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ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESFifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session |
House: LARA DPA/SE 5-2-1-1 | 3rd Read 35-25-0-0
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HB
2201: technical correction; electricity; power authority
NOW: wildfire mitigation planning; utilities; approval
Sponsor: Representative Griffin, LD 19
Senate Engrossed
Overview
Outlines requirements, procedures and reporting requirements for a public power entity (power entity) and an electric utility when submitting a wildfire mitigation plan (Plan).
History
In 1944, the Arizona Legislature established the Arizona Power Authority (APA) as a result of the Boulder Canyon Project Act of 1928 that allocated a portion of power produced from the Boulder Canyon Project (Hoover Dam and Power Plant). In order to receive and distribute Arizona's share of hydroelectric power from the Hoover Dam, the APA may acquire or construct and operate electric transmission systems, standby or auxiliary plants and facilities and generate, store, produce, sell at wholesale, transmit and deliver such electric power to qualified purchasers (A.R.S. §§ 30-102 and 30-121).
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) is composed of five elected Commissioners that governs the offer and sale of securities and investments in or from Arizona, licenses investment advisers and their representatives, registers securities dealers and salesman, regulate public utilities, register corporations and limited liability companies and enforce regulations to ensure railroad and pipeline safety.
Provisions
Wildfire Mitigation Plan
1. Requires a power entity to prepare and submit a Plan to the power entity's governing body for review and approval. (Sec. 1)
2. Directs an electric utility to prepare and submit a Plan to the ACC for review and approval. (Sec. 2)
3. Allows the power entity or electric utility to use the submission as an update to the last approved Plan. (Sec. 1 and 2)
5. Directs an electric utility to submit the Plan to the ACC by May 1, 2026 and every even-numbered year thereafter. (Sec. 2)
7. Instructs the governing body or the ACC to review the submitted Plan to ensure it:
a) complies with laws relating to wildfire mitigation planning and all applicable rules and regulations;
b) is reasonable; and
c) is in the public interest. (Sec. 1 and 2)
8. Allows the governing body or the ACC to request additional information or a modification to the submitted Plan within 120 days after receipt of the Plan by providing written notice to the power entity or electric utility. (Sec. 1 and 2)
9. States that the Plan is deemed administratively approved after 120 days if the governing body or the ACC does not request additional information or modification to the Plan. (Sec. 1 and 2)
10. Requires the power entity or electric utility, within 90 days after receipt of the notice, to revise the Plan to address the governing body's or the ACC's request. (Sec. 1 and 2)
11. Instructs the governing body or the ACC to consider, within 60 days, the power entity's or electric utility's response and any proposed additional information or modification to the Plan. (Sec. 1 and 2)
12. Specifies that the Plan is deemed approved during the pendency of any judicial action that seeks review of the governing body's or the ACC's approval or rejection of the Plan or any portion of the Plan. (Sec. 1 and 2)
13. States that within 90 days after receipt of the notice for a power entity or electric utility to revise their Plan, if the governing body or the ACC does not request additional information or modification to the Plan, the Plan is deemed administratively approved after 60 days. (Sec. 1 and 2)
14. Requires the Plan to include a description of:
a) areas within the geographic region where the power entity's or electric utility's facilities may be subject to a heightened risk of wildfire;
b) procedures and standards that the power entity or electric utility will use to inspect and operate the power entity's or electric utility's infrastructure to mitigate the risk of wildfires;
c) key individuals or position titles of those persons who are responsible for implementing the Plan;
d) procedures for deenergizing power lines and disabling reclosers to mitigate potential wildfires or provide a public safety power shut off plan;
e) community outreach and public awareness efforts;
f) potential participation, if applicable, with state or local wildfire protection efforts; and
g) how the power entity or electric utility will monitor compliance with the Plan. (Sec. 1 and 2)
15. States the Plan must include a:
a) plan for vegetation management; and
b) summary of the procedures the power entity or electric utility intends to use to restore the power entity's or electric utility's electrical system in the event of a wildfire. (Sec. 1 and 2)
16. Allows a power entity or electric utility to reference procedures and standards that are not specifically enumerated in the Plan in lieu of the prescribed Plan requirements. (Sec. 1 and 2)
17. Requires referenced material to be included as attachments to the Plan submission. (Sec. 1 and 2)
18. Instructs an electric utility, governed by an elected board, to submit a copy of the Plan to the governing board, instead of the ACC, by May 1, 2026 and every even-numbered year thereafter, unless the governing board orders otherwise, for review and approval. (Sec. 2)
19. States the elected board must replace the role of the ACC for review and approval of the Plan. (Sec. 2)
20. Requires an electric utility to consult with a state or federal land management or fire protection agency that has authority in the electric utility's service territory, as applicable, as to the content of the Plan before submitting the Plan to the elected board. (Sec. 2)
Cause of Action
21. States that laws relating to wildfire mitigation planning does not establish a new cause of action. (Sec. 1 and 2)
22. Asserts that if there is a conflict between statute relating to wildfire mitigation planning as added by this legislation and any other state law, the wildfire mitigation planning statutes control. (Sec. 1 and 2)
23. Asserts that laws relating to wildfire mitigation planning establishes the exclusive means of recovery from a power entity and electric utility for claims or damages that result from wildfires. (Sec. 1 and 2)
24. Prohibits laws relating to wildfire mitigation planning from any additional legal duty that supports any claim that would not otherwise already exist. (Sec. 1 and 2)
25. Requires a parent, subsidiary or other corporate affiliate of the power entity or electric utility that is related to a wildfire to be treated the same as and considered equivalent to a power entity or electric utility in any cause of action against them. (Sec. 1 and 2)
Liability for Causing Wildfires
28. States that a power entity or electric utility that substantially acts in compliance with the approved Plan is deemed to meet the standards of care for a reasonably prudent power entity or electric utility unless there is clear and convincing evidence of wilful intentional or reckless misconduct. (Sec. 1 and 2)
29. Stipulates that a failure to comply with an approved Plan does not constitute negligence per se. (Sec. 1 and 2)
30. Prohibits a power entity's or electric utility's Plan from being admissible as evidence against another power entity or electric utility in a civil action that arose out of a wildfire. (Sec. 1 and 2)
31. Exempts a power entity or electric utility from being apportioned any fault for:
a) the ignition of a wildfire from sources that are outside of the power entity's or electric utility's control, including lightning strikes or actions by third parties; or
b) vegetation or other wildfire risks outside of the power entity's or electric utility's right-of-way, lease or other property rights or areas in which the power entity or electric utility has been delayed in accessing or denied access to for purposes of performing vegetation management. (Sec. 1 and 2)
32. Prohibits a claim for condemnation or inverse condemnation from existing against a power entity or electric utility related to wildfires. (Sec. 1 and 2)
33. States that in an action to recover any damages that result from a wildfire, neither consequential property nor exemplary or punitive bodily injury or property damages must be recovered. (Sec. 1 and 2)
34. Declares, if any wildfire mitigation planning provision or the power entity's or electric utility's application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other wildfire mitigation planning provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application and, to this end, the provisions are severable. (Sec. 1 and 2)
35. Defines pertinent terms. (Sec. 1 and 2)
Senate Amendments
3. Specifies that in any cause of action against a power entity or electric utility that is related to a wildfire, an attachor must be covered by the power entity's or electric utility’s Plan as prescribed.
4. Expands the factors that must be included in a Plan.
7. Establishes requirements, procedures and reporting requirements for the State Forester when reviewing and approving a submitted Plan by a power entity or electric utility.
8. Clarifies that an electric utility must prepare and submit a Plan to the State Forester, rather than the ACC, for review and approval.
9. Modifies requirements and procedures for an electric utility when submitting a Plan to the State Forester.
10. States the approval of a Plan by the State Forester is not considered approval for recovery of the electric utility's costs necessary to implement the Plan through rates for services charged to the electric utility's customers.
11. Allows an electric utility that is an electric cooperative as prescribed to prepare and submit a Plan for review and approval to the State Forester.
13. Stipulates that in an action against an Electric Utility to recover any damages that result from a wildfire, neither exemplary nor punitive damages of any kind may be recovered unless outlined criteria is met.
15. Modifies terms.
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19. HB 2201
20. Initials BSR Page 0 Senate Engrossed
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