California Public Utilities Code

§ 740.19

PUC § 740.19 Effective Jan 1, 2021Div. 1 · Part 1 · Ch. 4 · Art. 2

Statute text

(a)The purpose of this section is to change the commission practice of authorizing the electrical distribution infrastructure located on the utility side of the customer meter needed to charge electric vehicles on a case-by-case basis to a practice of considering that infrastructure and associated design, engineering, and construction work as core utility business, treated the same as other distribution infrastructure authorized on an ongoing basis in the electrical corporation’s general rate case. The commission should not relegate charging electric vehicles to a lower status than any other use of electricity for which the electrical corporation provides distribution infrastructure. The commission shall continue to require each electrical corporation to provide an accurate and full accounting of all expenses related to electrical distribution infrastructure as it relates to this section, and apply appropriate penalties to the extent an electrical corporation is not accurately tracking all expenses.

(b)For purposes of this section, the term “electrical distribution infrastructure” shall include poles, vaults, service drops, transformers, mounting pads, trenching, conduit, wire, cable, meters, other equipment as necessary, and associated engineering and civil construction work.

(c)Not later than February 28, 2021, each electrical corporation shall file an advice letter pursuant to Section 5.1 of General Order 96-B, for, and not later than June 30, 2021, the commission shall approve, a new tariff or rule that authorizes each electrical corporation to design and deploy all electrical distribution infrastructure on the utility side of the customer’s meter for all customers installing separately metered infrastructure to support charging stations, other than those in single-family residences. The advice letter and the commission’s approval shall provide that costs incurred by the electrical corporation between January 1, 2021, and the implementation date of rates approved in the next general rate case decision for that electrical corporation shall be tracked in a memorandum account and recovered, subject to a reasonableness review, in the decision adopting the next general rate case revenue requirement for that electrical corporation. Each electrical corporation shall recover its subsequent revenue requirement for this work through periodic general rate case proceedings. In those proceedings, the costs shall be treated like those costs incurred for other necessary distribution infrastructure. The new tariff shall replace the line extension rules currently used (as of July 1, 2020) and any customer allowances established shall be based on the full useful life of the electrical distribution infrastructure. The commission may revise the policy described in subdivision (a) and this subdivision after the completion of the general rate case cycle of the electrical corporation following the one during which the advice letter was filed if a determination is made that a change in the policy is necessary to ensure just and reasonable rates for ratepayers.

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Legislative history

Added by Stats. 2020, Ch. 372, Sec. 3. (AB 841) Effective January 1, 2021.