SB 1196: Accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units: utility service connections.

Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, among other things, provides for the creation by ordinance, or by ministerial approval if the local agency has not adopted an ordinance, of an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) or a junior accessory dwelling unit (JADU) in accordance with specified standards and conditions. Existing law authorizes a local agency, special district, or water corporation to require a new or separate utility connection directly between the unit and the utility for certain ADUs, as provided.

This bill would require a local agency to post on its internet website or distribute in written form to an applicant a comprehensive list of requirements for utility service connections that may be required for an ADU or JADU and contact information for each of the utilities that provide service in the jurisdiction.

By imposing new duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, gas corporations, sewer system corporations, and water corporations, while local publicly owned utilities, including municipal utility districts, public utility districts, and irrigation districts, are under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law, for a new housing construction, requires those utilities to publicly post on their internet websites a schedule of estimated fees for typical service connections for each housing development type and the estimated timeframes for completing typical service connections needed for each housing type, excepted as provided.

This bill would require each of the above-described utilities to post on its internet website a comprehensive checklist of items that an applicant is required to submit to the utility for an application for obtaining a service connection to an ADU or JADU to be deemed complete, to provide an option for the applicant to engage with staff for preapplication project review, and to provide upfront estimated costs for the applicants planning purposes, as provided. The bill would establish a process by which utilities are required to review the submission of an application to determine whether the application is deemed complete, as provided. For an electrical service connection, the bill would require the utility providing electrical service, within 15 business days of determining an application is complete, to make a load assessment for the ADU or JADU and to inform the applicant whether a new electrical panel or electrical meter is required to provide the service connection, as specified, and would require the utility, within 10 business days of a notification that the new electrical panel or electrical meter has been installed, to verify that the installation is completed. The bill would require a utility, within 30 days of a notification that the construction of the ADU or JADU is complete, to complete the service connection to the dwelling unit, as specified. The bill would authorize an applicant to submit, in writing, a complaint to the commission if the utility has violated the requirements of the bill and would require the commission to assess civil penalties, as provided, for violations of the requirements of the bill.

Under existing law, a violation of an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.

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

The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.

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.