California Public Utilities Code ARTICLE 2 - Rates

• Section 727.
  It is the policy of the state that the use of all waterways, ports, and harbors of this state shall be encouraged, and to that...
• Section 727.5.
  (a) In establishing rates for water service, the commission shall consider, and may establish, separate charges for costs associated with customer service, facilities, variable operating costs,...
• Section 728.
  Whenever the commission, after a hearing, finds that the rates or classifications, demanded, observed, charged, or collected by any public utility for or in connection...
• Section 728.1.
  (a) For purposes of this section, “plant held for future use account” means account number 105 of the Uniform System of Accounts Prescribed for Public Utilities...
• Section 728.2.
  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the commission shall have no jurisdiction or control over classified telephone directories or commercial advertising included as part of...
• Section 728.3.
  (a) No telephone corporation operating within a service area shall remove any public telephone unless it has posted on the public telephone for not less than...
• Section 728.4.
  A telephone corporation shall list a telephone number as the number for a facsimile machine in its alphabetical or classified directory only if requested to...
• Section 728.5.
  (a) The commission may establish rates or charges for the transportation of passengers and freight by railroads and other transportation companies, except motor carriers of property,...
• Section 728.7.
  (a) Prior to authorizing any change in the amount of the payment required of a telephone corporation which provides service between service areas to a telephone...
• Section 729.
  The commission may, upon a hearing, investigate a single rate, classification, rule, contract, or practice, or any number thereof, or the entire schedule or schedules...
• Section 729.5.
  A public utility, other than one-way radio paging services, shall not change a group of customers from one rate schedule to another rate schedule, if...
• Section 730.
  (a) The commission shall, upon a hearing, determine the kind and character of facilities and the extent of the operation thereof, necessary reasonably and adequately to...
• Section 730.3.
  The commission shall notify every state and local public agency and corporation operating a passenger transit system making a written request for such notification before...
• Section 730.7.
  In determining reimbursement to railroad corporations for the operation of rail passenger service, the commission shall not exceed that compensation which would be payable if...
• Section 730.8.
  Whenever a state agency files with the commission an application for an increase in rates or fares or for any change in the level of...
• Section 732.
  (a) Whenever the commission, after a hearing finds that the rates, fares, or charges in force over two or more common carriers, between any two points...
• Section 733.
  (a) If the common carriers do not agree upon the division between them of the joint rates, fares, or charges established by the commission over through...
• Section 734.
  When complaint has been made to the commission concerning a rate for a product or commodity furnished or service performed by a public utility, and...
• Section 735.
  If the public utility does not comply with the order for the payment of reparation within the time specified in the order, suit may be...
• Section 736.
  All complaints for damages resulting from the violation of any of the provisions of Sections 494 or 532 shall either be filed with the commission,...
• Section 737.
  All complaints for the collection of the lawful tariff charges or any part thereof, of public utilities may be filed in any court of competent...
• Section 737.3.
  (a) (1) A highway carrier, as defined by subdivision (c), a freight forwarder, a party representing a carrier or freight forwarder, or an assignee of a carrier...
• Section 738.
  For the purpose of Sections 734 to 737, inclusive, the cause of action shall accrue upon the delivery or tender of delivery of the shipment...
• Section 738.6.
  In establishing rates for a public utility operating any portion of its line, plant, or system within a federally designated nonattainment area, the commission shall...
• Section 739.
  (a) As used in this section:(1) “Baseline quantity” means a quantity of electricity or gas allocated by the commission for residential customers based on from 50 to...
• Section 739.1.
  (a) The commission shall continue a program of assistance to low-income electric and gas customers with annual household incomes that are no greater than 200 percent...
• Section 739.2.
  (a) The commission’s program of assistance to low-income electric and gas customers shall also include the following facilities, provided the commission finds that the occupants of...
• Section 739.3.
  (a) Subject to direction and supervision by the commission, each electrical corporation and gas corporation shall develop and implement a program of rate assistance to eligible...
• Section 739.4.
  (a) Any natural gas customer who enrolls in the CARE program after the effective date of this section, but before October 1, 2001, shall receive the...
• Section 739.5.
  (a) The commission shall require that, whenever gas or electric service, or both, is provided by a master-meter customer to users who are tenants of a...
• Section 739.6.
  The commission shall establish rates using cost allocation principles that fairly and reasonably assign to different customer classes the costs of providing service to those...
• Section 739.7.
  In establishing residential rates, the commission shall retain an appropriate inverted rate structure. If the commission increases baseline rates pursuant to Section 739, revenues resulting...
• Section 739.8.
  (a) Access to an adequate supply of healthful water is a basic necessity of human life, and shall be made available to all residents of California...
• Section 739.9.
  (a) “Fixed charge” means any fixed customer charge, basic service fee, demand differentiated basic service fee, demand charge, or other charge not based upon the volume...
• Section 739.10.a.
  The commission shall ensure that errors in estimates of demand elasticity or sales do not result in material over or undercollections of the electrical corporations.(Added...
• Section 739.11.
  (a) For bills issued to customers of gas corporations and electrical corporations in which usage is estimated, it is the intent of the Legislature that, to...
• Section 740.
  For purposes of setting the rates to be charged by every electrical corporation, gas corporation, heat corporation or telephone corporation for the services or commodities...
• Section 740.1.
  The commission shall consider the following guidelines in evaluating the research, development, and demonstration programs proposed by electrical and gas corporations:(a) Projects should offer a reasonable...
• Section 740.2.
  The commission, in consultation with the Energy Commission, State Air Resources Board, electrical corporations, and the motor vehicle industry, shall evaluate policies to develop infrastructure...
• Section 740.3.
  (a) The commission, in cooperation with the State Energy Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, air quality management districts and air pollution control...
• Section 740.4.
  (a) The commission shall authorize public utilities to engage in programs to encourage economic development.(b) Reasonable expenses for economic development programs, as specified in this section, shall...
• Section 740.5.
  (a) For purposes of this section, “21st Century Energy System Decision” means commission Decision 12-12-031 (December 20, 2012), Decision Granting Authority to Enter Into a Research...
• Section 740.6.
  (a) The commission may authorize investor-owned gas and electric utilities to match grants provided to nonprofit agencies and local governments to participate in the Department of...
• Section 740.7.
  Interruptible service or curtailment programs adopted by the commission shall assure that the programs allow customers to aggregate multiple accounts to meet any minimum kilowatt...
• Section 740.8.
  As used in Section 740.3 or 740.12, “interests” of ratepayers, short- or long-term, mean direct benefits that are specific to ratepayers, consistent with both of...
• Section 740.9.
  (a) Any optional binding mandatory curtailment program adopted by the commission that exempts customers from Stage 3 rotating outages in exchange for partial load curtailments during...
• Section 740.10.a.
  (a) Each public utility electrical corporation shall develop and offer its customers, on or before May 30, 2001, the opportunity to participate, in addition to other...
• Section 740.11.
  In recognition of the fact that agricultural and water supplier customers necessarily have high electricity usage during peak summer demand periods, the Legislature strongly urges...
• Section 740.12.
  (a) (1) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(A) Advanced clean vehicles and fuels are needed to reduce petroleum use, to meet air quality standards, to...
• Section 740.13.
  (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:(1) “Charging station” means the removable equipment that provides alternating or direct current to the...
• Section 740.14.
  (a) By July 30, 2018, in consultation with the Department of Parks and Recreation, Public Utilities Commission, Energy Commission, and State Air Resources Board, each electrical...
• Section 741.
  (a) Every owner or operator of telephones available for public use, other than a telephone corporation, that accept any form of payment which, as part of...
• Section 741.1.
  Every nonpublic utility provider of telephone services, including, but not limited to, a hotel, motel, hospital, or university, which imposes charges on users of the...
• Section 741.2.
  (a) No nonpublic utility provider of telephone services, including, but not limited to, a hotel, motel, hospital, university, or similar place of temporary accommodation owning or...
• Section 741.3.
  The commission shall, by rule or order, adopt and enforce operating requirements applicable to operator-assisted telephone services, whether furnished by a telephone corporation or other...
• Section 742.
  (a) The commission shall, by rule or order, adopt and enforce operating requirements for telephones available for public use that accept any form of payment and...
• Section 742.1.
  (a) The commission shall, by rule or order, adopt and enforce operating requirements for every corporation or person, other than a telephone corporation, which, as part...
• Section 742.3.
  The commission shall, by rule or order, adopt and enforce an operating requirement for coin-activated and credit card-activated telephones available for public use, whether owned...
• Section 742.5.
  (a) No telephone corporation which operates within a service area shall provide billing and collection services for either of the following:(1) Any telephone corporation which has not...
• Section 743.
  (a) As used in this section, “steel producer” means a producer of steel products in California which in 1981 or any subsequent year produced at least...
• Section 743.3.
  (a) Beginning January 15, 2002, and at least once monthly thereafter, an electrical corporation shall notify each air pollution control district and air quality management district...
• Section 744.
  (a) As used in this section, “agricultural producer” means any person or corporation whose principal purpose is the agrarian production of food or fiber.(b) Every electrical corporation...
• Section 744.5.
  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Public Utilities Commission shall, as soon as is practicable after the operative date of the act adding this...
• Section 745.
  (a) For purposes of this section, “time-variant pricing” includes time-of-use rates, critical peak pricing, and real-time pricing, but does not include programs that provide customers with...
• Section 746.
  The commission shall determine the appropriate ratemaking treatment for incentive compensation paid to officers or employees of an electrical corporation or gas corporation for incentive...
• Section 747.
  It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission reduce rates for electricity and natural gas to the lowest amount possible.(Amended by Stats. 2015,...
• Section 748.5.
  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), the commission shall require revenues, including any accrued interest, received by an electrical corporation as a result of the...
• Section 749.
  Public utilities shall develop programs in cooperation with local school districts in reducing their electricity and gas bills through conservation and improvements in efficiency. Utilities...
• Section 750.
  The commission shall develop formal procedures to consider safety in a rate case application by an electrical corporation or gas corporation. The procedures shall include...
• Section 755.
  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that:(1) An electrical, gas, or water corporation that offers customers credit card or debit card payment options, may recover...
• Section 755.5.
  (a) A water corporation with more than 10,000 service connections that seeks to operate a pilot program designed to evaluate customer interest in, and utilization of,...
• Section 758.
  (a) The commission shall allow an electrical corporation to recover in rates amounts assessed to the utility pursuant to Section 8610.5 of the Government Code.(b) The commission...

Last modified: October 22, 2018