2. Legal Background
The Commission exercises jurisdiction over the activities of public utilities, including those that are electrical corporations. Pub. Util. Code § 216 defines public utility as ". . . every ... gas corporation, electrical corporation, telephone corporation, ... where the service is performed for, or the commodity is delivered to, the public or any portion thereof." Subsection (b) of this code section goes on to provide: "Whenever any common carrier, toll bridge corporation, pipeline corporation, gas corporation, electrical corporation, telephone corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewer system corporation, or heat corporation performs a service for, or delivers a commodity to, the public or any portion thereof for which any compensation or payment whatsoever is received, that common carrier, toll bridge corporation, pipeline corporation, gas corporation, electrical corporation, telephone corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewer system corporation, or heat corporation, is a public utility subject to the jurisdiction, control, and regulation of the commission and the provisions of this part."
Furthermore, Pub. Util. Code § 218 defines an electrical corporation as ". . . every corporation or person owning, controlling, operating, or managing any electric plant for compensation within this state, except where electricity is generated on or distributed by the producer through private property solely for its own use or the use of its tenants and not for sale or transmission to others."
In this rulemaking, we will address the scope and role of the Commission's regulatory authority over electric vehicle service providers, including third-party resellers providing electricity to electric vehicles, including the question of whether the Commission has jurisdiction over such entities. If so, we will consider the appropriate level of regulatory oversight, including whether third-party resellers providing electricity to electric vehicles should be exempted from our regulation as an electric utility, via a statutory change if necessary.4
Additionally, the California Air Resources Board's Low Carbon Fuel Standard,5 Section 95484(a)(6), applies to regulated parties for electricity fuel. That section of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard identifies load serving entities, electric vehicle service providers, electric vehicle charging equipment owners, and electric vehicle owners as potential regulated parties for electricity fuel. The California Air Resources Board's Resolution 09-316 adopting the Low Carbon Fuel Standard directs the "Executive Officer [of the Air Resources Board] to continue to work with the Commission, electric utilities, oil refiners, and other stakeholders to review the provisions applicable to electricity and propose amendments, if appropriate, to the regulation by December 2009." In this rulemaking, we will consider possible recommendations to the California Air Resources Board regarding the Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
In this rulemaking, we may also explore how certain existing laws, codified in 2002 (commonly referred to as "AB 1X"), 7 can accommodate the expected increase in electrical usage when residential customers charge electric vehicles on their residential electric accounts. AB 1X requires utilities to provide residential customers with up to 130% of the baseline quantities of electricity in existence at the time AB 1X was enacted in 2002, at rates no greater than those in effect at the time of that enactment. Under the current rate structure, if the additional electricity use required for an electric vehicle were billed on the existing residential account, it would, in many cases, be at the highest residential rate, which could have the practical effect of discouraging residential hook-ups for electric vehicle recharging. A possible solution is the use of a separate electric vehicle tariff and/or the use of separate time-of-use (TOU) meters for vehicle charging. Some customers, particularly those who have residential photovoltaic installations, may want to recharge their vehicles on a net-metered basis and may not want a separate vehicle recharging account or separate meter. We intend to address these issues in this rulemaking.
4 The applicability of § 201 of the Federal Power Act, 16 USC § 824, and Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 ("PURPA"), 16 USC § 823, et seq. to possible "wholesale generation" related to electric vehicle infrastructure is being addressed in R.08-08-009, the current Renewables Portfolio Standard rulemaking.
5 The California Air Resources Board adopted the Low Carbon Fuel Standard on April 23, 2009. This regulation is effective January 1, 2010.
6 Resolution 09-31, Agenda Item No. 09-4-4, adopted April 23, 2009, http://www.arb.ca.gov/fuels/lcfs/lcfs_resolution0931.pdf.
7 See Water Code § 80110, added by Stats. 2001-2002, 1st Ex.Sess., c. 4 (A.B.1), § 3, eff. February 1, 2001, an act to amend Section 366.5 of, and to add section 360.5 to, and to repeal section 355.1 of, the Public Utilities Code, and to add Division 27 (commencing with section 80000) to the Water Code, relating to electric power.
