SB 356: Energy data transparency.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the commission to make certain information regarding electric service and electrical corporations available on its Internet Web site. Existing law provides for the establishment of an Independent System Operator (ISO) as a nonprofit public benefit corporation and requires the ISO to make certain filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and to seek authority from FERC as needed to give the ISO the ability to secure generating and transmission resources necessary to guarantee achievement of planning and operating reserve criteria no less stringent than those established by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council and the North American Electric Reliability Council.

This bill would require the PUC, by January 15, 2019, to direct each electrical corporation to make available electronically to the public certain information, including, among other things, pricing data for electricity, on the electrical corporations Internet Web site. The bill would require electrical corporations to provide pricing data electronically to the PUC, as provided, within 3 months after a change in its rates. The bill would require the Independent System Operator to make available electronically to the public certain information regarding the operation of the transmission grid. The bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, by January 1, 2019, to the extent that resources are available, to develop a system for assigning a global unique identifier for buildings within the state. The bill would require electrical corporations and local publicly owned electric utilities to track the aggregated electricity usage data of all customers in the same building for those buildings within their service territories by the global unique identifier. Because this bill would impose additional duties on local publicly owned electric utilities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime.

Because certain of the above provisions amend the Public Utilities Act, and a violation of any of those would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing law prohibits an electrical corporation or a gas corporation from sharing, disclosing, or otherwise making accessible to a third party a customers electrical or gas consumption data with certain exceptions. One of these exceptions is when the customer consents.

This bill would authorize the verification of customer consent through an electronic signature authorization process and would specify the types of data eligible for release.

Existing law requires each utility, upon the request and written authorization or secure electronic authorization of the owner, owners agent, or operator of a covered building, to deliver or otherwise provide aggregated energy usage data for a covered building to the owner, owners agent, building operator, or to the owners account in the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Existing law defines a covered building to be a building with certain numbers and types of utility accounts.

This bill would revise covered building to include a property with those same numbers and types of accounts. additionally require an electrical or gas utility to provide to the owner, owners agent, or operator of property with 2 or more buildings located on a single or adjacent parcel with same owner of record with 5 or more active utility accounts, in aggregate, upon request, aggregate energy usage data for those buildings. Because this bill would impose additional duties on local publicly owned electric utilities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons.