SECTIONS 1-22 - California Statutes

PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE

SECTION 1-22

1. This act shall be known as the Public Utilities Code.

2. The provisions of this code, insofar as they are substantially
the same as existing statutory provisions relating to the same
subject matter, shall be construed as restatements and continuations
thereof, and not as new enactments.

4. No action or proceeding commenced before this code takes effect,
and no right accrued, is affected by this code, but all procedure
thereafter taken therein shall conform to the provisions of this code
so far as possible.

5. Unless the provision or the context otherwise requires, the
definitions, rules of construction, and other general provisions
contained in Sections 1 to 22, inclusive, and the definitions in the
Public Utilities Act (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 201) of Part
1 of Division 1), shall govern the construction of this code.

6. Division, part, chapter, article, and section headings do not in
any manner affect the scope, meaning, or intent of the provisions of
this code.

7. Whenever a power is granted to, or a duty is imposed upon, a
public officer, the power may be exercised or the duty may be
performed by a deputy of the officer or by a person authorized,
pursuant to law, by the officer, unless this code expressly provides
otherwise.

8. Writing includes any form of recorded message capable of
comprehension by ordinary visual means. Whenever any notice, report,
statement, petition, or record is required or authorized by this
code, it shall be made in writing in the English language unless it
is expressly provided otherwise.
Wherever any notice or other communication is required by this
code to be mailed by registered mail by or to any person or
corporation, the mailing of such notice or other communication by
certified mail shall be deemed to be a sufficient compliance with the
requirements of law.

9. Whenever reference is made to any portion of this code or of any
other law of this State, the reference applies to all amendments and
additions heretofore or hereafter made.

10. "Section" means a section of this code unless some other
statute is specifically mentioned. "Subdivision" means a subdivision
of the section in which that term occurs unless some other section is
expressly mentioned.

11. The present tense includes the past and future tenses, and the
future, the present.

12. The masculine gender includes the feminine and the neuter.

13. The singular number includes the plural, and the plural, the
singular.

14. "Shall" is mandatory and "may" is permissive.

15. "Oath" includes affirmation.

16. "Signature" or "subscription" includes mark when the signer or
subscriber cannot write, such signer's or subscriber's name being
written near the mark by a witness who writes his own name near the
signer's or subscriber's name; but a signature or subscription by
mark can be acknowledged or can serve as a signature or subscription
to a sworn statement only when two witnesses so sign their own names
thereto.

17. "State" means the State of California, unless applied to the
different parts of the United States. In the latter case, it includes
the District of Columbia and the territories.

18. "County" includes city and county.

19. "City" includes city and county and "incorporated town," but
does not include "unincorporated town" or "village."

20. (a) "Commission" means the Public Utilities Commission created
by Section 1 of Article XII of the California Constitution, and
"commissioner" means a member of the commission.
(b) "Energy Commission" means the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission.

20.5. For the purposes of this code, "recycled water" or "reclaimed
water" has the same meaning as recycled water as defined in
subdivision (n) of Section 13050 of the Water Code.

21. If any provision of this code, or the application thereof to
any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of the
code, or the application of such provision to other persons or
circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

22. No corporation formed or existing before 12 o'clock m. of
January 1, 1873, is affected by the provisions of Division 4 of this
code unless the corporation has elected to continue its existence
under the provisions of the Civil Code repealed by this code, or
elects to continue its existence under this code, but the laws under
which such corporations were formed and exist continue to apply to
all such corporations, notwithstanding their repeal by this code or
prior to its enactment.