SB 420: Electricity: electrical transmission facility projects.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law, implemented by the PUC through a general order, generally prohibits an electrical corporation from beginning the construction of a line, plant, or system, or of any extension thereof, without having first obtained from the commission a certificate that the present or future public convenience and necessity require or will require its construction, as specified. However, existing law exempts the extension, expansion, upgrade, or other modification of an existing electrical transmission facility, including transmission lines and substations, from that certification requirement.

This bill would additionally exempt the rebuilding of an existing electrical transmission facility from that requirement, and would provide that the construction of a new electrical transmission facility, or the extension, expansion, upgrade, rebuilding, or other modification of an electrical transmission facility, including lines and substations, by an electrical corporation serving 10,000 or more retail customers does not require that certification, a permit to construct, or any other discretionary permit from the commission, if the new or modified electrical transmission facility meets certain requirements. The bill would also require the PUC, no later than January 1, 2025, to revise the general order to implement these changes, as specified.

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

Because certain provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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

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