California Public Utilities Code 276.5 – (a) The commission shall develop, implement, and maintain a …
(a) The commission shall develop, implement, and maintain a suitable, competitively neutral, and broad-based program to establish a fair and equitable local rate support structure aided by universal service rate support to telephone corporations serving areas where the cost of providing services exceeds rates charged by providers, as determined by the commission. The program shall be known, and may be cited, as the California High-Cost Fund-B Administrative Committee Fund program or CHCF-B program. The purpose of the program shall be to promote the goals of universal telephone service and to reduce any disparity in the rates charged by those companies. Except as otherwise explicitly provided, this subdivision does not limit the manner in which the commission collects and disburses funds, and does not limit the manner in which it may include or exclude the revenue of contributing entities in structuring the program.
(b) The commission shall structure the CHCF-B program so that any charge imposed to promote the goals of universal service reasonably equals the value of the benefits of universal service to contributing entities and their subscribers.
Terms Used In California Public Utilities Code 276.5
- Commission: means the Public Utilities Commission created by §. See California Public Utilities Code 20
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Public Utilities Code 10
(c) The commission shall investigate reducing the level of universal service rate support, or elimination of universal service rate support in service areas with demonstrated competition.
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2028, and as of that date is repealed.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 706, Sec. 2. (SB 857) Effective September 28, 2022. Repealed as of January 1, 2028, by its own provisions.)