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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
Signed by the Governor
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 State Forester for review and approval. (Sec. 3)
3. Allows the power entity or electric utility to use the submission as an update to the last approved Plan. (Sec. 1 and 3)
5. Directs an electric utility to submit the Plan to the State Forester by May 1, 2026 and every even-numbered year thereafter. (Sec. 3)
6. 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. (Sec. 3)
7. Instructs the governing body 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)
8. States that the Plan is deemed approved by the governing body during the pendency of any judicial action that seeks review of the governing body's approval or rejection of the Plan or any portion of the Plan. (Sec. 1)
9. Requires a power entity to submit the approved Plan to the State Forester for further review and approval as outlined. (Sec. 1)
10. Allows a power entity with fewer than 40,000 meters in Arizona as of January 1, 2025 to prepare and submit a Plan for review and approval to both the power entity's governing body and the State Forester. (Sec. 1)
11. States that laws relating to wildfire mitigation plan do not apply if the power entity with fewer than 40,000 meters in Arizona as of January 1, 2025 does not submit a Plan for review and approval to the power entity's governing body and the State Forester. (Sec. 1)
12. Allows an electric utility that is an electric cooperative with fewer than 40,000 meters or with 40,000 or more meters in Arizona as of January 1, 2025 to prepare and submit a Plan for review and approval to the State Forester. (Sec. 3)
13. States that laws relating to wildfire mitigation plan do not apply if an electric utility that is an electric cooperative does not submit a Plan for review and approval to the State Forester. (Sec. 3)
State Forester
14. Instructs the State Forester to review the submitted Plan to ensure it:
a) complies with laws relating to wildfire mitigation planning and any other applicable rules;
b) is reasonable considering the power entity's or electric utility's size and resources;
c) is in the public interest;
d) meets the Plans requirements; and
e) is designed to meet the specific conditions and risk of the power entity's or electric utility's service area. (Sec. 2)
15. Requires the State Forester to provide public notice and comment on a submitted Plan. (Sec. 2)
16. Instructs the State Forester to publish the notice on the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management (ADFFM) website and in the Arizona Administrative Register. (Sec. 2)
17. Requires the State Forester, within 14 days after receiving a submitted Plan, to:
a) identify the counties, cities and towns located within the geographic region as described in the power entity's or electric utility's Plan;
b) establish the time period and instructions for the affected counties, cities and towns to provide public comment; and
c) Provide the outlined information to the power entity or electric utility. (Sec. 2)
18. Instructs the power entity or electric utility, within 10 days after receipt of the information, to provide notice to the identified counties, cities and towns of the opportunity to provide comment on the Plan. (Sec. 2)
19. Directs the State Forester, within 45 days after receipt of any Plan, to hold a public meeting to solicit comments on any proposed Plan. (Sec. 2)
20. Requires the State Forester to provide for remote attendance at the public meeting using telephonic or video conferencing. (Sec. 2)
21. Allows the State Forester to request additional information or modification to the submitted Plan within 120 days after the initial receipt of the Plan by providing written notice to the power entity or electric utility. (Sec. 2)
22. States that the Plan is deemed administratively approved after 120 days if the State Forester does not request additional information or modification to the Plan. (Sec. 2)
23. Requires the power entity or electric utility, within 90 days after receipt of the notice, to respond to the State Forester's request for information and, if necessary, revise the Plan. (Sec. 2)
24. Instructs the State Forester, within 60 days after receipt of the responses or a revised Plan, whichever is later, to consider the approval or denial of the Plan. (Sec. 2)
25. States that if the State Forester does not request further additional information or a modification to the Plan, the Plan is deemed administratively approved after 60 days. (Sec. 2)
26. States that the Plan is deemed approved during the pendency of any judicial action that seeks review of the State Forester's approval or denial of the Plan or any portion of the Plan. (Sec. 2)
27. 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) the procedures, standards and time frames 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) the key individuals or position titles of those persons who are responsible for implementing the Plan;
d) the procedures for deenergizing power lines and disabling reclosers to mitigate potential wildfires or provide a public safety power shut off plan;
e) the procedures, standards and time frames that the power entity or electric utility will use to carry out vegetation management;
f) community outreach and public awareness efforts;
g) potential participation, if applicable, with state or local wildfire protection efforts; and
h) how the power entity or electric utility will monitor compliance with the Plan. (Sec. 2)
28. States the Plan must include 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. 2)
29. 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. 2)
30. Requires referenced material to be included as attachments to the Plan submission. (Sec. 2)
31. States that during the pendency of any review and approval process by the State Forester, any Plan previously approved by the State Forester remains approved and in effect. (Sec. 2)
32. Allows the State Forester to adopt rules to implement this legislation. (Sec. 2)
33. States that any action by the State Forester and any comments on the Plan provided by any county, city, town or governmental entity are the exercise of an administrative function involving the determination of fundamental governmental policy. (Sec. 2)
34. Allows the State Forester to charge reasonable fees to power entities an electric utilities for the review and approval of Plans. (Sec. 2)
35. States the State Forester, in establishing the fees, may consider factors such as the time and materials necessary to review the Plans with consideration given to the relative size, resources and service territory complexity of the power entity or electric utility submitting a Plan. (Sec. 2)
Cause of Action
36. States that laws relating to wildfire mitigation planning does not establish a new cause of action. (Sec. 1 and 3)
37. 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 3)
38. 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 3)
39. 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 3)
40. 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 3)
Liability for Causing Wildfires
43. States that a party that asserts a cause of action must prove that a failure to comply with the approved Plan was a proximate cause of any loss, injury or other harm alleged. (Sec. 1 and 3)
44. Asserts that a power entity or electric utility that engages in wilful, intentional or reckless misconduct that causes a wildfire is deemed to not meet the standards of care for a reasonably prudent power entity. (Sec. 1 and 3)
45. Stipulates that a failure to comply with an approved Plan does not constitute negligence per se. (Sec. 1 and 3)
46. 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 3)
47. Exempts a power entity or electric utility from being apportioned any proportion of 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 3)
48. Prohibits a claim for condemnation or inverse condemnation from existing against a power entity or electric utility related to wildfires. (Sec. 1 and 3)
49. 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. (Sec. 3)
50. 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 3)
51. Exempts ADFFM from rulemaking requirements for one year after the general effective date. (Sec. 4)
52. Defines pertinent terms. (Sec. 1, 2 and 3)
53.
54.
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56. HB 2201
57. Initials BSR Page 0 Signed by the Governor
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