SECTIONS 1821-1822 - California Statutes

PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE

SECTION 1821-1822

1821. As used in this article, the following definitions apply:
(a) "Computer model" means a computer program.
(b) "Operations model" means a computer model that replicates,
lists, describes, or forecasts a public utility's internal functions,
including, but not limited to, its accounting procedures, cash
management procedures, personnel assignments and procedures, and
inventory control.
(c) "Planning model" means a computer model that replicates,
lists, describes, or forecasts a public utility's complex functions,
including, but not limited to, the forecasting of future loads and
resources, calculating costs of electricity generation, producing
financial statements, and calculating costs of natural gas production
or supply.
(d) "Public utility" includes every public utility and every
business which is a commission regulated subsidiary or commission
regulated affiliate of a public utility. "Public utility" does not
include a common carrier or a telephone corporation whose service is
determined to be competitive by the commission.
(e) "Verify" means to assess the extent to which the computer
model mimics reality.

1822. (a) Any computer model that is the basis for any testimony or
exhibit in a hearing or proceeding before the commission shall be
available to, and subject to verification by, the commission and
parties to the hearing or proceedings to the extent necessary for
cross-examination or rebuttal, subject to applicable rules of
evidence, except that verification is not required for any
electricity demand model or forecast prepared by the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission pursuant to Section
25309 or 25402.1 of the Public Resources Code and approved and
adopted after a hearing during which testimony was offered subject to
cross-examination. The commission shall afford each of these
electricity demand models or forecasts the evidentiary weight it
determines appropriate. Nothing in this subdivision requires the
State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to
approve or adopt any electricity demand model or forecast.
(b) Any testimony presented in a hearing or proceeding before the
commission that is based in whole, or in part, on a computer model
shall include a listing of all the equations and assumptions built
into the model.
(c) Any data base that is used for any testimony or exhibit in a
hearing or proceeding before the commission shall be reasonably
accessible to the commission staff and parties to the hearing or
proceeding to the extent necessary for cross-examination or rebuttal,
subject to applicable rules of evidence, as applied in commission
proceedings.
(d) The commission shall adopt rules and procedures to meet the
requirements specified in subdivisions (a), (b), and (c). These rules
shall include procedural safeguards that protect data bases and
models not owned by the public utility.
(e) The commission shall establish appropriate procedures for
determining the appropriate level of compensation for a party's
access.
(f) Each party shall have access to the computer programs and
models of each other party to the extent provided by Section 1822.
The commission shall not require a utility to provide a remote
terminal or other direct physical link to the computer systems of a
utility to a third party.
(g) The commission shall verify, validate, and review the computer
models of any electric corporation that are used for the purpose of
planning, operating, constructing, or maintaining the corporation's
electricity transmission system, and that are the basis for testimony
and exhibits in hearings and proceedings before the commission.
(h) The transmission computer models shall be available to, and
subject to verification by, each party to a commission proceeding in
accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 1822, and regulations
adopted pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 1822.