5. AB 2140 - CARE Discounts for Tenants of Master-Metered
Housing

The California Legislature passed AB 2140 in 2006,⁵³ directing the utilities to improve the access of tenants in master-metered housing to CARE discounts. CARE provides income-qualified customers with a 20% discount on their electric and gas bills. Master-metered customers are owners and managers of multi-family housing with master energy meters. Although the tenants of these customers are not themselves customers of the utility, they may still qualify for CARE. Section 798.43.1 of the California Civil Code requires managers of master-metered housing to pass though the full amount of the CARE program discount to tenants who receive the discount. However, some parties have raised concerns that master-metered tenants do not always receive CARE discounts and some may not even be aware of their eligibility for the discount.

AB 2140 requires the Commission to approve a plan for investor-owned utilities to improve master-metered tenant access to CARE program discounts. AB 2140 states:

SECTION 1. (a) The Public Utilities Commission shall, by December 31, 2007, improve the California Alternative Rates for Energy or CARE program application process for tenants of a mobilehome park, apartment building, or similar residential complex, receiving electric or gas service from a master-metered customer through a submetered system pursuant to section 739.5, by doing both of the following:

Developing processes whereby electrical corporation and gas corporations are able to directly accept CARE applications from tenants of a mobilehome park, apartment building, or similar residential complex.

Developing Processes whereby electrical corporations and gas corporations are able to directly notify and provide renewal applications to tenants of a mobilehome park, apartment building, or similar residential complex, that are existing CARE customers.

(b) The Public Utilities Commission shall, by December 31, 2007, improve the CARE program by developing processes whereby each electrical corporation and gas corporation is required to provide each master-meter customer that is subject to Section 739.5 with a list of tenants who are approved to receive discounts pursuant to the CARE program. The list shall specifically identify those tenants added to or deleted from CARE program eligibility since the previous billing cycle.

The Commission conducted a workshop on April 17, 2007 regarding implementation of AB 2140. On May 22, 2007, the assigned ALJ issued a ruling soliciting parties' comments on how utilities were proceeding to comply with AB 2140 and whether the Commission would need to take steps to assure that compliance. The ruling sought responses to several questions on this issue. See Attachment E for a list of the questions.

On May 31, 2007, the Commission received comments from DisabRA, Pacificorp, PG&E, SDG&E/SoCalGas, Sierra Pacific Power Company, SCE, SWGas, and A WISH.⁵⁴

The filed comments and the discussion at the workshop went beyond topics that related to AB 2140 compliance. We confine our discussion below to AB 2140 implementation and compliance with its requirements.

Background. The estimates provided by the utilities of master-metered tenants served, sub-metered tenants eligible for CARE, and sub-metered tenants currently enrolled in CARE, are provided below.

Utility	Total master-metered tenants served	Sub-metered tenants eligible for CARE	Sub-metered tenants currently enrolled in CARE
Pacificorp	16 accounts with 314 tenants	108 tenants	13 tenants
PG&E	188,367 total tenants	Total: 54,758 tenants	Electric: 23,402 tenants Gas: 21,271 tenants Total: 44,673 tenants
SCE	1,890 service accounts with 121,510 sub-metered units	38,817 tenants	19,389 tenants
SDG&E/SoCalGas	SDG&E: 806 accounts with 70,163 tenants SoCalGas: 1,826 accounts with 144,632 tenants	SDG&E: 19,588 tenants SoCalGas: 48,090 tenants	SDG&E: 17,642 tenants SoCalGas: 32,927 tenants
Sierra Pacific	42 accounts with 870 tenants	90 tenants	70 tenants
Southwest Gas	59 sub-metered accounts with 3,112 tenants	998 tenants	825 tenants

Utilities describe generally similar practices for giving CARE discounts to master-metered customers. In order to receive a CARE discount, a tenant must complete a CARE application and return it to the utility serving the tenant's building manager/owner, who is the customer of record. The utility then bills the building manager/owner. The tenant who is enrolled in the CARE program, however, is entitled to the full discount.

Utility Compliance with AB 2140

For the most part, utilities report that they have either already implemented the changes required by AB 2140 or are in the process of implementing them. We address each of three AB 2140 requirements below:

1. Developing processes whereby electrical corporation and gas corporations are able to directly accept CARE applications from tenants of a mobilehome park, apartment building, or similar residential complex.

The utilities either already accept CARE applications from tenants directly or, in the case of SWGas, are in the process of doing so. Their comments state their plans to send annual notices to master-metered account holders (referred to as "customers") containing a list of CARE-approved tenants along with blank applications for all tenants. SDG&E/SoCalGas also notes its intent to begin direct mailing to non-participating sub-metered tenants.

2. Developing processes whereby electrical corporations and gas corporations are able to directly notify and provide renewal applications to tenants of a mobilehome park, apartment building, or similar residential complex, that are existing CARE customers.

The utilities also state their plans to contact tenants directly who receive the CARE discount to provide them with renewal applications. PG&E and Sierra Pacific already do this. SCE and SDG&E/SoCalGas state their intent to mail renewal applications to sub-metered tenants who are enrolled in CARE.

3. Developing processes whereby each electrical corporation and gas corporation is required to provide each master-meter customer that is subject to Section 739.5 with a list of tenants who are approved to receive discounts pursuant to the CARE program. The list shall specifically identify those tenants added to or deleted from CARE program eligibility since the previous billing cycle.

The utilities state they already provide or plan to provide lists of tenants who receive the discount to master meter customers. SCE expresses its intent to send monthly notices. PG&E sends customers a list every six weeks. Sierra Pacific and SDG&E/SoCalGas include the list with monthly billing statements. Pacificorp provides customers with the names of enrolled tenants whenever a new tenant signs up for CARE, and SWGas provides customers with a list annually and notifies them sooner of new enrollments.

Discussion. The utilities state they have either already implemented the requirements of AB 2140 or have plans to do so in the near future. No party submitted comments arguing to the contrary. However, not all utilities offering CARE discounts provided comments and those who did had not in all cases fully complied with the statute at the time by the date their comments were filed. AB 2140 requires compliance with its provisions by December 31, 2007.

In order to assure all energy utilities offering CARE services conform their practices and processes to the requirements of AB 2140, we will direct each utility to file affidavits in this proceeding describing their compliance. Each utility should file its affidavit with the Commission no later than January 15, 2008. If we find at that time that any utility subject to AB 2140 has not complied with the law, we will take appropriate action to assure compliance.

Although most utilities are in compliance with the narrow terms of AB2140, the law suggests a broader goal of improving the customer services to sub-metered tenants enrolled in the CARE program. The Commission recognizes each utility's effort and approach to contact and enroll sub-metered customers into the CARE program. However, there are customer service issues that should be addressed in order to improve sub-metered tenants enrollment in the CARE program.

The parties comment that sub-metered tenants may experience difficulty with customer service once the customer is enrolled in the program. Such difficulties include obtaining information from the utility company confirming the sub-metered customer's enrollment in the CARE program, and whether the discount has been passed to the sub-metered tenant. For purposes of billing, the "master-meter" is considered the customer of record for the utilities and this information may not be provided to the sub-metered tenant. Under AB 2140, the utility companies should develop a process to notify submetered tenants and provide them with renewal applications. In the event the customer may have clarification questions about verification of the discount being applied on its bill or re-enrollment, the customer may be denied any information for not being the actual "customer" of record. The Commission encourages utilities to speak directly to the customers to verify their enrollment in the CARE program and assist the customer in any analysis if the discount has been passed to the sub-metered billing statement. Some utilities already provide this service if a copy of the bill is provided to the utility company. Verification of the customer's discount is important to ensure that customer service is provided equitably to all enrolled CARE customers. Therefore, the Commission encourages all utilities to provide this verification to its sub-metered customers.

The Commission recognizes that it is not the utilities' responsibility to enforce the discount to the sub-metered customer once the utility has verified that the discount has not been passed to the sub-metered tenant. Pursuant to Pub. Util. Code § 739.5 and California Civil Code Section 798.43.1, the master meter customer must provide all discount and utility notices and communication to the sub-metered tenant. However, the Commission also recognizes the key role of the utility in cooperating with other agencies to enforce this code. County Offices of Weights and Measures⁵⁵ appear to have authority to enforce portions of Section 739 that require landlords to provide discounts to their tenants. Each Office of Weights and Measures may notify the master meter account holder of possible enfractions, and refer enforcement problems to the local District Attorney. The Commission's Consumer Affairs Branch (CAB) also can assist by encouraging compliance by master meter customers. CAB takes complaints from customers and communicates directly with the master meter account holders, notifying them of their noncompliance. The utility may also notify the master meter customer that it is not in compliance with the utility's tariffs. The Commission encourages the utilities to coordinate with these entities to resolve tenant complaints and promote enforcement of Section 739.

⁵³ Chapter 738, September 29, 2006. AB 2140 is repealed on January 1, 2008.

⁵⁴ Unless otherwise noted, all parties' responses refer to comments filed in response to the ALJ's May 22, 2007 ruling.

⁵⁵ Each county in California has an Office of Weights and Measures (also known as Department of Agriculture or Agricultural Commissioner - this varies from county to county) that has jurisdiction over any commodity that is weighed, measured, or counted, including gasoline and food.