Small independent telephone corporations: ratemaking.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations, and can establish its own procedures, subject to statutory limitations or directions and constitutional requirements of due process. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law requires the commission to exercise its regulatory authority to maintain the California High-Cost Fund-A program to provide universal service rate support to small independent telephone corporations, as defined, in amounts sufficient to meet the revenue requirements established by the commission through rate-of-return regulation in furtherance of the state's universal service commitment to the continued affordability and widespread availability of safe, reliable, high-quality communications services in rural areas of the state. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the commission adopt procedures to increase the efficiency of its ratemaking processes for small independent telephone corporations and allow, wherever reasonably possible, a small independent telephone corporation to request adjustments to its revenue requirement or rate design through either an advice letter or an application process. If a rate case is submitted by application by a small independent telephone corporation, the bill would require the parties to that rate case to participate in at least one day of facilitated mediation with a neutral administrative law judge pursuant to the commission's alternative dispute resolution program. The bill would require a moving party, before filing a motion in a small independent telephone corporation's rate case, to meet and confer in a good faith effort with all other parties to informally resolve the subject of the motion, and require that all motions include facts demonstrating the moving party's good faith effort to meet and confer before filing the motion. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.