Section 455.5 Of Article 1. Rates From California Public Utilities Code >> Division 1. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 3. >> Article 1.
455.5
. (a) In establishing rates for any electrical, gas, heat, or
water corporation, the commission may eliminate consideration of the
value of any portion of any electric, gas, heat, or water generation
or production facility which, after having been placed in service,
remains out of service for nine or more consecutive months, and may
disallow any expenses related to that facility. Upon eliminating
consideration of any portion of a facility or disallowing any
expenses related thereto under this section, the commission shall
reduce the rates of the corporation accordingly and shall, for
accounting purposes, record the value of that portion of the facility
in a deferred debit account and shall treat this amount similar to
the treatment of the allowance for funds used during construction.
When that portion of the facility is returned to useful service, as
provided in subdivision (c), the corporation may apply to the
commission for the inclusion of its value and expenses related to its
operation for purposes of the establishment of the corporation's
rates.
(b) Every electrical, gas, heat, and water corporation shall
periodically, as required by the commission, report to the commission
on the status of any portion of any electric, gas, heat, or water
generation or production facility which is out of service and shall
immediately notify the commission when any portion of the facility
has been out of service for nine consecutive months.
(c) Within 45 days of receiving the notification specified in
subdivision (b), the commission shall institute an investigation to
determine whether to reduce the rates of the corporation to reflect
the portion of the electric, gas, heat, or water generation or
production facility which is out of service. For purposes of this
subdivision, out-of-service periods shall not include planned outages
of predetermined duration scheduled in advance.
The commission's order shall require that rates associated with
that facility are subject to refund from the date the order
instituting the investigation was issued. The commission shall
consolidate the hearing on the investigation with the next general
rate proceeding instituted for the corporation.
(d) Upon being informed by the corporation that any portion of its
electric, gas, heat, or water generation or production facility
which was eliminated from consideration by the commission in
establishing rates for being out of service for nine or more
consecutive months pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), has been
restored to service and has achieved at least 100 continuous hours of
operation, the commission may again consider that portion of the
facility for purposes of establishing rates, and may adjust the
corporation's rates accordingly without a hearing, except that a
hearing is required on whether to include, for purposes of
establishing rates, any additional plant value added.
(e) Nothing in this section prohibits the commission from
reviewing the effects of any electric, gas, heat, or water generation
or production facility which has been out of service for less than
nine consecutive months or planned outages of predetermined duration
scheduled in advance.
(f) For purposes of this section, an electric, gas, heat, or water
generation or production facility includes only such a facility that
the commission determines to be a major facility of the corporation,
and does not include any facility determined by the commission to
constitute a plant held for future use.