(a) A core transport agent shall register with the commission within 90 days after the commission has adopted standards for financial viability, and technical and operational capacity. As a precondition to registration, the core transport agent shall provide, under oath, declaration, or affidavit, all of the following to the commission:

(1) Legal name and any other names under which the core transport agent is doing business in California.

Terms Used In California Public Utilities Code 981

  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
  • Commission: means the Public Utilities Commission created by §. See California Public Utilities Code 20
  • Core transport agent: includes the unregulated affiliates and subsidiaries of a gas corporation. See California Public Utilities Code 980
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. Source: FDIC
  • Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Public Utilities Code 17
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.

(2) Current telephone number.

(3) Current address.

(4) Agent for service of process.

(5) State and date of incorporation, if any.

(6) Number for a customer contact representative, or other personnel for receiving customer inquiries.

(7) Brief description of the nature of the service being provided.

(8) Disclosure of any civil, criminal, or regulatory sanctions or penalties imposed within the 10 years immediately prior to registration, against the company or any owner, partner, officer, or director of the company pursuant to any state or federal consumer protection law or regulation, and of any felony convictions of any kind against the company or any owner, partner, officer, or director of the company. In addition, a core transport agent shall furnish the commission with fingerprints for those owners, partners, officers, and managers of the core transport agent specified by any commission decision applicable to all core transport agents. The commission shall submit completed fingerprint cards to the Department of Justice. Those fingerprints shall be available for use by the Department of Justice and the Department of Justice may transmit the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history record check. The commission may use information obtained from a national criminal history record check conducted pursuant to this section to determine a core transport agent’s eligibility for registration.

(9) Proof of financial viability. The commission shall develop uniform standards for determining financial viability and shall publish those standards for public comment no later than June 30, 2014. In determining the financial viability of the core transport agent, the commission shall take into account the number of customers the potential registrant expects to serve, the number of therms of gas it expects to provide, and any other appropriate criteria to ensure that core gas customers have adequate recourse in the event of fraud or nonperformance.

(10) Proof of technical and operational ability. The commission shall develop uniform standards for determining technical and operational capacity and shall publish those standards for public comment no later than June 30, 2014.

(11) A statement stating the following:


“Neither the applicant, any of its affiliates, officers, directors, partners, agents, or owners (directly or indirectly) with more than 10 percent interest in the applicant, or anyone acting in a management capacity for applicant has: (A) held one of those positions with a company that filed for bankruptcy, (B) been personally found liable, or held one of those positions with a company that has been found liable, for fraud, dishonesty, failure to disclose, or misrepresentations to consumers or others, (C) been convicted of a felony, (D) been (to his or her knowledge) the subject of a criminal referral by a judge or public agency, (E) had a license of operating authority denied, suspended, revoked, or limited in any jurisdiction, (F) personally entered into a settlement, or held one of those positions with a company that has entered into settlement, of criminal or civil claims involving violations of Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 17000) of Part 2 of, or Part 3 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 7 of, the Business and Professions Code or of any other statute, regulation, or decisional law relating to fraud, dishonesty, failure to disclosure, or misrepresentations to consumers or others, (G) been found to have violated any statute, law, or rule pertaining to public utilities or other regulated industries, or (H) entered into any settlements or agreements, made any voluntary payments, or agreed to any other type of monetary forfeitures in resolution of any action by any regulatory body, agency, or attorney general.”


(b) Before reentering the market, a core transport agent whose registration has been revoked shall file a formal application with the commission that satisfies the requirements set forth in Section 982 and demonstrates the fitness and ability of the core transport agent to comply with all applicable rules of the commission.

(c) Registration with the commission is an exercise of the licensing function of the commission, and does not constitute regulation of the rates or terms and conditions of service offered by core transport agents. This part does not authorize the commission to regulate the rates or terms and conditions of service offered by core transport agents.

(Added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 604, Sec. 4. (SB 656) Effective January 1, 2014.)

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