CCLME.ORG - PUC § 785

(continued) telephone number of the commission to which inquiries by
the customer may be directed.
All written notices shall be in a clear and legible format.
(e) Any residential customer whose complaint or request for an
investigation has resulted in an adverse determination by the
corporation may appeal the determination to the commission. Any
subsequent appeal of the dispute or complaint to the commission is
not subject to this section.
(f) If a residential customer fails to comply with an amortization
agreement, the corporation shall not terminate service without
giving notice to the customer at least 48 hours prior to termination
of the conditions the customer is required to meet to avoid
termination, but this notice does not entitle the customer to further
investigation by the corporation.
(g) No termination of service may be effected without compliance
with this section. Any service wrongfully terminated shall be
restored without charge for the restoration of service, and a
notation thereof shall be mailed to the customer at his or her
billing address.

779.2. (a) No electrical, gas, heat, telephone, or water
corporation may terminate residential service for nonpayment of any
delinquent account or other indebtedness owed by the customer or
subscriber to any other person or corporation or when the obligation
represented by the delinquent account or other indebtedness was
incurred with a person or corporation other than the electrical, gas,
heat, telephone, or water corporation demanding payment therefor.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to a telephone corporation
operating within service areas which furnishes billing services to
the subscribers of a telephone corporation operating between service
areas pursuant to tariffs on file with the commission providing for
the furnishing of those billing services. The commission shall
require that these tariffs also provide for adequate subscriber
notice, review, and appeal procedures prior to any termination of
service for nonpayment of a delinquent account.
(c) Subdivision (a) does not apply to any privately owned or
publicly owned public utility which collects sanitation or sewerage
charges for a public agency pursuant to agreement under Section
54346.2 of the Government Code or Section 5472.5 of the Health and
Safety Code.

779.5. The decision of an electrical, gas, heat, telephone, or
water corporation to require a new residential applicant to deposit a
sum of money with the corporation prior to establishing an account
and furnishing service shall be based solely upon the credit
worthiness of the applicant as determined by the corporation.

780. No electrical, gas, heat, or water corporation shall, by
reason of delinquency in the payment of its charges, terminate
service on any Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or at any time during
which the business offices of the corporation are not open to the
public.

780.5. The commission shall require every residential unit in an
apartment house or similar multiunit residential structure,
condominium, and mobilehome park for which a building permit has been
obtained on or after July 1, 1982, other than a dormitory or other
housing accommodation provided by any postsecondary educational
institution for its students or employees and other than farmworker
housing, to be individually metered for electrical and gas service,
except that separate metering for gas service is not required for
residential units which are not equipped with gas appliances
requiring venting or are equipped with only vented decorative
appliances or which receive the majority of energy used for water or
space heating from a solar energy system or through cogeneration
technology.

781. The commission shall not require any water corporation which
furnishes water for residential use through five or more service
connections or which serves an average of 25 or more persons per day
for at least 60 days per year, nor any residential customer of such
corporation to install any watermeter at any water service connection
between the water system of the corporation and the customer if on
January 1, 1979, such service connection was unmetered except after a
public hearing held within the service area of the corporation at
which hearing all of the following findings have been made:
(a) Metering will be cost effective within the service area of the
corporation.
(b) Metering will result in a significant reduction in water
consumption within the service area of the corporation.
(c) The costs of metering will not impose an unreasonable
financial burden on customers within the service area of the
corporation unless it is found to be necessary to assure continuation
of an adequate water supply within the service area of the
corporation.

782. In order to encourage the development of geothermal resources
in the State of California, the commission may, upon a complaint by a
geothermal energy producer, prohibit any electrical corporation from
curtailing the generation, production, or transmission of
electricity from a geothermal powerplant operated by such
corporation, if the commission deems that such curtailment is not in
the public interest.

783. (a) The commission shall continue to enforce the rules
governing the extension of service by gas and electrical corporations
to new residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial
customers in effect on January 1, 1982, except that the commission
shall amend the existing rules to permit applicants for service to
install extensions in accordance with subdivision (f). Except for
periodic review provisions of existing rules, and amendments to
permit installations by an applicant's contractor, the commission
shall not investigate amending these rules or issue any orders or
decisions which amend these rules, unless the investigation or
proceeding for the issuance of the order or decision is conducted
pursuant to subdivision (b).
(b) Whenever the commission institutes an investigation into the
terms and conditions for the extension of services provided by gas
and electrical corporations to new or existing customers, or
considers issuing an order or decision amending those terms or
conditions, the commission shall make written findings on all of the
following issues:
(1) The economic effect of the line and service extension terms
and conditions upon agriculture, residential housing, mobilehome
parks, rural customers, urban customers, employment, and commercial
and industrial building and development.
(2) The effect of requiring new or existing customers applying for
an extension to an electrical or gas corporation to provide
transmission or distribution facilities for other customers who will
apply to receive line and service extensions in the future.
(3) The effect of requiring a new or existing customer applying
for an extension to an electrical or gas corporation to be
responsible for the distribution of, reinforcements of, relocations
of, or additions to that gas or electrical corporation.
(4) The economic effect of the terms and conditions upon projects,
including redevelopment projects, funded or sponsored by cities,
counties, or districts.
(5) The effect of the line and service extension regulations, and
any modifications to them, on existing ratepayers.
(6) The effect of the line and service extension regulations, and
any modifications to them, on the consumption and conservation of
energy.
(7) The extent to which there is cost-justification for a special
line and service extension allowance for agriculture.
(c) The commission shall request the assistance of appropriate
state agencies and departments in conducting any investigation or
proceeding pursuant to subdivision (b), including, but not limited
to, the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, the Department
of Food and Agriculture, the Department of Consumer Affairs, the
Department of Real Estate, the Department of Housing and Community
Development, and the Department of Economic and Business Development.

(d) Any new order or decision issued pursuant to an investigation
or proceeding conducted pursuant to subdivision (b) shall become
effective on July 1 of the year which follows the year when the new
order or decision is adopted by the commission, so as to ensure that
the public has at least six months to consider the new order or
decision.
(e) The commission shall conduct any investigation or proceeding
pursuant to subdivision (b) within the commission's existing budget,
and any state agency or department which is requested by the
commission to provide assistance pursuant to subdivision (c) shall
also provide the assistance within the agency's or department's
existing budget.
(f) An electrical or gas corporation shall permit any new or
existing customer who applies for an extension of service from that
corporation to install a gas or electric extension in accordance with
the regulations of the commission and any applicable specifications
of that electrical or gas corporation.

785. (a) To the extent consistent with federal law and regulation
and contractual obligations regarding other available gas, the
commission shall, in consultation with the Division of Oil and Gas of
the Department of Conservation and with the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission, encourage, as a first
priority, the increased production of gas in this state, including
gas produced from that area of the Pacific Ocean along the coast of
California commonly known as the outer continental shelf, and shall
require, after a hearing, every gas corporation to purchase that gas
which is compatible with the corporation's gas plant and which is
produced in this state having an actual delivered cost, measured in
equivalent heat units, equal to or less than other available gas,
unless this requirement will result in higher overall costs of gas or
other consequences adverse to the interests of gas customers.
(b) The commission shall annually report to the Legislature on its
implementation of this section.

785.1. (a) The commission shall require, after a hearing, every gas
corporation to revise its transportation tariffs and conditions of
service to eliminate all components that assess shippers of gas
produced in California for the costs of interstate transmission of
gas produced outside of this state. These revisions shall eliminate
direct or indirect charges for the interstate transportation of gas
produced outside of this state, commonly referred to as "double
demand" charges.
(b) The commission shall consider and approve tariffs consistent
with subdivision (a) on or before October 1, 1994.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the
commission from approving intrastate transmission tariffs which
include interstate transition cost surcharges, as described in
commission decisions 91-11-025 and 92-07-025, in an appropriate
manner.

785.2. The commission shall investigate, as part of the rate
proceeding for any gas corporation, impediments to the in-state
production and storage of natural gas. The commission may adopt a
tariff that encourages in-state production or storage of natural gas,
including, but not limited to, reducing local transmission rates
applicable to in-state gas blends, unless the commission finds that
adopting the tariff will likely result in consequences adverse to the
interests of gas customers.

785.5. (a) The commission shall require every gas corporation to
adopt and pursue purchasing and procurement practices which assure
its customers the lowest rates consistent with security of supply
and with Section 785.
(b) Pursuant to subdivision (a), the commission may establish and
periodically revise for each gas corporation guidelines for
priorities among suppliers and sources of supply of gas to gas
corporations, taking into consideration the requirements of Section
785. The establishment of these guidelines does not relieve a gas
corporation of any requirement to make reasonable and prudent
purchases of gas or diminish the authority of the commission to
review the reasonableness of any purchase or procurement decision of
the corporation.

785.7. (a) No gas corporation shall charge, directly or indirectly,
a higher rate for the transportation of gas produced in this state
than for the transportation of gas from any other source. No gas
corporation shall require a producer of gas or a customer for whom
any gas transportation service is performed to utilize the
corporation's services or facilities either to deliver gas from the
producer's facility to the corporation's gas plant or to process the
gas to render it compatible with the corporation's gas plant.
(b) If a producer of gas or customer delivers to the gas
corporation for transportation any gas requiring any processing
service, including, but not limited to, dehydration, processing for
extraction of liquids, or other purification, different from, or in
addition to, that performed on other gas in the corporation's gas
plant, in order for that gas to be compatible with the gas plant, the
gas corporation may impose a charge for any such service actually
performed. If the gas corporation constructs new facilities at the
request of the producer or customer exclusively to receive gas by the
gas corporation's gas plant, the gas corporation may impose a charge
for the construction, operation, and maintenance of these
facilities. The amount of the charge for the processing service or
facilities authorized by this subdivision shall be established by the
commission and shall be based on the actual expenses for the
construction, operation, maintenance, labor, materials, and overhead
involved in providing the specific service or facilities.
(c) For purposes of this section, "transportation" means the
movement of gas from the point of receiving by the gas plant of a gas
corporation to the point of delivery to the person or corporation
for whom the transportation service is performed, including any
related gathering or processing of the gas. The point of receiving
by the gas plant is that point in the gas corporation's existing
plant which is nearest the source of the gas and which has receiving
capacity, but does not include any new facility constructed by the
gas corporation at the request of the producer or customer
exclusively to receive that gas. The terms and conditions of
receiving, for these purposes, shall be comparable to the gas
corporation's purchase contracts in the general area of the point of
receiving.
(d) Subdivision (a) does not apply to exchanges of gas between a
gas corporation and a producer of gas.
(e) The commission shall allow the gas corporation to fully
recover all reasonable and prudent costs associated with ownership
and operation of the gas plant used for transportation.

786. (a) On or before March 1, 1984, and annually thereafter, every
telephone corporation operating within a service area shall issue to
each of its residential subscribers, in a manner and form approved
by the commission, a listing of the residential telephone services it
provides, the rates or charges for those services, and the state or
federal regulatory agency or agencies responsible for regulation of
those services.
(b) On or before March 1, 1988, and annually thereafter, every
telephone corporation operating within a service area providing
public telephone service shall provide to each of its residential
subscribers, in a manner and form approved by the commission, a
description of that public telephone service and the telephone
corporation's policies for providing that service, which shall
include policies of public need and safety. The description shall
also specify how a customer or subscriber can contact the telephone
corporation by telephone or mail, or both, for additional information
concerning these public telephone policies or for assistance
regarding a specific public telephone. The commission shall require
that this information be published separately from, but transmitted
to subscribers together with, the information specified in
subdivision (a).
This subdivision does not apply to any corporation or person which
owns or operates coin-activated telephone equipment available for
public use but which is not a telephone corporation.
(c) Every charge imposed on business or residential telephone
subscribers in response to rules or regulations of the Federal
Communications Commission shall be shown separately from other
charges on a subscriber's billing statement. Every telephone
corporation operating within a service area shall do either of the
following:
(1) Identify these charges, by asterisk or other means, with the
following phrase:
THIS CHARGE IS (or THESE CHARGES ARE) IMPOSED BY ACTION OF THE
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION.
(2) Include in the subscriber's billing statement a listing of the
total charges imposed pursuant to tariff of the Federal
Communications Commission identified with the following phrase:
TOTAL CHARGES IMPOSED BY ACTION OF THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION.
The billing statement shall also provide the address and telephone
number of the Federal Communications Commission to which inquiries
may be directed.
(d) The commission shall, by rule or order, specify methods for
compliance with this section, which shall include all of the
following:
(1) An explanation of the configuration of telecommunications
services in California following implementation of the final decision
of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
circuit in the case of United States v. American Telephone and
Telegraph Company (552 F. Supp. 131) decided on August 19, 1982, and
the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the regulatory
agencies responsible for the regulation of intrastate and interstate
telephone service.
(2) A general description of the services provided by the
telephone corporation or telecommunications provider issuing the
explanation, how those services may be obtained, and a notice that
other providers are available.
(3) A description of billing charges which may appear on the
telephone corporation's or the telecommunications provider's billing
statements.
(4) Procedures the subscribers, including subscribers equipped
with telephone devices for the handicapped, may follow to protest
items billed to the subscriber, and how to contact the telephone
corporation or the telecommunications provider concerning those
charges.

787. (a) Any public utility, or its contractor, to whom an
excavation permit has been issued by any local agency for the
installation, removal, maintenance, or repair of underground
facilities may backfill the permitted excavation in any public road
or highway with native spoil if all of the following conditions are
met:
(1) The native spoil is competent spoil.
(2) Compaction meets the local agency's requirements using
industry standards for testing compaction.
(3) The public utility or its contractor has no physical evidence
of, or substantial reason to believe that there has been,
contamination of the soil from hazardous wastes.
(4) Within 30 days prior to compaction, a local agency has not
provided the public utility or its contractor with physical evidence
of, or substantial reason to believe that there has been,
contamination of the soil from hazardous wastes.
(b) If a local agency has determined through prior experience that
the public utility that is applying for, or benefiting from, the
excavation permit has previously neglected to adequately fill or
compact prior excavations, whether directly or through its
contractors, the local agency may, as a condition of the excavation
permit do either or both of the following:
(1) Require the public utility to post a bond, with a term not
exceeding one year, amounting to two times the cost for the local
agency to repair the backfill work, if done improperly, or any
related collateral damage.
(2) Require the public utility to submit a report from a
registered soils engineer that the proper compaction of the
excavation has been achieved.
(c) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Competent spoil" means soils that can be treated to bring
their moisture content into the optimum range, and that can achieve
the compaction required by the local agency.
(2) "Local agency" means any city or county agency.
(3) "Public utility" means any electrical corporation, gas
corporation, heat corporation, water corporation, telephone
corporation, pipeline corporation, sewer corporation, telegraph
corporation, where the service is performed for, or the commodity
delivered to, the public or any portion thereof.

788. (a) This section applies only to a telephone corporation that
is a provider of local exchange service.
(b) On or before March 1, 1992, and annually thereafter, every
telephone corporation that is a provider of local exchange service
shall issue to each of its residential subscribers, in a manner and
form approved by the commission, a notice containing the following
information:
(1) An explanation of the responsibilities of the subscriber and
the telephone corporation in relation to the customer's inside
telephone wiring, as that term is defined by and pursuant to Section
1941.4 of the Civil Code, including an explanation of lessor and
tenant obligations.
(2) An explanation of the telephone corporation's procedures and
charges for determining and notifying the subscriber of whether a
malfunction in its telephone wire is located in the telephone
network, or is located in the subscriber's inside telephone wiring,
including customer-provided equipment.
(3) If the telephone corporation offers any services to maintain
or repair a subscriber's inside telephone wiring, a full description
of the types of services offered, including the rates, charges, and
conditions for these services, and whether those services are offered
by nonutility providers.