General Provisions of California Public Utilities Code

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.