In establishing the priorities pursuant to Section 2771, the commission shall include, but not be limited to, a consideration of all the following:
(a) A determination of the customers and uses of electricity and gas, in descending order of priority, that provide the most important public benefits and serve the greatest public need.
(b) A determination of the customers and uses of electricity and gas that are not included under subdivision (a).
(c) A determination of the economic, social, and other effects of a temporary discontinuance in electrical or gas service to the customers or for the uses determined in accordance with subdivision (a) or (b).
(d) A determination of the potential effect of extreme temperatures on the health and safety of residential customers. In making this determination, the commission shall do all of the following:
(1) Consult with appropriate medical experts and review appropriate literature and research.
(2) Consider whether providing priority to customers experiencing extreme temperatures would result in increased outage frequency and duration for remaining customers and its effect on the health and safety of those remaining customers.
(3) To the extent the commission determines it is in the public interest to provide priority to customers that experience extreme temperatures, it shall provide that priority only when temperatures are extreme.
(4) Consider whether alternative measures are appropriate, including, but not limited to, reducing the duration of the outage or imposing the outage earlier or later in the day.
(e) A determination of unacceptable jeopardy or imminent danger to public health and safety that creates substantial likelihood of severe health risk requiring medical attention.
(f) Any curtailment or allocation rules, orders, or regulations issued by any agency of the federal government.
(g) The commission shall also consider the effect of providing a high priority to some customers on those customers who do not receive a high priority.
(Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 447, Sec. 1. Effective October 3, 2001.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018