2007 California Public Utilities Code Article 14. Disclosure Of Sources Of Electrical Generation 398.1-398.5

CA Codes (puc:398.1-398.5)

398.1.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares that there is a need
for reliable, accurate, and timely information regarding fuel sources
for electric generation offered for retail sale in California.
   (b) The purpose of this article is to establish a program under
which entities offering electric services in California disclose
accurate, reliable, and simple to understand information on the
sources of energy that are used to provide electric services.



398.2.  The definitions set forth in this section shall govern the
construction of this article.
   (a) "System operator" means the Independent System Operator with
responsibility for the efficient use and reliable operation of the
transmission grid, as provided by Section 345, or a local publicly
owned electric utility that does not utilize the Independent System
Operator.
   (b) "Specific purchases" means electricity transactions which are
traceable to specific generation sources by any auditable contract
trail or equivalent, such as a tradable commodity system, that
provides commercial verification that the electricity source claimed
has been sold once and only once to a retail consumer.  Retail
suppliers may rely on annual data to meet this requirement, rather
than hour-by-hour matching of loads and resources.
   (c) "Net system power" means the mix of electricity fuel source
types established by the California Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission representing the sources of electricity
consumed in California that are not disclosed as specific purchases
pursuant to Section 398.4.



398.3.  (a) Beginning January 1, 1998, or as soon as practicable
thereafter, each generator that provides meter data to a system
operator shall report to the system operator electricity generated in
kilowatthours by hour by generator, the fuel type or fuel types and
fuel consumption by fuel type by month on an historical recorded
quarterly basis.  Facilities using only one fuel type may satisfy
this requirement by reporting fuel type only.  With regard to any
facility using more than one fuel type, reports shall reflect the
fuel consumed as a percentage of electricity generation.
   (b) The California Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission shall have authorization to access the electricity
generation data in kilowatthours by hour for each facility that
provides meter data to the system operator, and the fuel type or fuel
types.
   (c) With regard to out-of-state generation, the California Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission shall have
authorization to access the electricity generation data in
kilowatthours by hour at the point at which out-of-state generation
is metered, to the extent the information has been submitted to a
system operator.
   (d) Trade secrets as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 3426.1
of the Civil Code contained in the information provided to the system
operators pursuant to this section shall be treated as confidential.
  These data may be disclosed only by the system operators and only
by authorization of the generator except that the California Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission shall have
authorization to access these data, shall consider all these data to
be trade secrets, and shall only release these data in an aggregated
form such that trade secrets cannot be discerned.



398.4.  (a) Every retail supplier that makes an offering to sell
electricity that is consumed in California shall disclose its
electricity sources.  A retail supplier that does not make any claims
that identify its electricity sources as different than net system
power may disclose net system power.  Every retail supplier that
makes an offering to sell electricity that is consumed in California
and makes any claims that identify any of its electricity sources as
different than net system power shall disclose these sources as
specific purchases.
   (b) The disclosures required by this section shall be made to
potential end-use consumers in all product-specific written
promotional materials that are distributed to consumers by either
printed or electronic means, except that advertisements and notices
in general circulation media shall not be subject to this
requirement.
   (c) The disclosures required by this section shall be made at
least quarterly to end-use consumers of the offered electricity.
   (d) The disclosures required by this section shall be made
separately for each offering made by the retail supplier.
   (e) On or before January 1, 1998, the California Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission shall specify guidelines for
the format and means for disclosure required by Section 398.3 and
this section, based on the requirements of this article and subject
to public hearing.
   (f) The costs of making the disclosures required by this section
shall be considered to be generation-related.
   (g) The disclosures required by this section shall be expressed as
a percentage of annual sales derived from each of the following
categories, unless no specific purchases are disclosed, in which case
only the first category shall be disclosed:
   (1) Net system power.
   (2) Specific purchases.
   (h) (1) Each of the categories specified in subdivision (g) shall
be additionally identified as a percentage of annual sales that is
derived from each fuel type of the categories specified as follows:
   (A) Coal.
   (B) Large hydroelectric (greater than 30 megawatts).
   (C) Natural gas.
   (D) Nuclear.
   (E) Other.
   (F) Eligible renewables, which means renewable resource
technologies defined as electricity produced from other than a
conventional power source within the meaning of Section 2805,
provided that a power source utilizing more than 25 percent fossil
fuel may not be included, shall be additionally identified as a
percentage of annual sales that is derived from each fuel type of the
subcategories specified as follows:
   (i) Biomass and waste.
   (ii) Geothermal.
   (iii) Small hydroelectric (less than or equal to 30 megawatts).
   (iv) Solar.
   (v) Wind.
   (2) The category "Other" shall be used for fuel types other than
those listed above that represent less than 2 percent of net system
power.  The California Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission may specify additional categories or change these
categories, consistent with the requirements of this article and
subject to public hearing, if it determines that the changes will
facilitate the disclosure objectives of this section.
   (i) All electricity sources disclosed as specific purchases shall
meet the requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 398.2.
   (j) Specific purchases identified pursuant to this section shall
be from sources connected to the Western Electricity Coordinating
Council interconnected grid.
   (k) Net system power shall be disclosed for the most recent
calendar year available.  Disclosure of net system power shall be
accompanied by this qualifying note:  "The State of California
determines this net system power mix annually; your actual
electricity purchases may vary."  The California Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission may modify this note,
consistent with the requirements of this article and subject to
public hearing, if it determines that the changes will facilitate the
disclosure objectives of this section.
   (l) For each offering made by a retail supplier for which specific
purchases are disclosed, the retail supplier shall disclose
projected specific purchases for the current calendar year.
Projected specific purchases need not be disclosed by numerical
percentage at the subcategory level identified in subparagraph (F) of
paragraph (1) of subdivision (h).  On or before April 15, 1999, and
annually thereafter, every retail supplier that discloses specific
purchases shall also disclose to its customers, separately for each
offering made by the retail supplier, its actual specific purchases
for the previous calendar year consistent with information provided
to the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission pursuant to Section 398.5.  Disclosure of projected
specific purchases and actual specific purchases shall each be
accompanied by statements identifying whether the data are projected
or actual, as developed by the California Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission, subject to public hearing.
   (m) The provisions of this section shall not apply to generators
providing electric service onsite, under an over-the-fence
transaction as described in Section 218, or to an affiliate or
affiliates, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 372.




398.5.  (a) Retail suppliers that disclose specific purchases
pursuant to Section 398.4 shall report on March 1, 1999, and annually
thereafter, to the California Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission, for each electricity offering, for the
previous calendar year each of the following:
   (1) The kilowatthours purchased, by generator and fuel type during
the previous calendar year, consistent with the meter data,
including losses, reported to the system operator.
   (2) For each electricity offering the kilowatthours sold at
retail.
   (3) For each electricity offering the disclosures made to
consumers pursuant to Section 398.4.
   (b) Information submitted to the California Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission pursuant to this section that
is a trade secret as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 3426.1 of
the Civil Code shall not be released except in an aggregated form
such that trade secrets cannot be discerned.
   (c) On or before January 1, 1998, the California Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission shall specify guidelines and
standard formats, based on the requirements of this article and
subject to public hearing, for the submittal of information pursuant
to this article.
   (d) In developing the rules and procedures specified in this
section, the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission shall seek to minimize the reporting burden and cost of
reporting that it imposes on retail suppliers.
   (e) On or before October 15, 1999, and annually thereafter, the
California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission
shall issue a report comparing information available pursuant to
Section 398.3 with information submitted by retail suppliers pursuant
to this section, and with information disclosed to consumers
pursuant to Section 398.4.  This report shall be forwarded to the
California Public Utilities Commission.
   (f) Beginning April 15, 1999, and annually thereafter, the
California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission
shall issue a report calculating net system power.  The California
Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission will
establish the generation mix for net generation imports delivered at
interface points and metered by the system operators.  The California
Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission shall issue
an initial report calculating preliminary net system power for
calendar year 1997 on or before January 1, 1998.  This report shall
be updated on or before October 15, 1998.
   (g) The provisions of this section shall not apply to generators
providing electric service onsite, under an over-the-fence
transaction as described in Section 218, or to an affiliate or
affiliates, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 372.
   (h) The California Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission may verify the veracity of environmental claims made by
retail suppliers.