipment malfunction or failure. (B) Include procedures that provide for the safety of surrounding residents, neighboring properties, emergency responders, and the environment. These procedures shall be established in consultation with local emergency management agencies. (C) Establish notification and communication procedures between the battery energy storage facility and local emergency management agencies. (3) The emergency response and emergency action plan may do all of the following: (A) Consider responses to potential offsite impacts, including, but not limited to, poor air quality, threats to municipal water supplies, water runoff, and threats to natural waterways. (B) Include procedures for the local emergency response agency to establish shelter-in-place orders and road closure notifications when appropriate. (4) In developing the emergency response and emergency action plan, the owner or operator of the battery energy storage facility shall coordinate with local emergency management agencies, unified program agencies, and local first response agencies. (5) The owner or operator of each battery energy storage facility shall submit the emergency response and emergency action plan to the county and, if applicable, the city where the facility is located.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 761.5. Section 761.5.

(a) Where the commission determines that it would be cost-effective, the commission shall authorize electrical and gas corporations to participate in a centralized credit check system to share information on customers; and the electrical and gas corporations may also share information on customers with telephone corporations and publicly owned public utilities. No public utility which participates in the centralized credit check system shall utilize any information obtained through the database for its internal marketing purposes. A public utility may release pertinent information to a collection agency for the purpose of collecting an outstanding bill, but shall not otherwise release, transfer, or sell any information obtained through the centralized credit check system. (b) Every electrical and gas corporation which participates in a centralized credit check system is subject to the Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act (Title 1.6 (commencing with Section 1785.1) of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code) and the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681 et seq.).

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 762. Section 762.

Whenever the commission, after a hearing, finds that additions, extensions, repairs, or improvements to, or changes in, the existing plant, equipment, apparatus, facilities, or other physical property of any public utility or of any two or more public utilities ought reasonably to be made, or that new structures should be erected, to promote the security or convenience of its employees or the public, or in any other way to secure adequate service or facilities, the commission shall make and serve an order directing that such additions, extensions, repairs, improvements, or changes be made or such structures be erected in the manner and within the time specified in the order. If the commission orders the erection of a new structure, it may also fix the site thereof. If the order requires joint action by two or more public utilities, the commission shall so notify them and shall fix a reasonable time within which they may agree upon the portion or division of the cost which each shall bear. If at the expiration of such time the public utilities fail to file with the commission a statement that an agreement has been made for a division or apportionment of the cost, the commission may, after further hearing, make an order fixing the proportion of such cost to be borne by each public utility and the manner in which payment shall be made or secured.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 762.5. Section 762.5.

The commission, as a basis for making any order pursuant to the provisions of Section 762 relating to location of structures, shall give consideration to, and include in its order findings upon, the following factors: (a) Community values. (b) Recreational and park areas. (c) Historical and aesthetic values. (d) Influence on environment, except that in the case of any structure located in another state which will be subject to environmental impact review pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (Chapter 55 (commencing with Section 4321) of Title 42 of the United States Code) or similar state laws in the other state, the commission shall not consider influence on the environment unless any emissions or discharges therefrom would have a significant influence on the environment of this state.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 763. Section 763.

(a) Whenever the commission, after a hearing, finds that any railroad corporation or street railroad corporation does not run a sufficient number of trains or cars, or possess or operate sufficient motive power, reasonably to accommodate the traffic, passenger or freight, transported by or offered for transportation to it, or does not run its trains or cars with sufficient frequency or at a reasonable or proper time having regard to safety, or does not stop its trains or cars at proper places, or does not run any train or car upon a reasonable time schedule for the run, the commission may make an order directing such corporation to increase the number of its trains or cars or its motive power or to change the time for starting its trains or cars or to change the time schedule for the run of any train or car, or to change the stopping place or places thereof. The commission may make any other order that it determines to be reasonably necessary to accommodate and transport the traffic, passenger or freight, transported or offered for transportation. (b) Subdivision (a) is not applicable to network railroad transportation.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 764. Section 764.

(a) An electrical corporation that has a contract for private fire safety and prevention, mitigation, or maintenance services, shall only use those services for the direct defense of utility infrastructure when conducting fire safety and prevention, mitigation, and maintenance activities as determined to be appropriate by the electrical corporation. (b) An electrical corporation that has a contract for private fire safety and prevention, mitigation, or maintenance services shall make an effort to reduce or eliminate the use of contract private fire safety and prevention, mitigation, and maintenance personnel in favor of employing highly skilled and apprenticed personnel to perform those services in direct defense of utility infrastructure in collaboration with public agency fire departments having jurisdiction. (c) Nothing in this section prohibits an electrical corporation from contracting with a public agency fire department or relevant jurisdiction for the purposes of providing fire safety and prevention, mitigation, or maintenance services.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 764.5. Section 764.5.

(a) A fire protection district may require an electrical corporation or local publicly owned electric utility to notify the fire protection district at least 24 hours before performing a prescribed or controlled burn. (b) If an electrical corporation or local publicly owned electric utility cannot provide 24 hours’ notice pursuant to subdivision (a) due to unforeseen circumstances, the electrical corporation or local publicly owned electric utility shall notify the fire protection district at the earliest possible time. (c) An electrical corporation or local publicly owned electric utility shall provide notice to a fire protection district pursuant to this section by both telephone and email. (d) This section does not limit or otherwise affect the ability of a fire protection district or any other local agency to require different notice for a prescribed or controlled burn, or impose other requirements allowable by law regarding a prescribed or controlled burn.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 765. Section 765.

(a) When the federal National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) submits a safety recommendation letter concerning rail safety to the commission, the commission shall provide the NTSB with a formal written response to each recommendation no later than 90 days after receiving the letter. The response shall state one of the following: (1) The commission’s intent to implement the recommendations in full, with a proposed timetable for implementation of the recommendations. (2) The commission’s intent to implement part of the recommendations, with a proposed timetable for implementation of those recommendations, and detailed reasons for the commission’s refusal to implement those recommendations that the commission does not intend to implement. (3) The commission’s refusal to implement the recommendations, with detailed reasons for the commission’s refusal to implement the recommendations. (b) If the NTSB issues a safety recommendation letter concerning any commission-regulated rail facility to the United States Department of Transportation, the Federal Transit Administration, a commission-regulated rail operator, or the commission, or if the Federal Transit Administration issues a safety advisory concerning any commission-regulated rail facility, the commission shall determine if implementation of the recommendation or advisory is appropriate. The basis for the commission’s determination shall be detailed in writing and shall be approved by a majority vote of the commission. (c) If the commission determines that a safety recommendation made by the NTSB is appropriate, or that action concerning a safety advisory is necessary, the commission shall issue orders or adopt rules to implement the safety recommendation or advisory as soon as practicable. In implementing the safety recommendation or advisory, the commission shall consider whether a more effective, or equally effective and less costly, alternative exists to address the safety issue that the recommendation or advisory addresses.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 765.5. Section 765.5.

(a) The purpose of this section is to provide that the commission takes all appropriate action necessary to ensure the safe operation of railroads in this state. (b) The commission shall dedicate sufficient resources necessary to adequately carry out the State Participation Program for the regulation of rail transportation of hazardous materials as authorized by the Hazardous Material Transportation Uniform Safety Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-615). (c) On or before July 1, 1992, the commission shall hire a minimum of six additional rail inspectors who are or shall become federally certified, consisting of three additional motive power and equipment inspectors, two signal inspectors, and one operating practices inspector, for the purpose of enforcing compliance by railroads operating in this state with state and federal safety regulations. (d) On or before July 1, 1992, the commission shall establish, by regulation, a minimum inspection standard to ensure, at the time of inspection, that railroad locomotives, equipment, and facilities located in class I railroad yards in California will be inspected not less frequently than every 120 days, and inspection of all branch and main line track not less frequently than every 12 months. (e) Commencing July 1, 2008, in addition to the minimum inspections undertaken pursuant to subdivision (d), the commission shall conduct focused inspections of railroad yards and track, either in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration, or as the commission determines to be necessary. The focused inspection program shall target railroad yards and track that pose the greatest safety risk, based on inspection data, accident history, and rail traffic density.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 765.9. Section 765.9.

Federal funds available to the commission for rail safety inspection and enforcement purposes shall be allocated to eligible passenger and freight rail activities on a proportionate basis.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 766. Section 766.

Whenever the commission, after a hearing finds that a physical connection can reasonably be made between the lines of two or more telephone corporations or two or more telegraph corporations whose lines can be made to form a continuous line of communication, by the construction and maintenance of suitable connections for the transfer of messages or conversations, and that public convenience and necessity will be served thereby, or finds that two or more telegraph or telephone corporations have failed to establish joint rates, tolls, or charges for service by or over their lines, and that joint rates, tolls, or charges ought to be established, the commission may, by its order, require that such connection be made on the payment of such compensation, if any, as it finds to be just and reasonable, except where the purpose of the connection is primarily to secure the transmission of local messages or conversations between points within the same city, or city and county. The commission may, by order, require that conversations be transmitted and messages transferred over such connection under such rules as it may establish, and may prescribe through lines and joint rates, tolls, and charges. If such telephone or telegraph corporations do not agree upon the division between them of the cost of such physical connection or connections or the division of such joint rates, tolls, or charges established by the commission over such through lines, the commission may after further hearing, establish such division by supplemental order.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 766.5. Section 766.5.

The commission shall investigate the practices of every telephone corporation in billing its subscribers for telephone calls, including, but not limited to, whether a corporation is unable to determine whether any telephone call was not completed and as a consequence may charge the subscriber for that uncompleted call. If the commission finds that any corporation does not have the capability of determining in every instance whether a call placed by a subscriber was completed, the commission shall require the corporation to furnish written notice, in a form and manner approved by the commission, to its subscribers of its billing practices, including, but not limited to, its practice of charging for calls placed but not completed.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 767. Section 767.

Whenever the commission, after a hearing had upon its own motion or upon complaint of a public utility affected, finds that public convenience and necessity require the use by one public utility of all or any part of the conduits, subways, tracks, wires, poles, pipes, or other equipment, on, over, or under any street or highway, and belonging to another public utility, and that such use will not result in irreparable injury to the owner or other users of such property or equipment or in any substantial detriment to the service, and that such public utilities have failed to agree upon such use or the terms and conditions or compensation therefor, the commission may by order direct that such use be permitted, and prescribe a reasonable compensation and reasonable terms and conditions for the joint use. If such use is directed, the public utility to whom the use is permitted shall be liable to the owner or other users for such damage as may result therefrom to the property of the owner or other users thereof, and the commission may ascertain and direct the payment, prior to such use, of fair and just compensation for damage suffered, if any.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 767.5. Section 767.5.

(a) As used in this section: (1) “Public utility” includes any person, firm, or corporation, except a publicly owned public utility, which owns or controls, or in combination jointly owns or controls, support structures or rights-of-way used or useful, in whole or in part, for wire communication. (2) “Support structure” includes, but is not limited to, a utility pole, anchor, duct, conduit, manhole, or handhole. (3) “Pole attachment” means any attachment to surplus space, or use of excess capacity, by a cable television corporation for a wire communication system on or in any support structure located on or in any right-of-way or easement owned, controlled, or used by a public utility. (4) “Surplus space” means that portion of the usable space on a utility pole which has the necessary clearance from other pole users, as required by the orders and regulations of the commission, to allow its use by a cable television corporation for a pole attachment. (5) “Excess capacity” means volume or capacity in a duct, conduit, or support structure other than a utility pole or anchor which can be used, pursuant to the orders and regulations of the commission, for a pole attachment. (6) “Usable space” means the total distance between the top of the utility pole and the lowest possible attachment point that provides the minimum allowable vertical clearance. (7) “Minimum allowable vertical clearance” means the minimum clearance for communication conductors along rights-of-way or other areas as specified in the orders and regulations of the commission. (8) “Rearrangements” means work performed, at the request of a cable television corporation, to, on, or in an existing support structure to create such surplus space or excess capacity as is necessary to make it usable for a pole attachment. When an existing support structure does not contain adequate surplus space or excess capacity and cannot be so rearranged as to create the required surplus space or excess capacity for a pole attachment, “rearrangements” shall include replacement, at the request of a cable television corporation, of the support structure in order to provide adequate surplus space or excess capacity. (9) “Annual cost of ownership” means the sum of the annual capital costs and annual operation costs of the support structure which shall be the average costs of all similar support structures owned by the public utility. The basis for computation of annual capital costs shall be historical capital costs less depreciation. The accounts upon which the historical capital costs are determined shall include a credit for all reimbursed capital costs of the public utility. Depreciation shall be based upon the average service life of the support structure. As used in this paragraph, “annual cost of ownership” shall not include costs for any property not necessary for a pole attachment. (b) The Legislature finds and declares that public utilities have dedicated a portion of such support structures to cable television corporations for pole attachments in that public utilities have made available, through a course of conduct covering many years, surplus space and excess capacity on and in their support structures for use by cable television corporations for pole attachments, and that the provision by such public utilities of surplus space and excess capacity for such pole attachments is a public utility service delivered by public utilities to cable television corporations. The Legislature further finds and declares that it is in the interests of the people of California for public utilities to continue to make available such surplus space and excess capacity for use by cable television corportions. (c) Whenever a public utility and a cable television corporation or association of cable television corporations are unable to agree upon the terms, conditions, or annual compensation for pole attachments or the terms, conditions, or costs of rearrangements, the commission shall establish and enforce the rates, terms, and conditions for pole attachments and rearrangements so as to assure a public utility the recovery of both of the following: (1) A one-time reimbursement for actual costs incurred by the public utility for rearrangements performed at the request of the cable television corporation. (2) An annual recurring fee computed as follows: (A) For each pole and supporting anchor actually used by the cable television corporation, for a period of four years following the effective date of this section, the annual fee shall be two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50). Thereafter, the annual fee shall be two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) or 7.4 percent of the public utility’s annual cost of ownership for the pole and supporting anchor, whichever is greater, except that if a public utility applies for establishment of a fee in excess of two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) under this section, the annual fee shall be 7.4 percent of the public utility’s annual cost of ownership for the pole and supporting anchor. (B) For support structures used by the cable television corporation, other than poles or anchors, a percentage of the annual cost of ownership for the support structure, computed by dividing the volume or capacity rendered unusable by the cable television corporation’s equipment by the total usable volume or capacity. As used in this paragraph, “total usable volume or capacity” means all volume or capacity in which the public utility’s line, plant, or system could legally be located, including the volume or capacity rendered unusable by the cable television corporation’s equipment. (d) In the event that it becomes necessary for the public utility to use space or capacity on or in a support structure occupied by the cable television corporation’s equipment, the cable television corporation shall either (1) pay all costs for rearrangements necessary to maintain the pole attachment or (2) remove its cable television equipment at its own expense.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 767.7. Section 767.7.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) The Legislature has encouraged, and continues to encourage, the rapid and economic development of telecommunications services to all Californians. (2) Pursuant to Section 767.5, public utilities have dedicated a portion of their support structures to cable television corporations which have been increasingly attaching fiber optic cable that is capable of a variety of telecommunications uses. Other utilities not under the jurisdiction of the commission have also made the same dedication. (3) Public utility and publicly owned utility support structures are also used by entities, other than cable television corporations, with the acquiescence of the public utility and voluntary permission of the publicly owned utility, for the purpose of installing fiber optic cable in order to provide various telecommunications services. (4) Electric public utilities are currently installing fiber optic cables on their systems to enhance their operations and better serve their customers. Fiber optic cables installed by telephone, cable, and other telecommunications corporations may be accessed by electric public utilities and publicly owned utilities to enhance their operations and better serve their customers. The access may be accomplished by contract or through the purchase of tariffed services. (b) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature that public utilities and publicly owned utilities be fairly and adequately compensated for the use of their rights-of-way and easements for the installation of fiber optic cable, and that electric public utilities and publicly owned utilities have the ability, if they so desire, to negotiate a purchase, lease, or rent of access to those fiber optic cables for their own use. (c) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to change existing law with respect to Section 767.5.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 768. Section 768.

The commission may, after a hearing, require every public utility to construct, maintain, and operate its line, plant, system, equipment, apparatus, tracks, and premises in a manner so as to promote and safeguard the health and safety of its employees, passengers, customers, and the public. The commission may prescribe, among other things, the installation, use, maintenance, and operation of appropriate safety or other devices or appliances, including interlocking and other protective devices at grade crossings or junctions and block or other systems of signaling. The commission may establish uniform or other standards of construction and equipment, and require the performance of any other act which the health or safety of its employees, passengers, customers, or the public may demand. The Department of the California Highway Patrol shall have the primary responsibility for the regulation of the safety of operation of passenger stage corporations. The commission shall cooperate with the Department of the California Highway Patrol to ensure safe operation of these carriers.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 768.5. Section 768.5.

The commission may, after a hearing, by general or special orders, rules, or otherwise, require every cable television corporation to construct, maintain, and operate its plant, system, equipment, apparatus, and premises in such manner as to promote and safeguard the health and safety of its employees, customers, and the public, and may prescribe, among other things, the installation, use, maintenance, and operation of appropriate safety or other devices or appliances, establish uniform or other standards of construction and equipment, and require the performance of any other act which the health or safety of its employees, customers, or the public may demand. Nothing in this section shall be construed to either grant or deny a cable antenna television corporation the right to use the easement of a public utility.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 768.6. Section 768.6.

(a) The commission shall establish standards for disaster and emergency preparedness plans within an existing proceeding, including, but not limited to, use of weather reports to preposition manpower and equipment before anticipated severe weather, methods of improving communications between governmental agencies and the public, and methods of working to control and mitigate an emergency or disaster and its aftereffects. The commission, when establishing standards pursuant to this subdivision, may make requirements for small water corporations similar to those imposed on class A water corporations under paragraph (2) of subdivision (f). (b) An electrical corporation, as defined in Section 218, providing service in California shall develop, adopt, and update an emergency and disaster preparedness plan in compliance with the standards established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (a). (1) (A) In developing and adopting an emergency and disaster preparedness plan, an electrical corporation providing service in California shall invite appropriate representatives of every city, county, or city and county within that electrical corporation’s service area in California to meet with, and provide consultation to, the electrical corporation. (B) Every city, county, or city and county within the electrical corporation’s service area in California may designate a point of contact for the electrical corporation to consult with on emergency and disaster preparedness plans. (C) The electrical corporation shall provide the point of contact designated pursuant to subparagraph (B) with an opportunity to comment on draft emergency and disaster preparedness plans. (2) For the purposes of best preparing an electrical corporation for future emergencies or disasters, an emergency and disaster preparedness plan shall address recent emergencies and disasters associated with the electrical corporation or similarly situated corporations, and shall address remedial actions for possible emergencies or disasters that may involve that corporation’s provision of service. (3) Every two years, in order to update and improve that electrical corporation’s emergency and disaster preparedness plan, an electrical corporation providing service in California shall invite appropriate representatives of every city, county, or city and county within that electrical corporation’s service area to meet with, and provide consultation to, the electrical corporation. (4) For the purposes of best preparing an electrical corporation for future emergencies or disasters, an electrical corporation updating its emergency and disaster preparedness plan shall review the disasters and emergencies that have affected similarly situated corporations since the adoption of the plan, remedial actions taken during those emergencies or disasters, and proposed changes to the plan. The electrical corporation shall adopt in its plan the changes that will best ensure the electrical corporation is reasonably prepared to deal with a disaster or emergency. (c) A meeting pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be noticed and shall be conducted in a public meeting that allows for the participation of appropriate representatives of counties and cities within the electrical corporation’s service area. (1) A county participating in a meeting pursuant to subdivision (b) may inform each city within the county of the time and place of the meeting. (2) An electrical corporation holding a meeting pursuant to subdivision (b) shall provide participating counties and cities with the opportunity to provide written and verbal input regarding the corporation’s emergency and disaster preparedness plan. For purposes of this public meeting, an electrical corporation may convene a closed meeting with representatives from every city, county, or city and county within that electrical corporation’s service area to discuss sensitive security-related information in the electrical corporation’s emergency and disaster preparedness plan and to solicit comment. (3) An electrical corporation shall notify the commission of the date, time, and location of a meeting pursuant to subdivision (b). (d) An electrical corporation shall conduct a meeting pursuant to subdivision (b) no later than April 1, 2013, and every two years thereafter. (e) An electrical corporation shall memorialize a meeting pursuant to subdivision (b), and shall submit its records of the meeting to the commission. (f) (1) A water company regulated by the commission shall develop, adopt, and update an emergency and disaster preparedness plan in compliance with the standards established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (a). This requirement shall be deemed fulfilled when the water company files an emergency and disaster preparedness plan pursuant to another state statutory requirement. (2) A water company developing, adopting, or updating an emergency and disaster preparedness plan pursuant to paragraph (1) shall hold meetings with representatives from each city, county, or city and county in the water company’s service area regarding the emergency and disaster preparedness plan. (g) An electrical corporation or a water corporation may fulfill a meeting requirement imposed by this section by making a presentation regarding its emergency and disaster preparedness plan at a regularly scheduled public meeting of each disaster council created pursuant to Article 10 (commencing with Section 8610) of Chapter 7 of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code within the corporation’s service area, or at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the governing body of each city, county, or city and county within the service area.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 769. Section 769.

(a) For purposes of this section, “distributed resources” means distributed renewable generation resources, energy efficiency, energy storage, electric vehicles, and demand response technologies. (b) Not later than July 1, 2015, each electrical corporation shall submit to the commission a distribution resources plan proposal to identify optimal locations for the deployment of distributed resources. Each proposal shall do all of the following: (1) Evaluate locational benefits and costs of distributed resources located on the distribution system. This evaluation shall be based on reductions or increases in local generation capacity needs, avoided or increased investments in distribution infrastructure, safety benefits, reliability benefits, and any other savings the distributed resources provide to the electrical grid or costs to ratepayers of the electrical corporation. (2) Propose or identify standard tariffs, contracts, or other mechanisms for the deployment of cost-effective distributed resources that satisfy distribution planning objectives. (3) Propose cost-effective methods of effectively coordinating existing commission-approved programs, incentives, and tariffs to maximize the locational benefits and minimize the incremental costs of distributed resources. (4) Identify any additional utility spending necessary to integrate cost-effective distributed resources into distribution planning consistent with the goal of yielding net benefits to ratepayers. (5) Identify barriers to the deployment of distributed resources, including, but not limited to, safety standards related to technology or operation of the distribution circuit in a manner that ensures reliable service. (c) The commission shall review each distribution resources plan proposal submitted by an electrical corporation and approve, or modify and approve, a distribution resources plan for the corporation. The commission may modify any plan as appropriate to minimize overall system costs and maximize ratepayer benefit from investments in distributed resources. (d) Any electrical corporation spending on distribution infrastructure necessary to accomplish the distribution resources plan shall be proposed and considered as part of the next general rate case for the corporation. The commission may approve proposed spending if it concludes that ratepayers would realize net benefits and the associated costs are just and reasonable. The commission may also adopt criteria, benchmarks, and accountability mechanisms to evaluate the success of any investment authorized pursuant to a distribution resources plan.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 769.2. Section 769.2.

(a) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 1720 of the Labor Code, construction of a renewable electrical generation facility, and associated battery storage, after December 31, 2023, that receives service pursuant to the standard contract or tariff developed pursuant to Section 2827.1, shall constitute a public works project for purposes of Article 2 (commencing with Section 1770) of Chapter 1 of Part 7 of Division 2 of the Labor Code, except as specified in subdivision (f). (b) A contractor who enters into a contract to perform work on a renewable electrical generation facility or associated battery storage described in subdivision (a) shall do all of the following: (1) The contractor shall pay each construction worker employed in the execution of the work, at minimum, the general prevailing rate of per diem wages, except that an apprentice registered in a program approved by the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards shall be paid, at minimum, the applicable apprentice prevailing rate. (2) The contractor shall maintain and verify payroll records pursuant to Section 1776 of the Labor Code and make those records available for inspection and copying as provided in that section. Notwithstanding Section 1776 of the Labor Code, the contractor shall not be required to provide copies of certified payroll records to any entity other than the Department of Industrial Relations and the commission. (3) The contractor shall biannually, on July 1 and December 31 of each year, submit to the commission digital copies of its certified payroll records, in a format consistent with systems used for compliance with Section 1776 of the Labor Code, for projects subject to this section. The commission shall retain these records as public records for five years. (c) The requirement imposed in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) may be enforced through any of the following mechanisms: (1) Within 18 months after completing the renewable electrical generation facility, by the Labor Commissioner through the issuance of a civil wage and penalty assessment pursuant to Section 1741 of the Labor Code, which may be reviewed pursuant to Section 1742 of the Labor Code. (2) By an underpaid construction worker or apprentice through an administrative complaint or civil action. (3) By a joint labor-management committee through a civil action pursuant to Section 1771.2 of the Labor Code. (d) If a willful violation of this section has been enforced against a contractor for the construction of a renewable electrical generation facility pursuant to subdivision (c), that facility shall remain eligible to receive service pursuant to a standard contract or tariff developed pursuant to Section 2827 or 2827.1 if restitution has been made to the affected workers and all associated penalties and fines have been paid. (e) The commission shall require each large electrical corporation to include the requirements of this section in each standard contract or tariff offered pursuant to Section 2827.1. (f) (1) This section does not apply to a residential renewable electrical generation facility that is eligible to receive service pursuant to the standard contract or tariff developed pursuant to Section 2827.1 and has a maximum generating capacity of 15 kilowatts or less of electricity. (2) This section does not apply to a residential renewable electrical generation facility that is eligible to receive service pursuant to the standard contract or tariff developed pursuant to Section 2827.1 and that is installed on a single-family home. (3) This section does not apply to a project that is a public work, as defined in Section 1720 of the Labor Code, and that is subject to Article 2 (commencing with Section 1770) of Chapter 1 of Part 7 of Division 2 of the Labor Code. (4) This section does not apply to a renewable electrical generation facility that serves only a modular home, a modular home community, or multiunit housing that has two or fewer stories. (g) (1) The entity that engaged the contractor to perform work on a renewable electrical generation facility and associated battery storage described in subdivision (a) is not an awarding body, as defined in Section 1722 of the Labor Code. Public works project requirements not found in this section do not apply to the entity. This section does not affect the entity’s liability for nonpayment of wages or materials under Section 3 of Article XIV of the California Constitution. (2) The contractor who enters into a contract with the entity described in paragraph (1) to perform work on a renewable electrical generation facility and associated battery storage described in subdivision (a) is the awarding body only for the limited purposes of Section 1773.3 of the Labor Code.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 769.3. Section 769.3.

(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) “Community choice aggregator” has the same meaning as defined in Section 331.1. (2) “Customer renewable energy subscription program” does not include the net energy metering program specified in Sections 2827 and 2827.1 or the Multifamily Affordable Housing Solar Roofs Program established pursuant to Chapter 9.5 (commencing with Section 2870) of Part 2. “Customer renewable energy subscription program” includes an alternative designed for growth among residential customers in disadvantaged communities pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 2827.1. (3) “Low-income customer” means either of the following: (A) An individual or household who qualifies for one or more of the following programs: (i) The California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program described in Section 739.1. (ii) The Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) program described in Section 739.12. (iii) The CalFresh program established pursuant to Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 18900) of Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. (iv) The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (Chapter 51 (commencing with Section 2011) of Title 7 of the United States Code). (v) The Low-income Heating Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) (42 U.S.C. Sec. 8621). (B) An individual or household who resides within an underserved community. (4) “Underserved community” includes each of the following: (A) A “low-income community” as defined in Section 39713 of the Health and Safety Code. (B) A community within an area identified as among the 25 percent most disadvantaged areas in the state according to the California Environmental Protection Agency and based on the most recent California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool, also known as CalEnviroScreen, that is used to identify disadvantaged communities pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code. (C) A community located on lands belonging to a California Native American tribe, as defined in Section 21073 of the Public Resources Code. (b) On or before March 31, 2024, the commission shall, in a new or existing proceeding, do both of the following: (1) (A) Evaluate each customer renewable energy subscription program, including the Green Tariff Shared Renewables Program (Chapter 7.6 (commencing with Section 2831) of Part 2) and any program established as an alternative designed for growth among residential customers in disadvantaged communities pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 2827.1, to determine if the program meets all of the following goals: (i) Efficiently serves distinct customer groups. (ii) Minimizes duplicative offerings. (iii) Promotes robust participation by low-income customers. (B) Consider, as part of the evaluation, the energy load migration trends among bundled and nonbundled customers and any associated risks with maintaining or creating a customer renewable energy subscription program. (C) If the commission determines a customer renewable energy subscription program does not meet all of the goals described in subparagraph (A), authorize the termination or modification of the program. (2) (A) Determine whether it would be beneficial to ratepayers to establish a new tariff or program for an electrical corporation, or modify an existing tariff or program administered by an electrical corporation, to establish a community renewable energy program consistent with the criteria described in subdivision (c). If the commission determines that it would be beneficial to ratepayers to establish the community renewable energy program, the commission shall, on or before July 1, 2024, establish the program as part of the same proceeding and require each electrical corporation to participate in the program. (B) If the commission establishes a community renewable energy program pursuant to subparagraph (A), each community choice aggregator and electric service provider, within 180 days of the establishment of the program, shall notify the commission whether it will participate in the program. A community choice aggregator or electric service provider may begin participating in, or end its participation in, the program at any time by notifying the commission. (c) The community renewable energy program, if established, shall do all of the following: (1) Be complementary to, and consistent with, the requirements of Section 10-115 of the California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations). For purposes of this paragraph, the commission shall consult with the Energy Commission. (2) Ensure at least 51 percent of the program’s capacity serves low-income customers. (3) Minimize impacts to nonparticipating customers by prohibiting the program’s costs from being paid by nonparticipating customers in excess of the avoided costs. Qualifying funds for financial incentives shall only be available through an appropriation by the Legislature. (4) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), require that all of the following requirements apply to the construction of a community renewable energy facility pursuant to the program: (i) All construction workers employed in the execution of the project shall be paid at least the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for the type of work and geographic area, as determined by the Director of Industrial Relations pursuant to Sections 1773 and 1773.9 of the Labor Code, except that apprentices registered in programs approved by the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards may be paid at least the applicable apprentice prevailing rate. (ii) The owner of the community renewable energy facility shall ensure that the prevailing wage requirement is included in all contracts for the performance of the work. (iii) All contractors and subcontractors shall maintain payroll records pursuant to Section 1776 of the Labor Code and make those records available for inspection and copying as provided in that section. (iv) The requirement on contractors and subcontractors to pay prevailing wages pursuant to this section may be enforced by the Labor Commissioner through the issuance of a civil wage and penalty assessment pursuant to Section 1741 of the Labor Code, which may be reviewed pursuant to Section 1742 of the Labor Code, within 18 months after the completion of the project, by an underpaid worker through an administrative complaint or civil action, or by a joint labor-management committee through a civil action under Section 1771.2 of the Labor Code. If a civil wage and penalty assessment is issued, the contractor, subcontractor, and surety on a bond issued to secure the payment of wages covered by the assessment shall be liable for liquidated damages pursuant to Section 1742.1 of the Labor Code. (B) Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1720) of Part 7 of Division 2 of the Labor Code and subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the construction of a community renewable energy facility pursuant to the program if all contractors and subcontractors performing work on the project are subject to a project labor agreement that requires the payment of prevailing wages and provides for enforcement of that obligation through an arbitration procedure. For purposes of this subparagraph, “project labor agreement” has the same meaning as defined in Section 2500 of the Public Contract Code. (5) Provide bill credits to subscribers based on the avoided costs of the program’s facilities, as determined by the commission’s methods for calculating the full set of benefits of distributed energy resources. The commission may use actual wholesale market prices for the energy supply portion of an avoided cost calculation or credit value. (6) Prioritize the maximum use of state and federal incentives and accelerate implementation of the program to ensure that time- or quantity-limited federal incentives can be obtained for the benefit of subscribers. As part of this prioritization, the commission shall ensure that a community renewable energy facility participating in the community renewable energy program is eligible for an enhanced federal investment tax credit available as a qualified low-income economic benefit project pursuant to subsection (e) of Section 48 of Title 26 of the United States Code.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 769.5. Section 769.5.

(a) The commission may establish an expedited distribution grid interconnection dispute resolution process with the goal of resolving disputes over interconnection applications that are within the jurisdiction of the commission in no more than 60 days from the time the dispute is formally brought to the commission. If the commission establishes an expedited distribution grid interconnection dispute resolution process, the commission may provide exceptions to the 60-day time period when more than 60 days are needed to fairly and safely address a dispute. (b) The expedited distribution grid interconnection dispute resolution process shall include the following elements: (1) A distribution grid interconnection technical panel consisting of at least eight individuals selected by the commission. Four of the technical panel members shall be from electrical corporations and four shall not be from electrical corporations. The commission shall determine the length of the term of each member. A member shall not participate as a review panel member for the dispute resolution process for a contested interconnection application in any of the following situations: (A) The member is an employee of, a contractor to, or an employee of a contractor to, an electrical corporation to which the contested interconnection application has been submitted. (B) The member is the applicant, an installer or an employee of an installer for the applicant, or a third-party electricity purchase agreement provider for the applicant. (C) The member has a direct financial interest in the contested interconnection application. (2) A review panel of four members shall be selected from the technical panel for each dispute. (3) If an applicant is unable to resolve an interconnection-related dispute after working with the electrical corporation operating the distribution grid, the applicant may seek resolution of the dispute using the commission’s expedited distribution grid interconnection dispute resolution process. (4) Upon agreeing to a final settlement of the dispute, parties shall be free to withdraw from the expedited distribution grid interconnection dispute resolution process. (5) If the dispute is filed with the commission, the commission shall ensure that the review panel shall review the dispute and make a recommendation to the executive director of the commission within 30 days of receiving the dispute. (6) The commission shall establish a public process to allow the electrical corporation, the applicant, and other interested parties to file written comments on the recommendation of the review panel. (7) The review panel shall request appropriate documents from the electrical corporation involved in the dispute, including, but not limited to, interconnection application studies. (8) The scope of the review panel’s review shall be limited to issues regarding compliance with the established interconnection rules. Any recommendations shall ensure safe and reliable interconnection. (9) The scope of the review panel’s review is limited to making recommendations to resolve specific customer disputes and recommending associated corrective actions, and the panel shall have no authority to assess penalties. (10) Upon receipt of the recommendation from the review panel, the executive director shall have 30 days to review the recommendation and to prepare an order to the electrical corporation resolving the dispute. If the review panel cannot agree on recommendations, then each recommendation of a review panel member shall be submitted to the executive director, who shall make the decision resolving the dispute. (11) Any interested person seeking commission review of the executive director’s determination shall file the request for review within 10 days of the determination. Upon receipt of the request for review, the executive director or the energy division director shall prepare a proposed resolution of the matter for approval by the commission. (c) The commission shall provide the members of the technical panel who are not from electrical corporations with an appropriate per diem compensation consistent with Section 19822.5 of the Government Code. (d) The commission shall appoint a qualified electrical systems engineer with substantial interconnection expertise to advise the director of the energy division and shall provide adequate commission staff to assist in resolving interconnection disputes.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 770. Section 770.

The commission may after hearing: (a) Ascertain and fix just and reasonable standards, classifications, regulations, practices, measurements, or service to be furnished, imposed, observed, and followed by all electrical, gas, water, and heat corporations. (b) Ascertain and fix adequate and serviceable standards for the measurement of quantity, quality, pressure, or other condition pertaining to the supply of the product, commodity, or service furnished or rendered by any such public utility. No standard of the commission applicable to any water corporation shall be inconsistent with the regulations and standards of the State Department of Health pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 116275) of Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code. (c) Prescribe reasonable regulations for the examination and testing of the product, commodity, or service and for the measurement thereof. (d) Establish reasonable rules, specifications, and standards to secure the accuracy of all meters and appliances for measurements. The commission shall require a public utility that estimates meter readings to so indicate on its billings, and shall require any estimate that is incorrect to be corrected by the next billing period, except that for reasons beyond its control due to weather, or in cases of unusual conditions, corrections for any overestimate or underestimate shall be reflected on the first regularly scheduled bill and based on an actual reading following the period of inaccessibility. (e) Provide for the examination and testing of any and all appliances used for the measurement of any product, commodity, or service of any such public utility.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 771. Section 771.

The commissioners and their officers and employees may enter upon any premises occupied by any public utility, for the purpose of making the examinations and tests and exercising any of the other powers provided for in this part, and may set up and use on such premises any apparatus and appliances necessary therefor. The agents and employees of the public utility may be present at the making of such examinations and tests.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 772. Section 772.

Any consumer or user of any product, commodity, or service of a public utility may have any appliance used in the measurement thereof tested upon paying the fees fixed by the commission. The commission shall establish and fix reasonable fees to be paid for testing such appliances on the request of the consumer or user. The fee shall be paid by the consumer or user at the time of his request, but if the appliance is found defective or incorrect to the disadvantage of the consumer or user, the fee shall be paid by the public utility and repaid to the consumer or user under such rules as the commission prescribes.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 773. Section 773.

Section 4200 of the Government Code shall not apply to a public utility under the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 774. Section 774.

No water corporation which has undertaken to provide fire protection service, nor any employee of such corporation acting in the course and scope of his employment, shall be liable for any death or injury to a person or damage to or loss of property resulting from a failure to provide or maintain an adequate water supply or pressure, or any equipment or other fire protection facility or service; provided, that such immunity from liability shall not exceed that of a public agency or any of its employees, as the case may be, under similar circumstances. Nothing in this section shall preclude the enforcement of any rule, regulation, or order of the commission.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 775. Section 775.

Whenever an electric or gas corporation sells fuel oil which is, or is reasonably expected to be, useful in the performance of its public utility function, at a price higher than the electric or gas corporation’s purchase cost, the commission shall, in any rate proceeding, require that the amount higher than the purchase cost be credited with interest against the expense claimed by the electric or gas corporation.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 776. Section 776.

(a) The commission shall, upon making the determination pursuant to subdivision (c), develop and implement performance reliability standards for all backup power systems installed on the property of residential and small commercial customers by a facilities-based provider of telephony services. Those standards shall do all the following: (1) Establish minimum operating life. (2) Establish minimum periods of time during which a telephone system with a charged backup power system will provide the customer with sufficient electricity for emergency usage. (3) Establish means to warn a customer when the backup power system’s charge is low or when the system can no longer hold a charge. (b) The commission, in developing and implementing any standards in accordance with subdivision (a), shall consider current best practices and technical feasibility for establishing battery backup requirements. (c) The commission shall not implement standards in accordance with this section unless it determines that the benefits of the standards exceed the costs.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 776.2. Section 776.2.

(a) For purposes of this section, “telecommunications service” has the same meaning as defined in Section 2892.1, but does not include voice communication provided by a provider of satellite telephone service. (b) As part of a new or existing proceeding, the commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall develop and implement backup electricity rules to require providers of telecommunications service to submit resiliency plans to maintain backup electricity for their telecommunications infrastructure sufficient to maintain telecommunications service for at least 72 hours, except as provided in subdivision (c). (c) In developing and implementing backup electricity rules pursuant to subdivision (b), the commission shall consider best practices, the feasibility of the rules, and stakeholder input. In considering best practices and feasibility, the commission may authorize, in appropriate circumstances, providers of telecommunications service to maintain backup electricity for their telecommunications infrastructure sufficient to maintain telecommunications service for less than 72 hours. (d) This section does not require the commission to modify the communications resiliency requirements adopted in commission Decision 20-07-011 (July 16, 2020), Decision Adopting Wireless Provider Resiliency Strategies, or Decision 21-02-029 (February 11, 2021), Decision Adopting Wireline Provider Resiliency Strategies.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 776.5. Section 776.5.

(a) In preparation for receiving notifications regarding the deenergization of electrical lines pursuant to Section 8386 or 8387, a facilities-based mobile telephony services provider shall do all of the following: (1) Designate contact points or persons within the company to receive notifications from an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, or electrical cooperative, as defined in Section 2776, for expected deenergization events and outages. (2) Develop uniform protocols prior to a deenergization event to respond appropriately to an outage. (b) Upon receipt of a notification regarding the deenergization of electrical lines pursuant to Section 8386 or 8387, a facilities-based mobile telephony services provider shall communicate relevant situational information relative to communications capabilities during the projected outage to electrical corporations, local publicly owned electric utilities, electrical cooperatives, and appropriate public safety stakeholders, including, but not limited to, public safety offices and emergency response offices, for the affected area.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 777. Section 777.

(a) This section applies if there is a landlord-tenant relationship between the residential occupants and the owner, manager, or operator of the dwelling. (b) If an electrical, gas, heat, or water corporation furnishes individually metered residential service to residential occupants of a detached single-family dwelling, a multiunit residential structure, mobilehome park, or permanent residential structure in a labor camp, as defined in Section 17008 of the Health and Safety Code, and the owner, manager, or operator of the dwelling, structure, or park is the customer of record, the corporation shall make every good faith effort to inform the residential occupants, by means of written notice, when the account is in arrears, that service will be terminated at least 10 days prior to termination. The written notice shall further inform the residential occupants that they have the right to become customers, to whom the service will then be billed, without being required to pay any amount which may be due on the delinquent account. The notice shall be in English and in the languages listed in Section 1632 of the Civil Code. (c) The corporation is not required to make service available to the residential occupants unless each residential occupant agrees to the terms and conditions of service and meets the requirements of law and the corporation’s rules and tariffs. However, if one or more of the residential occupants are willing and able to assume responsibility for the subsequent charges to the account to the satisfaction of the corporation, or if there is a physical means, legally available to the corporation, of selectively terminating service to those residential occupants who have not met the requirements of the corporation’s rules and tariffs, the corporation shall make service available to those residential occupants who have met those requirements. (d) If prior service for a period of time is a condition for establishing credit with the corporation, residence and proof of prompt payment of rent or other credit obligation acceptable to the corporation for that period of time is a satisfactory equivalent. (e) Any residential occupant who becomes a customer of the corporation pursuant to this section whose periodic payments, such as rental payments, include charges for residential electrical, gas, heat, or water service, where those charges are not separately stated, may deduct from the periodic payment each payment period all reasonable charges paid to the corporation for those services during the preceding payment period. (f) In the case of a detached single-family dwelling, the corporation may do any of the following: (1) Give notice of termination at least seven days prior to the proposed termination. (2) In order for the amount due on the delinquent account to be waived, require an occupant who becomes a customer to verify that the delinquent account customer of record is or was the landlord, manager, or agent of the dwelling. Verification may include, but is not limited to, a lease or rental agreement, rent receipts, a government document indicating that the occupant is renting the property, or information disclosed pursuant to Section 1962 of the Civil Code. (g) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2010.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 777.1. Section 777.1.

(a) If an electrical, gas, heat, or water corporation furnishes residential service to residential occupants through a master meter in a multiunit residential structure, mobilehome park, or permanent residential structure in a labor camp, as defined in Section 17008 of the Health and Safety Code, and the owner, manager, or operator of the structure or park is listed by the corporation as the customer of record, the corporation shall make every good faith effort to inform the residential occupants, by means of a written notice posted on the door of each residential unit at least 15 days prior to termination, when the account is in arrears, that service will be terminated on a date specified in the notice. If it is not reasonable or practicable to post the notice on the door of each residential unit, the corporation shall post two copies of the notice in each accessible common area and at each point of access to the structure or structures. The notice shall further inform the residential occupants that they have the right to become customers, to whom the service will then be billed, without being required to pay any amount which may be due on the delinquent account. The notice also shall specify, in plain language, what the residential occupants are required to do in order to prevent the termination of, or to reestablish service; the estimated monthly cost of service; the title, address, and telephone number of a representative of the corporation who can assist the residential occupants in continuing service; and the address and telephone number of a qualified legal services project, as defined in Section 6213 of the Business and Professions Code, which has been recommended by the local county bar association. The notice shall be in English and the languages listed in Section 1632 of the Civil Code. (b) The corporation is not required to make service available to the residential occupants unless each residential occupant or a representative of the residential occupants agrees to the terms and conditions of service and meets the requirements of law and the corporation’s rules and tariffs. However, if one or more of the residential occupants or the representative of the residential occupants are willing and able to assume responsibility for subsequent charges to the account to the satisfaction of the corporation, or if there is a physical means, legally available to the corporation, of selectively terminating service to those residential occupants who have not met the requirements of the corporation’s rules and tariffs or for whom the representative of the residential occupants is not responsible, the corporation shall make service available to those residential occupants who have met those requirements or on whose behalf those requirements have been met. (c) If prior service for a period of time or other demonstration of credit worthiness is a condition for establishing credit with the corporation, residence and proof of prompt payment of rent or other credit obligation during that period of time acceptable to the corporation is a satisfactory equivalent. (d) Any residential occupant who becomes a customer of the corporation pursuant to this section whose periodic payments, such as rental payments, include charges for residential electrical, gas, heat, or water service, where those charges are not separately stated, may deduct from the periodic payment each payment period all reasonable charges paid to the corporation for those services during the preceding payment period. (e) If a corporation furnishes residential service subject to subdivision (a), the corporation shall not terminate that service in any of the following situations: (1) During the pendency of an investigation by the corporation of a customer dispute or complaint. (2) If the customer has been granted an extension of the period for payment of a bill. (3) For an indebtedness owed by the customer to any other person or corporation or if the obligation represented by the delinquent account or other indebtedness was incurred with a person or corporation other than the electrical, gas, heat, or water corporation demanding payment therefor. (4) If a delinquent account relates to another property owned, managed, or operated by the customer. (5) If a public health or building officer certifies that termination would result in a significant threat to the health or safety of the residential occupants or the public. (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and in addition to any other remedy provided by law, if the owner, manager, or operator, by any act or omission, directs, permits, or fails to prevent a termination of service while any residential unit receiving that service is occupied, the residential occupant or the representative of the residential occupants may commence an action for the recovery of all of the following: (1) Reasonable costs and expenses incurred by the residential occupant or the representative of the residential occupants related to restoration of service. (2) Actual damages related to the termination of service. (3) Reasonable attorney’s fees of the residential occupants, the representative of the residential occupants, or each of them, incurred in the enforcement of this section, including, but not limited to, enforcement of a lien. (g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and in addition to any other remedy provided by law, if the owner, manager, or operator, by any act or omission, directs, permits, or fails to prevent a termination of service while any residential unit receiving that service is occupied, the corporation may commence an action for the recovery of all of the following: (1) Delinquent charges accruing prior to the expiration of the notice prescribed by subdivision (a). (2) Reasonable costs incurred by the corporation related to the restoration of service. (3) Reasonable attorney’s fees of the corporation incurred in the enforcement of this section or in the collection of delinquent charges, including, but not limited to, enforcement of a lien. If the court finds that the owner, manager, or operator has paid the amount in arrears prior to termination, the court shall allow no recovery of any charges, costs, damages, expenses, or fees under this subdivision from the owner, manager, or operator. An abstract of any money judgment entered pursuant to subdivision (f) or (g) of this section shall be recorded pursuant to Section 697.310 of the Code of Civil Procedure. (h) No termination of service subject to this section may be effected without compliance with this section, and any service wrongfully terminated shall be restored without charge to the residential occupants or customer for the restoration of the service. In the event of a wrongful termination by the corporation, the corporation shall, in addition, be liable to the residential occupants or customer for actual damages resulting from the termination and for the costs of enforcement of this section, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorney’s fees, if the residential occupants or the representative of the residential occupants made a good faith effort to have the service continued without interruption. (i) The commission shall adopt rules and orders necessary to implement this section and shall liberally construe this section to accomplish its purpose of ensuring that service to residential occupants is not terminated due to nonpayment by the customer unless the corporation has made every reasonable effort to continue service to the residential occupants. The rules and orders shall include, but are not limited to, reasonable penalties for a violation of this section, guidelines for assistance to residents in the enforcement of this section, and requirements for the notice prescribed by subdivision (a), including, but not limited to, clear wording, large and boldface type, and comprehensive instructions to ensure full notice to the resident. (j) Nothing in this section broadens or restricts any authority of a local agency that existed prior to January 1, 1989, to adopt an ordinance protecting a residential occupant from the involuntary termination of residential public utility service. (k) This section preempts any statute or ordinance permitting punitive damages against any owner, manager, or operator on account of an involuntary termination of residential public utility service or permitting the recovery of costs associated with the formation, maintenance, and termination of a tenants’ association. (l) For purposes of this section, “representative of the residential occupants” does not include a tenants’ association.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 778. Section 778.

The commission shall adopt rules and regulations, which shall become effective on July 1, 1977, relating to safety appliances and procedures for rail transit services operated at grade and in vehicular traffic. The rules and regulations shall include, but not be limited to, provisions on grade crossing protection devices, headways, and maximum operating speeds with respect to the speed and volume of vehicular traffic within which the transit service is operated. The commission shall submit the proposed rules and regulations to the Legislature not later than April 1, 1977.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 779. Section 779.

(a) No electrical, gas, heat, or water corporation may terminate residential service for nonpayment of a delinquent account unless the corporation first gives notice of the delinquency and impending termination, as provided in Section 779.1. (b) No electrical, gas, heat, or water corporation may terminate residential service for nonpayment in any of the following situations: (1) During the pendency of an investigation by the corporation of a customer or subscriber dispute or complaint. (2) When a customer has been granted an extension of the period for payment of a bill. (3) On the certification of a licensed physician and surgeon that to do so will be life threatening to the customer and the customer is financially unable to pay for service within the normal payment period and is willing to enter into an amortization agreement with the corporation pursuant to subdivision (e) with respect to all charges that the customer is unable to pay prior to delinquency. (c) Any residential customer who has initiated a complaint or requested an investigation within five days of receiving the disputed bill, or who has, before termination of service, made a request for extension of the payment period of a bill asserted to be beyond the means of the customer to pay in full within the normal period for payment, shall be given an opportunity for review of the complaint, investigation, or request by a review manager of the corporation. The review shall include consideration of whether the customer shall be permitted to amortize any unpaid balance of the delinquent account over a reasonable period of time, not to exceed 12 months. No termination of service shall be effected for any customer complying with an amortization agreement, if the customer also keeps the account current as charges accrue in each subsequent billing period. (d) Any customer whose complaint or request for an investigation pursuant to subdivision (c) has resulted in an adverse determination by the corporation may appeal the determination to the commission. Any subsequent appeal of the dispute or complaint to the commission is not subject to this section. (e) Any customer meeting the requirements of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) shall, upon request, be permitted to amortize, over a period not to exceed 12 months, the unpaid balance of any bill asserted to be beyond the means of the customer to pay within the normal period for payment.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 779.1. Section 779.1.

(a) Every electrical, gas, heat, or water corporation shall allow every residential customer at least 19 days from the date of mailing its bill for services, postage prepaid, for payment of the charges demanded. A corporation subject to this section shall not terminate residential service for nonpayment of a delinquent account unless the corporation first gives notice of the delinquency and impending termination, at least 10 days prior to the proposed termination, by means of a notice mailed, postage prepaid, to the customer to whom the service is billed, not earlier than 19 days from the date of mailing the corporation’s bill for services, and the 10-day period shall not commence until five days after the mailing of the notice. (b) Every corporation shall make a reasonable attempt to contact an adult person residing at the premises of the customer by telephone or personal contact at least 24 hours prior to any termination of service, except that, whenever telephone or personal contact cannot be accomplished, the corporation shall give, either by mail or in person, a notice of termination of service at least 48 hours prior to termination. (c) Every corporation shall make available to its residential customers who are 65 years of age or older, or who are dependent adults as defined in Section 15610.23 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, a third-party notification service, whereby the corporation will attempt to notify a person designated by the customer to receive notification when the customer’s account is past due and subject to termination. The notification shall include information on what is required to prevent termination of service. The residential customer shall make a request for third-party notification on a form provided by the corporation, and shall include the written consent of the designated third party. The third-party notification does not obligate the third party to pay the overdue charges, nor shall it prevent or delay termination of service. (d) Every notice of termination of service pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) shall include all of the following information: (1) The name and address of the customer whose account is delinquent. (2) The amount of the delinquency. (3) The date by which payment or arrangements for payment is required in order to avoid termination. (4) The procedure by which the customer may initiate a complaint or request an investigation concerning service or charges. (5) The procedure by which the customer may request amortization of the unpaid charges. (6) The procedure for the customer to obtain information on the availability of financial assistance, including private, local, state, or federal sources, if applicable. (7) The telephone number of a representative of the corporation who can provide additional information or institute arrangements for payment. (8) The telephone number of the commission to which inquiries by the customer may be directed. All written notices shall be in a clear and legible format. (e) Any residential customer whose complaint or request for an investigation has resulted in an adverse determination by the corporation may appeal the determination to the commission. Any subsequent appeal of the dispute or complaint to the commission is not subject to this section. (f) If a residential customer fails to comply with an amortization agreement, the corporation shall not terminate service without giving notice to the customer at least 48 hours prior to termination of the conditions the customer is required to meet to avoid termination, but this notice does not entitle the customer to further investigation by the corporation. (g) A termination of service shall not be effected without compliance with this section. Any service wrongfully terminated shall be restored without charge for the restoration of service, and a notation thereof shall be mailed to the customer at the customer’s billing address.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 779.2. Section 779.2.

(a) No electrical, gas, heat, telephone, or water corporation may terminate residential service for nonpayment of any delinquent account or other indebtedness owed by the customer or subscriber to any other person or corporation or when the obligation represented by the delinquent account or other indebtedness was incurred with a person or corporation other than the electrical, gas, heat, telephone, or water corporation demanding payment therefor. (b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to a telephone corporation operating within service areas which furnishes billing services to the subscribers of a telephone corporation operating between service areas pursuant to tariffs on file with the commission providing for the furnishing of those billing services. The commission shall require that these tariffs also provide for adequate subscriber notice, review, and appeal procedures prior to any termination of service for nonpayment of a delinquent account. (c) Subdivision (a) does not apply to any privately owned or publicly owned public utility which collects sanitation or sewerage charges for a public agency pursuant to agreement under Section 54346.2 of the Government Code or Section 5472.5 of the Health and Safety Code.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 779.3. Section 779.3.

(a) A gas or electrical corporation shall not disconnect service for nonpayment by a residential customer receiving a medical baseline allowance pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 739 who is financially unable to pay for service within the normal payment period, who is willing to enter into an amortization agreement with the corporation pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 779 with respect to all charges that the customer is unable to pay, and who meets any of the following criteria: (1) The customer or a member of the customer’s household is under hospice care at home. (2) The customer or a member of the customer’s household depends upon life-support equipment, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 739. (3) The customer or a member of the customer’s household has a life-threatening condition or illness, and a licensed physician, a person licensed pursuant to the Osteopathic Initiative Act, a physician assistant practicing within his or her scope of practice in compliance with the Physician Assistant Practice Act (Chapter 7.7 (commencing with Section 3500) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code), or a nurse practitioner certifies that gas or electric service is medically necessary to sustain the life of the person or prevent deterioration of the person’s medical condition. (b) The commission may identify strategies for reasonable cost recovery by a gas or electrical corporation for costs incurred in providing gas or electric service to customers whom the gas or electrical corporation was unable to disconnect due to compliance with this section. (c) A gas or electrical corporation may institute a verification process to implement this section.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 779.4. Section 779.4.

(a) For purposes of this section, “energy utility” means an electrical corporation, a gas corporation, or an entity that is both an electrical corporation and a gas corporation. (b) The commission shall develop rules requiring each of the four energy utilities that have the greatest number of customers in California to demonstrate that they are working with the medical community to increase marketing and outreach to persons eligible for the medical baseline allowance pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 739. (c) The commission shall consider policies to increase marketing and outreach programs to customers eligible for the medical baseline allowance pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 739, in coordination with county public health departments.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 779.5. Section 779.5.

The decision of an electrical, gas, heat, telephone, or water corporation to require a new residential applicant to deposit a sum of money with the corporation prior to establishing an account and furnishing service shall be based solely upon the credit worthiness of the applicant as determined by the corporation.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 779.6. Section 779.6.

(a) An electrical or gas corporation shall restore service to a residential customer whose service was previously terminated for nonpayment of delinquent amounts upon the customer entering into either an amortization agreement described in subdivision (c) of Section 779 or any other arrearage payment plan determined by the commission. (b) To the extent authorized by commission rules, the restoration of service shall occur as follows: (1) Within 24 hours of the payment for remote reconnections. (2) Within one business day for field reconnections, except in situations relating to safety or extreme weather.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 779.7. Section 779.7.

(a) On or before July 1, 2025, the commission shall, in a new or existing proceeding, determine whether to direct electrical and gas corporations to take into account a customer’s ability to pay in any of the following circumstances: (1) Before terminating service due to nonpayment. (2) Before terminating service for a customer on an amortization agreement. (3) In reconnecting service for a residential customer whose service was previously terminated for nonpayment. (b) In determining whether to direct electrical corporations to consider a customer’s ability to pay before terminating service, the commission shall consider whether to limit the amount an electrical corporation can collect up to an amount specified by the commission. (c) The commission shall consider impacts to participating and nonparticipating customers to inform the determinations made pursuant to subdivision (a).

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 780. Section 780.

No electrical, gas, heat, or water corporation shall, by reason of delinquency in the payment of its charges, terminate service on any Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or at any time during which the business offices of the corporation are not open to the public.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 780.5. Section 780.5.

The commission shall require every residential unit in an apartment house or similar multiunit residential structure, condominium, and mobilehome park for which a building permit has been obtained on or after July 1, 1982, other than a dormitory or other housing accommodation provided by any postsecondary educational institution for its students or employees and other than farmworker housing, to be individually metered for electrical and gas service, except that separate metering for gas service is not required for residential units which are not equipped with gas appliances requiring venting or are equipped with only vented decorative appliances or which receive the majority of energy used for water or space heating from a solar energy system or through cogeneration technology.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 781. Section 781.

(a) (1) Each water corporation with 500 or more service connections that is not subject to the requirements of Section 525, 526, 527, or 528 of the Water Code shall install, on and after January 1, 2010, a water meter on each new service connection. (2) Each water corporation with 500 or more service connections as of January 1, 2010, that is not subject to the requirements of Section 526, 527, or 528 of the Water Code, shall install a water meter upon each unmetered service connection by January 1, 2025. (3) Each water corporation with less than 500 service connections as of January 1, 2010, that thereafter reaches 500 or more service connections and that is not subject to the requirements of Section 526, 527, or 528 of the Water Code, shall, within 10 years of attaining that threshold, install a water meter upon each unmetered service connection. (4) Each water corporation that is subject to the requirements of Section 525, 526, 527, or 528 of the Water Code shall install water meters pursuant to those sections. (b) (1) Each water corporation that has installed water meters, or caused water meters to be installed, that is not subject to Section 525, 526, 527, or 528 of the Water Code, shall, on and after January 1, 2015, charge customers for potable water based on the actual volume of deliveries, as measured by the water meter. This paragraph does not limit the authority of the commission to authorize a water corporation that promotes conservation through volumetric water pricing to determine and impose a rate, fee, or charge in addition to the charge for the actual volume of metered water delivered. (2) Each water corporation that is subject to Section 525, 526, 527, or 528 of the Water Code shall charge customers for potable water based on the actual volume of deliveries, as measured by the water meter, consistent with the requirements of those sections. (3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in order to provide customers with experience in volume-based water service charges, a water corporation that is subject to paragraph (1) may delay, for one annual seasonal cycle of water use, the use of meter-based charges for service connections that are being converted from nonvolume-based billing to volume-based billing. (c) A water corporation shall recover the cost of providing services related to the purchase, installation, operation, and maintenance of water meters in rates, fees, or charges. Rates, fees, or charges recovered by the water corporation pursuant to this section are subject to approval by the commission pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 451) of Chapter 3 and Article 2 (commencing with Section 727) of this chapter. (d) The commission shall ensure that each water corporation that is subject to the requirements of this section or the requirements of the Water Measurement Law (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 500) of Division 1 of the Water Code) comply with those requirements.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 781.5. Section 781.5.

The commission may require a water corporation that furnishes potable water for residential, commercial, industrial, or institutional use through less than 500 service connections that is not subject to the requirements of Section 526, 527, or 528 of the Water Code, or a residential, commercial, industrial, or institutional customer of the corporation, to install a water meter at any water service connection between the water system of the corporation and the customer if after a public hearing held within the service area of the corporation, the commission finds, based upon the evidence presented at that hearing, that any of the following are true: (a) Metering will be cost effective within the service area of the corporation. (b) Metering will result in a reduction in water consumption within the service area of the corporation. (c) The costs of metering will not impose an unreasonable financial burden on customers within the service area of the corporation unless it is found to be necessary to ensure continuation of an adequate water supply within the service area of the corporation.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 782. Section 782.

In order to encourage the development of geothermal resources in the State of California, the commission may, upon a complaint by a geothermal energy producer, prohibit any electrical corporation from curtailing the generation, production, or transmission of electricity from a geothermal powerplant operated by such corporation, if the commission deems that such curtailment is not in the public interest.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 783. Section 783.

(a) The commission shall continue to enforce the rules governing the extension of service by gas and electrical corporations to new residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial customers in effect on January 1, 1982, except that the commission shall amend the existing rules to permit applicants for service to install extensions in accordance with subdivision (f). Except for periodic review provisions of existing rules, and amendments to permit installations by an applicant’s contractor, the commission shall not investigate amending these rules or issue any orders or decisions that amend these rules, unless the investigation or proceeding for the issuance of the order or decision is conducted pursuant to subdivision (b). (b) Whenever the commission institutes an investigation into the terms and conditions for the extension of services provided by gas and electrical corporations to new or existing customers, or considers issuing an order or decision amending those terms or conditions, the commission shall make written findings on all of the following issues: (1) The economic effect of the line and service extension terms and conditions upon agriculture, residential housing, mobilehome parks, rural customers, urban customers, employment, and commercial and industrial building and development. (2) The effect of requiring new or existing customers applying for an extension to an electrical or gas corporation to provide transmission or distribution facilities for other customers who will apply to receive line and service extensions in the future. (3) The effect of requiring a new or existing customer applying for an extension to an electrical or gas corporation to be responsible for the distribution of, reinforcements of, relocations of, or additions to that gas or electrical corporation. (4) The economic effect of the terms and conditions upon projects, including redevelopment projects, funded or sponsored by cities, counties, or districts. (5) The effect of the line and service extension regulations, and any modifications to them, on existing ratepayers. (6) The effect of the line and service extension regulations, and any modifications to them, on the consumption and conservation of energy. (7) The extent to which there is cost-justification for a special line and service extension allowance for agriculture. (c) The commission shall request the assistance of appropriate state agencies and departments in conducting any investigation or proceeding pursuant to subdivision (b), including, but not limited to, the Transportation Agency, the Department of Food and Agriculture, the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Bureau of Real Estate, and the Department of Housing and Community Development. (d) Any new order or decision issued pursuant to an investigation or proceeding conducted pursuant to subdivision (b) shall become effective on July 1 of the year that follows the year when the new order or decision is adopted by the commission, so as to ensure that the public has at least six months to consider the new order or decision. (e) The commission shall conduct any investigation or proceeding pursuant to subdivision (b) within the commission’s existing budget, and any state agency or department that is requested by the commission to provide assistance pursuant to subdivision (c) shall also provide the assistance within the agency’s or department’s existing budget. (f) An electrical or gas corporation shall permit a new or existing customer who applies for an extension of service from that corporation to install a gas or electric extension in accordance with the regulations of the commission and applicable specifications of that electrical or gas corporation consistent with subdivision (g). (g) (1) Only those construction and design specifications, standards, terms, and conditions that are applicable to a new extension-of-service project by an electrical or gas corporation on the date the application is approved for the extension of service apply to the new project for the 18 months following the approval date of the application. (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), an electrical or gas corporation may adopt modifications to construction and design specifications, standards, terms, and conditions applicable to a new extension-of-service project in accordance with any of the following: (A) An order or decision of the commission or any other state or federal agency with jurisdiction. (B) A work order issued by the electrical or gas corporation to implement construction or design changes necessitated by a customer-driven scope of work modification. (C) A material-related design change identified by the electrical or gas corporation to remedy a construction material defect that could pose a risk to public safety. (h) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) “The date the application is approved” means the earlier of either the effective date of the contract for the extension of gas or electric service or the date when the utility first invoices the customer for the extension of gas or electric service. (2) “Customer-driven scope of work modification” means those modifications required to accommodate the construction and design needs of a new extension-of-service project for a specific customer. (3) “Invoice” means when an electrical or gas corporation presents an offer to the customer for the extension of gas or electric service in response to an application for an extension of service submitted pursuant to subdivision (f).

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 783.5. Section 783.5.

(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) “Disadvantaged community” means a San Joaquin Valley community that meets all of the following criteria: (A) At least 25 percent of residential households with electrical service are enrolled in the CARE program pursuant to Section 739.1. (B) Has a population greater than 100 persons within its geographic boundaries as identified by the most recent United States Census or a community survey. (C) Has geographic boundaries no farther than seven miles from the nearest natural gas pipeline operated by a gas corporation. (2) “San Joaquin Valley” means the counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare. (b) No later than March 31, 2015, the commission shall initiate a new proceeding to do all of the following: (1) Identify disadvantaged communities based on the criteria specified in subdivision (a). (2) Analyze the economic feasibility of the following options: (A) Extending natural gas pipelines to those disadvantaged communities. (B) Increasing subsidies for electricity for residential customers in those disadvantaged communities. (C) Other alternatives that would increase access to affordable energy in those disadvantaged communities that the commission deems appropriate. (c) The commission shall determine whether any of the options analyzed in the proceeding would increase access to affordable energy in a cost-effective manner. For these options, the commission shall take appropriate action and determine appropriate funding sources.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 784. Section 784.

For each gas corporation, the commission shall adopt pipeline access rules that ensure that each gas corporation provides nondiscriminatory open access to its gas pipeline system to any party for the purposes of physically interconnecting with the gas pipeline system and effectuating the delivery of gas.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 784.1. Section 784.1.

(a) The Legislature requests that the California Council on Science and Technology undertake and complete a study analyzing the regional and gas corporation specific issues relating to minimum heating value and maximum siloxane specifications for biomethane before it can be injected into common carrier gas pipelines, including those specifications adopted in Sections 4.4.3.3 and 4.4.4 of commission Decision 14-01-034 (January 16, 2014), Decision Regarding the Biomethane Implementation Tasks in Assembly Bill 1900. The study shall consider and evaluate other states’ standards, the source of biomethane, the dilution of biomethane after it is injected into the pipeline, the equipment and technology upgrades required to meet the minimum heating value specifications, including the impacts of those specifications on the cost, volume of biomethane sold, equipment operation, and safety. The study shall also consider whether different sources of biogas should have different standards or if all sources should adhere to one standard for the minimum heating value and maximum permissible level of siloxanes. The study shall develop the best science reasonably available and not merely be a literature review. In order to meet the state’s goals for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and short-lived climate pollutants and the state’s goals for promoting the use of renewable energy resources in place of burning fossil fuels, the California Council on Science and Technology, if it agrees to undertake and complete the study, shall complete the study within nine months of entering into a contract to undertake and complete the study. (b) (1) If the California Council on Science and Technology agrees to undertake and complete the study pursuant to subdivision (a), the commission shall require each gas corporation operating common carrier pipelines in California to proportionately contribute to the expenses to undertake the study pursuant to Sections 740 and 740.1. The commission may modify the monetary incentives made available pursuant to commission Decision 15-06-029 (June 11, 2015), Decision Regarding the Costs of Compliance with Decision 14-01-034 and Adoption of Biomethane Promotion Policies and Program, to allocate some of the moneys that would be made available for incentives to instead be made available to pay for the costs of the study so as to not further burden ratepayers with additional expense. (2) The commission’s authority pursuant to paragraph (1) shall apply notwithstanding whether the gas corporation has proposed the program pursuant to Section 740.1. (c) If the California Council on Science and Technology agrees to undertake and complete the study pursuant to subdivision (a), within six months of its completion, the commission shall reevaluate its requirements and standards adopted pursuant to Section 25421 of the Health and Safety Code relative to the requirements and standards for biomethane to be injected into common carrier pipelines and, if appropriate, change those requirements and standards or adopt new requirements and standards, giving due deference to the conclusions and recommendations made in the study by the California Council on Science and Technology.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 784.2. Section 784.2.

Before the exhaustion of the funds made available pursuant to the monetary incentive program for biomethane projects adopted in Decision 15-06-029 (June 11, 2015), Decision Regarding the Costs of Compliance with Decision 14-01-034 and Adoption of Biomethane Promotion Policies and Program, and no later than July 1, 2019, the commission shall open a proceeding to consider options to further the goals of Section 399.24, including consideration of whether to allow recovery in rates of the costs of investments to do each of the following: (a) Ensure that prudent and reasonable investments for infrastructure pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c) provide a direct benefit, such as safety, reliability, affordability, or reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, to all classes of ratepayers and are in the interests of all classes of ratepayers. (b) Facilitate direct investment in the procurement and installation of utility infrastructure necessary to achieve interconnection between the natural gas transmission and distribution pipeline network and biomethane generation and collection equipment, and of gathering lines for a dairy cluster biomethane project. (c) Provide for the installation of utility infrastructure to achieve interconnection with facilities that generate biomethane.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 785. Section 785.

To the extent consistent with federal law and regulation and contractual obligations regarding other available gas, the commission shall, in consultation with the Division of Oil and Gas of the Department of Conservation and with the Energy Commission, encourage, as a first priority, the increased production of gas in this state, including gas produced from that area of the Pacific Ocean along the coast of California commonly known as the outer continental shelf, and shall require, after a hearing, every gas corporation to purchase that gas which is compatible with the corporation’s gas plant and which is produced in this state having an actual delivered cost, measured in equivalent heat units, equal to or less than other available gas, unless this requirement will result in higher overall costs of gas or other consequences adverse to the interests of gas customers.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 785.1. Section 785.1.

(a) The commission shall require, after a hearing, every gas corporation to revise its transportation tariffs and conditions of service to eliminate all components that assess shippers of gas produced in California for the costs of interstate transmission of gas produced outside of this state. These revisions shall eliminate direct or indirect charges for the interstate transportation of gas produced outside of this state, commonly referred to as “double demand” charges. (b) The commission shall consider and approve tariffs consistent with subdivision (a) on or before October 1, 1994. (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the commission from approving intrastate transmission tariffs which include interstate transition cost surcharges, as described in commission decisions 91-11-025 and 92-07-025, in an appropriate manner.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 785.2. Section 785.2.

The commission shall investigate, as part of the rate proceeding for any gas corporation, impediments to the in-state production and storage of natural gas. The commission may adopt a tariff that encourages in-state production or storage of natural gas, including, but not limited to, reducing local transmission rates applicable to in-state gas blends, unless the commission finds that adopting the tariff will likely result in consequences adverse to the interests of gas customers.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 785.5. Section 785.5.

(a) The commission shall require every gas corporation to adopt and pursue purchasing and procurement practices which assure its customers the lowest rates consistent with security of supply and with Section 785. (b) Pursuant to subdivision (a), the commission may establish and periodically revise for each gas corporation guidelines for priorities among suppliers and sources of supply of gas to gas corporations, taking into consideration the requirements of Section 785. The establishment of these guidelines does not relieve a gas corporation of any requirement to make reasonable and prudent purchases of gas or diminish the authority of the commission to review the reasonableness of any purchase or procurement decision of the corporation.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 785.7. Section 785.7.

(a) No gas corporation shall charge, directly or indirectly, a higher rate for the transportation of gas produced in this state than for the transportation of gas from any other source. No gas corporation shall require a producer of gas or a customer for whom any gas transportation service is performed to utilize the corporation’s services or facilities either to deliver gas from the producer’s facility to the corporation’s gas plant or to process the gas to render it compatible with the corporation’s gas plant. (b) If a producer of gas or customer delivers to the gas corporation for transportation any gas requiring any processing service, including, but not limited to, dehydration, processing for extraction of liquids, or other purification, different from, or in addition to, that performed on other gas in the corporation’s gas plant, in order for that gas to be compatible with the gas plant, the gas corporation may impose a charge for any such service actually performed. If the gas corporation constructs new facilities at the request of the producer or customer exclusively to receive gas by the gas corporation’s gas plant, the gas corporation may impose a charge for the construction, operation, and maintenance of these facilities. The amount of the charge for the processing service or facilities authorized by this subdivision shall be established by the commission and shall be based on the actual expenses for the construction, operation, maintenance, labor, materials, and overhead involved in providing the specific service or facilities. (c) For purposes of this section, “transportation” means the movement of gas from the point of receiving by the gas plant of a gas corporation to the point of delivery to the person or corporation for whom the transportation service is performed, including any related gathering or processing of the gas. The point of receiving by the gas plant is that point in the gas corporation’s existing plant which is nearest the source of the gas and which has receiving capacity, but does not include any new facility constructed by the gas corporation at the request of the producer or customer exclusively to receive that gas. The terms and conditions of receiving, for these purposes, shall be comparable to the gas corporation’s purchase contracts in the general area of the point of receiving. (d) Subdivision (a) does not apply to exchanges of gas between a gas corporation and a producer of gas. (e) The commission shall allow the gas corporation to fully recover all reasonable and prudent costs associated with ownership and operation of the gas plant used for transportation.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 786. Section 786.

(a) On or before March 1, 1984, and annually thereafter, every telephone corporation operating within a service area shall issue to each of its residential subscribers, in a manner and form approved by the commission, a listing of the residential telephone services it provides, the rates or charges for those services, and the state or federal regulatory agency or agencies responsible for regulation of those services. (b) On or before March 1, 1988, and annually thereafter, every telephone corporation operating within a service area providing public telephone service shall provide to each of its residential subscribers, in a manner and form approved by the commission, a description of that public telephone service and the telephone corporation’s policies for providing that service, which shall include policies of public need and safety. The description shall also specify how a customer or subscriber can contact the telephone corporation by telephone or mail, or both, for additional information concerning these public telephone policies or for assistance regarding a specific public telephone. The commission shall require that this information be published separately from, but transmitted to subscribers together with, the information specified in subdivision (a). This subdivision does not apply to any corporation or person which owns or operates coin-activated telephone equipment available for public use but which is not a telephone corporation. (c) Every charge imposed on business or residential telephone subscribers in response to rules or regulations of the Federal Communications Commission shall be shown separately from other charges on a subscriber’s billing statement. Every telephone corporation operating within a service area shall do either of the following: (1) Identify these charges, by asterisk or other means, with the following phrase: THIS CHARGE IS (or THESE CHARGES ARE) IMPOSED BY ACTION OF THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION. (2) Include in the subscriber’s billing statement a listing of the total charges imposed pursuant to tariff of the Federal Communications Commission identified with the following phrase: TOTAL CHARGES IMPOSED BY ACTION OF THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION. The billing statement shall also provide the address and telephone number of the Federal Communications Commission to which inquiries may be directed. (d) The commission shall, by rule or order, specify methods for compliance with this section, which shall include all of the following: (1) An explanation of the configuration of telecommunications services in California following implementation of the final decision of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia circuit in the case of United States v. American Telephone and Telegraph Company (552 F. Supp. 131) decided on August 19, 1982, and the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the regulatory agencies responsible for the regulation of intrastate and interstate telephone service. (2) A general description of the services provided by the telephone corporation or telecommunications provider issuing the explanation, how those services may be obtained, and a notice that other providers are available. (3) A description of billing charges which may appear on the telephone corporation’s or the telecommunications provider’s billing statements. (4) Procedures the subscribers, including subscribers equipped with telephone devices for the handicapped, may follow to protest items billed to the subscriber, and how to contact the telephone corporation or the telecommunications provider concerning those charges.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 787. Section 787.

(a) Any public utility, or its contractor, to whom an excavation permit has been issued by any local agency for the installation, removal, maintenance, or repair of underground facilities may backfill the permitted excavation in any public road or highway with native spoil if all of the following conditions are met: (1) The native spoil is competent spoil. (2) Compaction meets the local agency’s requirements using industry standards for testing compaction. (3) The public utility or its contractor has no physical evidence of, or substantial reason to believe that there has been, contamination of the soil from hazardous wastes. (4) Within 30 days prior to compaction, a local agency has not provided the public utility or its contractor with physical evidence of, or substantial reason to believe that there has been, contamination of the soil from hazardous wastes. (b) If a local agency has determined through prior experience that the public utility that is applying for, or benefiting from, the excavation permit has previously neglected to adequately fill or compact prior excavations, whether directly or through its contractors, the local agency may, as a condition of the excavation permit do either or both of the following: (1) Require the public utility to post a bond, with a term not exceeding one year, amounting to two times the cost for the local agency to repair the backfill work, if done improperly, or any related collateral damage. (2) Require the public utility to submit a report from a registered soils engineer that the proper compaction of the excavation has been achieved. (c) For purposes of this section: (1) “Competent spoil” means soils that can be treated to bring their moisture content into the optimum range, and that can achieve the compaction required by the local agency. (2) “Local agency” means any city or county agency. (3) “Public utility” means any electrical corporation, gas corporation, heat corporation, water corporation, telephone corporation, pipeline corporation, sewer corporation, telegraph corporation, where the service is performed for, or the commodity delivered to, the public or any portion thereof.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 788. Section 788.

(a) This section applies only to a telephone corporation that is a provider of local exchange service. (b) On or before March 1, 1992, and annually thereafter, every telephone corporation that is a provider of local exchange service shall issue to each of its residential subscribers, in a manner and form approved by the commission, a notice containing the following information: (1) An explanation of the responsibilities of the subscriber and the telephone corporation in relation to the customer’s inside telephone wiring, as that term is defined by and pursuant to Section 1941.4 of the Civil Code, including an explanation of lessor and tenant obligations. (2) An explanation of the telephone corporation’s procedures and charges for determining and notifying the subscriber of whether a malfunction in its telephone wire is located in the telephone network, or is located in the subscriber’s inside telephone wiring, including customer-provided equipment. (3) If the telephone corporation offers any services to maintain or repair a subscriber’s inside telephone wiring, a full description of the types of services offered, including the rates, charges, and conditions for these services, and whether those services are offered by nonutility providers.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026