SB 612 is sponsored by the CA Community Choice Association (CalCCA) in hopes of forcing the CA Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to implement fixes to the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA). As Alliance members and fans know well, we too have railed against the egregious unfairness of the PCIA for over five years.
Despite the measure’s good intentions, SB 612 is a rearrangement of deck chairs on the Titanic. SB 612 charges the CPUC to set rules to force the investor-owned utilities (IOUs) to address the stranded contracts comprising the PCIA. We suspect that any resulting rules would be largely “toothless” as the IOUs are masters at using CPUC processes to delay and water down requirements with which they disagree. Any final PCIA impact –or benefit to Community Choice agencies or customers — will be minimal.
In our view, SB 612 is not worth the effort. Any PCIA legislation seeking voter support should terminate the PCIA. Period.
