Blogs

In response to the Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events that took place statewide last year, hampering critical services, slowing local economies, and highlighting gaps in emergency response and disaster preparedness protocols, the Legislature has introduced a bevy of new bills aimed at mitigating impacts. Below are the top ten PSPS bills that could potentially affect special districts the most. A full list of the 36 PSPS bills CSDA is currently tracking can be viewed at csda.net/bill-tracking.

Local Government Cost Recovery or Relief:

• AB 1915 (Chu) Electrical Corporations: De-Energization Event Conditions

This bill would require the CPUC to adopt rules dictating the circumstances under which a de-energization event may be implemented and continued, including the appropriate geographic range for the event. Additionally, post event the CPUC would be required to determine if the electrical corporation complied with the rules, and could force the electrical corporation to pay claims by customers for losses.

• AB 1936 (Rodriguez) Price Gouging: Public Safety Power Shutoffs

This bill would apply price gouging prohibition and penalties upon an announcement of a public safety power shutoff.

• AB 2178 (Levine) De-Energization State of Emergency

This bill would add a de-energization event to the existing list of conditions under which the Governor may declare a state of emergency and/or local officials of a county, city, or city and county may declare a local emergency. This would potentially allow special districts to receive financial reparation for costs incurred during the event as well as grant additional flexibility provided through the provisions of the California Emergency Services Act.

• SB 378 (Wiener) De-Energization Cost Recovery

This bill would require the Public Utilities Commission in consultation with the Public Advocate’s Office to establish a procedure for customers, local governments, and others affected by a de-energization event to recover costs accrued during the de-energization event from an electrical corporation with more than 2,500,000 electrical service connections in California.

• SB 862 (Dodd) Planned Power Outage Protocols and Access for Functional Need Individuals

This bill would include a planned de-energization event within those conditions constituting a state of emergency and a local emergency and would require an electrical corporation, as a part of its public safety mitigation protocols, to include protocols that deal specifically with access and functional need individuals. This does not apply to publicly owned utilities.

Operational and Regulatory Flexibility for use of Back-Up Emergency Generators:

• AB 2182 (Rubio, Blanca) Emergency Backup Generators: Water and Wastewater Facilities Exemption

This bill would provide that use of an alternative power source by an essential public service to power a critical facility during a planned de-energization event initiated by electric utilities is considered emergency use even if an official emergency has not been declared by the State or local government and states that its use shall not be subject to any local, regional, or state regulations regarding the operation of an alternative power source.

• SB 802 (Glazer) Emergency Backup Generators: Health Facilities Exemption

This bill would require an air district to allow a health facility that has received a permit from the district to construct and operate an emergency backup generator to use that emergency backup generator during a de-energization event without having that usage count toward any time limitation on actual usage and routine testing and maintenance included as a condition for issuance of that permit.

• SB 1099 (Dodd) Emergency Backup Generators: Critical Facilities Exemption

This bill would require air districts to allow critical facilities with a permitted emergency backup generator to 1) use the emergency backup generator during a de-energization event or other loss of power, 2) test or maintain the emergency backup generator for consistency without having it count toward the generator’s time limitation on actual usage and routine testing and maintenance. Further, an air district would not be able to impose a fee on the issuance or renewal of a permit issued for an emergency backup generator.

Enhanced Local Government Emergency Response:

• AB 2179 (Levine) Electrical Corporations: Wildfire Mitigation Plans

This bill would require the Public Utilities Commission to adopt rules requiring an electrical corporation to provide or make available information relative to those customers receiving medical baseline rates that may lose electrical service during a de-energization event upon request from an entity of local government with responsibility for mitigating public safety impacts of a de-energization event, including appropriate special districts.

Local Control of Utility Services:

• SB 917 (Wiener) Northern California Energy Utility District

This bill would authorize a local publicly owned energy utility to elect to join in the eminent domain action brought by the California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority and acquire that portion of the electrical or gas system necessary to provide service within its borders if the local publicly owned energy utility contributes its proportionate share of the compensation paid for the assets or ownership of the public utility and would establish the Northern California Energy Utility District, with a governing board elected by district and with powers and duties similar to a municipal utility district, to provide electrical and gas service, and authorizes the authority to transfer any public utility acquired by eminent domain to the district or to a local publicly owned energy utility that participates in the eminent domain action.

If you have input or questions regarding these or any of the PSPS measures, please contact Alyssa Silhi, the legislative representative working PSPS issues, at alyssas@csda.net or by calling the CSDA front office at 877-924-CSDA.