SECTIONS 581-588 - California Statutes

PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE

SECTION 581-588

581. Every public utility shall furnish to the commission in such
form and detail as the commission prescribes all tabulations,
computations, and all other information required by it to carry into
effect any of the provisions of this part, and shall make specific
answers to all questions submitted by the commission.
Every public utility receiving from the commission any blanks with
directions to fill them shall answer fully and correctly each
question propounded therein, and if it is unable to answer any
question, it shall give a good and sufficient reason for such
failure.

582. Whenever required by the commission, every public utility
shall deliver to the commission copies of any or all maps, profiles,
contracts, agreements, franchises, reports, books, accounts, papers,
and records in its possession or in any way relating to its property
or affecting its business, and also a complete inventory of all its
property in such form as the commission may direct.

583. No information furnished to the commission by a public
utility, or any business which is a subsidiary or affiliate of a
public utility, or a corporation which holds a controlling interest
in a public utility, except those matters specifically required to be
open to public inspection by this part, shall be open to public
inspection or made public except on order of the commission, or by
the commission or a commissioner in the course of a hearing or
proceeding. Any present or former officer or employee of the
commission who divulges any such information is guilty of a
misdemeanor.

584. Every public utility shall furnish such reports to the
commission at such time and in such form as the commission may
require in which the utility shall specifically answer all questions
propounded by the commission. The commission may require any public
utility to file monthly reports of earnings and expenses, and to file
periodical or special reports, or both, concerning any matter about
which the commission is authorized by any law to inquire or to keep
itself informed, or which it is required to enforce. All reports
shall be under oath when required by the commission.

585. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (d), every public
utility and business specified in subdivision (b) shall in any rate
proceeding or proceeding establishing a fact or rule that may
influence a rate, provide the commission with access to all computer
models, as defined in Section 1821, which are used by that public
utility or business to substantiate their showing in the proceeding.
(b) The commission shall, by rule or order, with full opportunity
for participation by utilities and other affected parties, establish
procedures and safeguards governing its access to, and monitoring,
verification, and use of, computer models of every public utility and
of any business which is a commission regulated subsidiary or
affiliate of a public utility with respect to any rate proceeding or
proceeding establishing a fact or rule that may influence a rate. The
time, place, and manner of commission access shall, to the extent
practicable, be the subject of mutual agreement between the
commission and the affected utility, and the parties shall make every
good faith effort to reach agreement. If an agreement is reached, it
shall include, but is not limited to, provisions to reasonably
assure the legitimate needs for security of the public utilities'
computer resources. These provisions shall provide for the
confidentiality of records, the protection of proprietary
information, and the protection of the reasonable expectation of
customers of public utilities in the privacy of customer-specific
records maintained by the utility. If no agreement is reached, any
order issued by the commission requiring computer access shall
include, but is not limited to, provisions providing for the security
of the utility's data bases, confidentiality of records, protection
of proprietary information, and the privacy of customer-specific
records maintained by the utility. The commission shall convene a
proceeding to adopt these rules as soon as possible after the
operative date of the act adding this section to the code.
(c) This section shall not expand or limit any powers of the
commission to prescribe the manner of keeping books, records, and
systems of accounts of public utilities and to investigate any of
these books, records, systems of accounts, or memoranda under
existing law, or any other power of the commission under existing
law. Any utility may object to a rule or order of the commission
concerning the access prescribed herein under the rules of procedure
of the commission consistent with existing law.
(d) This section does not apply to common carriers.

587. Every electrical, gas, and telephone corporation shall
annually prepare and submit to the commission a report describing all
significant transactions, as specified by the commission, between
the corporation and every subsidiary or affiliate of, or corporation
holding a controlling interest in, the electrical, gas, or telephone
corporation. The report shall identify the nature of the transactions
and the terms and conditions applying to them, including, but not
limited to, the basis upon which cost allocations and transfer
pricing were established for the transactions.

588. (a) Notwithstanding any regulation, tariff, opinion, or
interim opinion of the Public Utilities Commission, or any other
provision of law, an inspector or investigator, as defined in Section
830.1 of the Penal Code, who is employed in the office of a district
attorney may request and shall receive from telephone, gas, and
electric public utilities customer information limited to the full
name, date of birth, social security number, address, prior address,
forwarding address, place of employment, and date of service
instituted, terminated, or suspended by, utility customers to the
extent the information is stored within the utility records and
computer data bases. However, in no case shall information be
released disclosing customer usage of the services provided by the
utility without a court order or subpoena.
(b) In order to protect the privacy interest of utility customers,
a request to a public utility for customer information pursuant to
this section shall meet the following requirements:
(1) The requested information is relevant and material to an
investigation pursuant to Sections 3130, 3131, 3132, 3133, and 3134
of the Family Code concerning the kidnapping, abduction, concealment,
detention, or retention of a minor child and that the inspector or
investigator requesting the information has a reasonable, good faith
belief that the utility customer information is needed to assist the
inspector or investigator in the location or recovery of a minor
child or abductor, coconspirator or aider and abettor of the
continuing crime of child abduction or concealment.
(2) Only inspectors and investigators as defined in Section 830.1
of the Penal Code, who are employed in the office of a district
attorney whose names have been submitted to the utility in writing by
a district attorney's office, may request and receive customer and
customer service information pursuant to this section. Each district
attorney's office shall ensure that each public utility has at all
times a current list of the names of inspectors and investigators
authorized to request and receive customer and customer service
information. Each district attorney's office shall immediately notify
the utility in writing and withdraw the names of inspectors and
investigators from the authorized list who no longer have a need for
the access.
(3) This section does not authorize inspectors and investigators
to obtain any utility customer information, other than that
authorized by this section, without proper service of process as
required by law.
(4) The district attorney's office requesting and receiving
utility information shall ensure its confidentiality. At no time
shall any information obtained pursuant to this section be disclosed
or used for any purpose other than to assist in the location or
recovery of a person or persons specified in paragraph (1).
(5) The inspector or investigator requesting utility information
authorized for release by this section shall make a record on a form
created and maintained by the district attorney's office, which shall
include the name of the utility customer about whom the inquiry was
made, the name of the inspector or investigator making the inquiry,
the date of inquiry, the name of the utility, the utility employee to
whom the request was made, and the information that was requested
and received.
(6) The inspector or investigator requesting information pursuant
to this section shall prepare and sign, under penalty of perjury, a
written affidavit of probable cause, which shall be contained on a
form created by the Attorney General's office in consultation with
telephone, gas, and electric utilities. The form shall be retained by
the utility for a period of one year and shall contain a statement
of all the facts known to the inspector or investigator that support
the existence of all of the requirements of this section. The
affidavit shall also contain a statement of exigent circumstances,
explaining why the inspector or investigator could not seek and
obtain a search warrant, court order, or other court process for the
production of the information sought.
(c) No public utility, or official or employee thereof, shall be
subject to criminal or civil liability for the release of customer
information in reasonable reliance on an affidavit appearing on its
face to be valid, and which was submitted by a person whose name
appears on the current authorization list, as required in paragraph
(2) of subdivision (b). However, any person who willfully violates
any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor, pursuant to
Section 2112.5.
(d) The utility receiving the request for customer information may
charge the requesting district attorney's office a reasonable fee
for the search and release of the requested information and for the
storage of the required forms.