(a) The intent of this section is to avoid cost-shifting to customers of an electrical corporation resulting from the transfer of distribution services from an electrical corporation to an irrigation district.

(b) Except as otherwise provided in this section and Section 9608, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, an irrigation district that offered electrical service to retail customers as of January 1, 1999, may not construct, lease, acquire, install, or operate facilities for the distribution or transmission of electricity to retail customers located in the service territory of an electrical corporation providing electrical distribution services, unless the district has first applied for and received the approval of the commission and implements its service consistent with the commission’s order. The commission shall find that service to be in the public interest and shall approve the request of a district to provide distribution or transmission of electricity to retail customers located in the service territory of an electrical corporation providing electrical distribution service if, after notice and hearing, the commission determines all of the following:

(1) The district will provide universal service to all retail customers who request service within the area to be served, at published tariff rates and on a just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory basis, comparable to that provided by the current retail service provider.

(2) If the area the district is proposing to serve is either of the following:

(A) Is within the district’s boundaries but less than the entire district, the area to be served includes a percentage of residential customers and small customers, based on load, comparable to the percentage of residential and small customers in the district, based on load.

(B) Includes territory outside the district’s boundaries, in which case the territory outside the district’s boundaries must include a percentage of residential customers and small customers, based on load, comparable to the percentage of residential and small customers in the county or counties where service is to be provided, based on load.

(3) Service by the district will be consistent with the intent of the state to avoid economic waste caused by duplication of facilities as set forth in Section 8101.

(4) Service by the district will include reasonable mitigation of any adverse effects on the reliability of an existing service by the electrical corporation.

(5) The district has established, funded, and is carrying out public purpose and low-income programs comparable to those provided by the current electric retail service provider.

(6) That district’s tariffed electrical service rates, exclusive of commodity costs, will be at least 15 percent below the tariffed electrical service rates, exclusive of commodity costs and nonbypassable charges under Sections 367, 368, 375, 376, and 379, of the electrical corporation for comparable services.

(7) Service by the district is in the public interest.

(c) An irrigation district that obtains the approval of the commission under this section to serve an area shall prepare an annual report available to the public on the total load and number of accounts of residential, low-income, agricultural, commercial, and industrial customers served by the irrigation district in the approved service area.

(d) The commission shall have jurisdiction to resolve and adjudicate complaint cases brought against an irrigation district that offered electrical service to retail customers as of January 1, 1999, by an interested party where the complaint concerns retail electric service outside the boundaries of the district and within the service territory of an electrical corporation. Nothing in this section grants the commission jurisdiction to adjudicate complaint cases involving retail electrical service by an irrigation district inside its boundaries or inside an irrigation district’s exclusive service territory.

(e) Any project involving electrical transmission or distribution facilities to be constructed or installed by an irrigation district to serve retail customers located in the service territory of an electrical corporation providing electrical distribution services shall comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code). The county in which the construction or installation is to occur shall act as the lead agency. If a project involves the construction or installation of electrical transmission or distribution facilities in more than one county, the county where the majority of the construction is anticipated to occur shall act as the lead agency.

(f) An irrigation district may not offer service to customers outside of its district boundaries before offering service to all customers within its district boundaries.

(g) This section does not apply to electrical distribution service provided by the Modesto Irrigation District to those customers or within those areas described in subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) of Section 9610.

(h) The provisions of this section shall not apply to (1) a cumulative 90 megawatts of load served by the Merced Irrigation District that is located within the boundaries of the district, as those boundaries existed on December 20, 1995, together with the territory of Castle Air Force Base that was located outside the district on that date, or (2) electric load served by the district that was not previously served by an electrical corporation that is located within the boundaries of the district, as those boundaries existed on December 20, 1995, together with the territory of Castle Air Force Base that was located outside the district on that date.

(i) For purposes of this section, a megawatt of load shall be calculated in accordance with the methodology established by the Energy Commission in its Docket No. 96-IRR-1890, but the 90 megawatts shall not include electrical usage by customers that move to the areas described in paragraph (1) after December 31, 2000.

(j) Subdivision (a) of this section shall not apply to the construction, modification, lease, acquisition, installation, or operation of facilities for the distribution or transmission of electricity to customers electrically connected to a district as of December 31, 2000, or to other customers who subsequently locate at the same premises.

(k) In recognition of contractual arrangements and settlements existing as of June 1, 2000, this section does not apply to the acquisition or operation of the electrical distribution facilities that are the subject of the Settlement Agreement dated May 1, 2000, between Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the San Joaquin Irrigation District.

(l) For purposes of this section, retail customers do not include an irrigation district’s own electric load being served at retail by an electrical corporation.

(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 396, Sec. 51. (AB 1513) Effective January 1, 2020.)