utility regulation

CPUC opens investigation into consumer broadband prices and other utility rates

21 November 2018 by Steve Blum
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The cost burden of consumer broadband service will be evaluated by the California Public Utilities Commission, as part of a larger inquiry into the affordability of all types of utility services. A “scoping memo”, released by commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen on Monday, outlines the issues on the table as the CPUC tries to develop common metrics and methods for evaluating the affordability of all utility services under its jurisdiction.

The idea was floated in July, and utilities had a chance to offer their opinions on what should be considered and how it should be done.… More

California lawmakers give cable utility perks, without utility obligations

6 April 2017 by Steve Blum
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Quirky economics.

Cable companies want the benefits of being a legally recognised public utility, but not the responsibilities. One of those benefits is to be compensated when a public works project requires the relocation of lines, either on poles or underground. The California assembly’s communications and conveyance committee thought that cable companies deserve it too, and unanimously endorsed a bill yesterday that would reimburse them for relocation work when a project is being paid for out of bond money that’s been approved by voters.… More

Telecoms lobby pushes California lawmakers to muzzle local government

25 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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Watchdog?

City councils and county boards of supervisors in California have an annoying habit of listening to residents and questioning the broadband marketing hype spun in out-of-state corporate headquarters and spread in Sacramento, where perks and campaign cash buy an attentive audience. Keeping local government out of any meaningful oversight role is a high priority for cable and telco lobbyists, and their successful efforts are evident as the final texts of key legislation begin to take shape.… More

Detailed review of Californian telecoms policy slashed from bill

19 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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I’ll show you gut and amend.

An examination of telecommunications responsibilities at the California Public Utilities Commission has gone from being a specific study of agency duties, technological issues and, critically, broadband’s place in the regulatory mix, to being the sort of high level gloss that will gather dust on a shelf. The threat of a useful result no longer looms over cable and telephone incumbents.

As it was proposed last week, assembly bill 2903 had a long check list of broadband and other telecoms issues that the California research bureau was supposed to investigate by the end of next year, including…

  • What gaps, if any, exist in the state’s regulatory authority that are not otherwise addressed by federal law or regulation over telecommunications services, including, but not limited to, consumer protection and safety.
… More

Green light for telecoms policy bills in Sacramento

12 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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Telecoms legislation is popular in Sacramento this summer. Legislative leaders allowed several important bills to move ahead yesterday, albeit without finalising all of the language. Negotiations and amendments will continue behind closed doors as the full assembly and senate get ready to vote.

The four bills that make up the grand package of California Public Utilities Commission reforms agreed to by the governor and three key lawmakers are moving ahead. Senate bill 215, by senator Mark Leno (D – San Francisco), tightens rules on who can speak with CPUC decision makers and when.… More

CPUC gut-and-amend reform bill published

11 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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No surprise, really.

A draft of a bill to overhaul the California Public Utilities Commission is up on the state legislature’s website. It’s a gut-and-amend job by assemblyman Mike Gatto (D – Los Angeles) on an assembly bill – AB 2903 – that originally concerned damages resulting from the state’s energy crisis in 2000.

It appears to be in line with the grand compromise reached with governor Brown in June. The California Research Bureau, a division of the state library, would get the job of evaluating the CPUC’s future role in telecoms regulation.… More

Small group of Californian lawmakers make big broadband policy

8 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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Gut and amend.

Major broadband-related legislation is on the horizon this week in Sacramento, although how it will ultimately read is completely unknown right now. The way things are lining up, we probably won’t know until the end of the month, when the legislature goes into its final, end-of-the-session whirlwind.

Action on a thoroughly innocuous bill involving the California Public Utilities Commission – AB 2902 – by a telecoms industry ally, assemblyman Mike Gatto (D – Los Angeles), has been pushed back a couple of times and is sitting on hold.… More

California still needs to be a broadband activist

7 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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Market actor.

Ahead of a legislative effort to shake up the way it does business, the California Public Utilities Commission adopted a high-level strategic management plan at its last meeting. The document contains the usual boilerplate about agency effectiveness, performance, and respect for the staff and the public, and touches all the politically correct bases.

But it also describes an activist role in managing the industries under its jurisdiction, including telecommunications, whether or not it can do so via direct, regulatory authority.… More

Effort to shed more light on the CPUC moves into the dark

6 July 2016 by Steve Blum
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Nightfall.

The dust has settled in Sacramento and lawmakers are out of town on their regular summer break. But the details of changes proposed for telecommunications policy are still hazy.

The legislative package that will determine how telecoms companies and services, and other utilities, are regulated (or not) in California is still largely unwritten. That’s the plan agreed with the governor to change the way the California Public Utilities Commission does business. At this point, it looks like it will comprise five bills, although as the process grinds through that number could shift up or down:

  • Senate bill 215, by Mark Leno (D – San Francisco), would tighten restrictions on private conversations and other ex parte communications between CPUC commissioners and interested parties while some proceedings are under way.
… More

CPUC reforms bump ahead, but details are still lacking

30 June 2016 by Steve Blum
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The assembly utilities and commerce committee has approved two senate bills – SB 215 and SB 512 – that are key elements of a proposed package of California Public Utilities Commission reforms, although the details are yet to be worked out. One of the standard practices of the California legislature is for amendments to bills to be worked out behind closed doors after committee members vote to approve them. And that was the explicit understanding yesterday, which was agreed on largely party line votes – democrats tending to favor, republicans not.… More