(a) For purposes of this section, “telecommunications service” means voice communication provided by a telephone corporation as defined in Section 234, voice communication provided by a provider of satellite telephone services, voice communication provided by a provider of mobile telephony service, as defined in Section 224.4, and voice communication provided by a commercially available facilities-based provider of voice communication services utilizing Voice over Internet Protocol or any successor protocol.

(b) The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall open an investigative or other appropriate proceeding to identify the need for telecommunications service systems not on the customer’s premises to have backup electricity to enable telecommunications networks to function and to enable the customer to contact a public safety answering point operator during an electrical outage, to determine performance criteria for backup systems, and to determine whether the best practices recommended by the Network Reliability and Interoperability Council in December 2005, for backup systems have been implemented by telecommunications service providers operating in California. If the commission determines it is in the public interest, the commission shall, consistent with subdivisions (c) and (d), develop and implement performance reliability standards.

(c) The commission, in developing any standards pursuant to the proceeding required by subdivision (b), shall consider current best practices and technical feasibility for establishing battery backup requirements.

(d) The commission shall not implement standards pursuant to the proceeding required by subdivision (b) unless it determines that the benefits of the standards exceed the costs.

(e) The commission shall determine the feasibility of the use of zero greenhouse gas emission fuel cell systems to replace diesel backup power systems.

(Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 370, Sec. 254. (SB 1371) Effective January 1, 2021.)