(a) For purposes of this section, a “nonstate entity” means a company, corporation, partnership, firm, or other entity or group of entities, whether organized for profit or not for profit.
(b) The commission, by order, decision, motion, settlement, or other action, shall not establish a nonstate entity with any moneys other than those moneys that would otherwise belong to the public utility’s shareholders. A nonstate entity to be created with moneys from a public utility’s shareholders shall be subject to a 30-day review by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee prior to creation. This subdivision does not limit the authority of the commission to form an advisory committee or other body whose budget is subject to oversight by the commission and the Department of Finance.
(c) The commission shall not enter into a contract with a nonstate entity in which a person serves as an owner, director, or officer while serving as a commissioner. Any contract between the commission and a nonstate entity shall be void and cease to exist by operation of law, if a commissioner, who was a commissioner at the time the contract was awarded, entered into, or extended, becomes, on or after January 1, 2014, an owner, director, or officer of the nonstate entity while serving as a commissioner.
(d) Beginning June 1, 2014, a commissioner who acts as an owner, director, or officer of a nonstate entity that was established as a result of an order, decision, motion, settlement, or other action by the commission in which the commissioner participated, neglects his or her duty pursuant to Section 1 of Article XII of the California Constitution, and as a result the commissioner may be removed pursuant to that section by the Legislature, two-thirds of the membership of each house concurring.
(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 546, Sec. 1. (SB 434) Effective January 1, 2015.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018