ARTICLE 3. Other Public Utilities [431. - 435.]

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC 3.

in effect

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 431. Section 431.

(a) The commission shall annually determine a fee to be paid by every electrical, gas, telephone, telegraph, water, sewer system, and heat corporation and every other public utility providing service directly to customers or subscribers and subject to the jurisdiction of the commission other than a railroad, except as otherwise provided in Article 2 (commencing with Section 421). (b) The annual fee shall be established to produce a total amount equal to that amount established in the authorized commission budget for the same year, including adjustments for increases in employee compensation, other increases appropriated by the Legislature, and an appropriate reserve to regulate public utilities less the amount to be paid from special accounts or funds pursuant to Section 402, reimbursements, federal funds, and any other revenues, and the amount of unencumbered funds from the preceding year. (c) This article shall not apply to any electrical cooperative as defined in Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 2776) of Part 2. (d) On and after January 1, 1985, this article shall apply to radiotelephone utilities as defined in Section 4902 as those provisions read on December 31, 1984. (e) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 432. Section 432.

The commission shall establish the fee pursuant to Section 431 with the approval of the Department of Finance and in accordance with all of the following: (a) In its annual budget request, the commission shall specify both of the following: (1) The amount of its budget to be financed by the fee. (2) The dollar allocation of the amount of its budget shall be financed by the fee by each class of public utility subject to the fee. The fee allocation among classes of public utilities shall reflect expenditures by the commission on regulatory and other authorized activities affecting each respective class, and shall bear the same ratio that the commission’s workload for each class of public utility subject to the fee bears to the commission’s total workload for all public utilities subject to the fee. (b) The commission may establish different and distinct methods of assessing fees for each class of public utility, if the revenues collected are consistent with paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), except that the commission shall establish a uniform charge per kilowatt hour for sales in kilowatt hours for the class of electrical corporations and a uniform charge per therm for sales in therms for the class of gas corporations. (c) Within each class of public utility subject to the fee, the commission shall allocate among the members of the class the amount of its budget to be financed by the fee using the following methods: (1) For electrical corporations, the ratio that each corporation’s sales in kilowatt hours bears to the total sales in kilowatt hours for the class. (2) For gas corporations, the ratio that each corporation’s sales in therms bears to the total sales in therms for the class. (3) For telephone and telegraph corporations, the ratio that each corporation’s gross intrastate revenues bears to the total gross intrastate revenues for the class. If the commission determines that there is a need for consultants or advisory services to assist in determining the reasonableness of capital expenditures for a telephone corporation, the commission may adjust the fees within the class so that the expenses for the consultants and advisory services are fully allocated to that telephone corporation. (4) For water and sewer system corporations, the ratio that each corporation’s gross intrastate revenues bears to the total gross intrastate revenues for the class. (5) For all other public utilities, an appropriate measurement methodology determined by the commission. (d) Every public utility belonging to more than one class shall be subject to the fee for each class of which it is a member. (e) For every public utility with annual gross intrastate revenues of seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) or less, the commission shall annually establish uniform fees to be paid by each such public utility, if the revenues collected thereby are consistent with paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) and subdivision (c).

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 433. Section 433.

Except as provided in Section 404, every public utility subject to Section 431 shall make payment of the required fee in accordance with the following schedule: (a) Every public utility with annual gross intrastate revenues of seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) or less shall make payment of the fee to the commission on an annual basis on or before January 15. (b) Every other public utility not subject to subdivision (a) shall make payment of the fee to the commission on a quarterly basis between the first and 15th days of July, October, January, and April.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 434. Section 434.

(a) The commission may require every public utility subject to this article to furnish information and reports to the commission, at the time or times it specifies, to enable it to make the allocations pursuant to Section 432. (b) Any public utility required to submit information and reports under this article may, in lieu thereof, submit information or reports made to any other governmental agency if all of the following are met: (1) The alternate information or reports contain all of the information required by the commission. (2) The requirements to which the alternate reports or information are responsive are clearly identified. (3) The information or reports are certified by the public utility to be true and correct.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 435. Section 435.

As used in this article: (a) “Class” means a group of public utilities as specified by the commission for purposes of establishing fees pursuant to this article. The commission shall create separate classes for the following: electrical corporations, gas corporations, heat corporations, water corporations, sewer system corporations, and telephone and telegraph corporations. (b) “Fee” means that monetary amount determined in accordance with this article. (c) “Gross intrastate revenues” means those revenues from a public utility subject to the jurisdiction of the commission and accounted for according to the uniform system of accounts maintained by the commission. For purposes of this article, the amount of gross intrastate revenues of a public utility subject to the jurisdiction of the commission shall be the gross intrastate operating revenues set forth in the annual report of the public utility to the commission. (d) “Sales in kilowatt hours” means sales in kilowatt hours, subject to the jurisdiction of the commission, for service directly to customers and subscribers of each electrical corporation, and shall not include interdepartmental sales or transfers and sales to other privately owned or publicly owned public utilities furnishing electricity. (e) “Sales in therms” means deliveries of gas in therms, without regard to ownership of the gas, subject to the jurisdiction of the commission, directly to customers and subscribers of each gas corporation, except interdepartmental sales or transfers and sales to other privately owned or publicly owned public utilities furnishing electricity, gas, or heat.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026