Cal. PUC § 3280 — California Code / Code puc / Division 1 / Part 6 / Chapter 1 / Section 3280
Section 3280
Status: in_force

For purposes of this part, all of the following definitions apply:

(a) “Account” means the Continuation Account created pursuant to Section 3298. This subdivision shall become operative upon all large electrical corporations electing to participate in the account pursuant to Section 3299.

(b) “Account assets” means the sum of all moneys and invested assets held in the account, which shall include, without limitation, any loans or other investments made by the state to the account, all interest or other income from the investment of money held in the account, any other funds specifically designated for the account by applicable law, the proceeds of any special charge or continuation of existing charge allocated to and deposited into the account, reinsurance, and the proceeds of any bonds issued for the benefit of the account. This subdivision shall become operative upon all large electrical corporations electing to participate in the account pursuant to Section 3299.

(c) “Administrator” means the Wildfire Fund Administrator appointed pursuant to Section 8899.72 of the Government Code.

(d) “Annual contribution” means either of the following:

(1) For purposes of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 3281) and Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 3291), 10 installments totaling either of the following:

(A) For an electrical corporation that qualifies as a large electrical corporation at the end of the prior calendar year, an amount equal to three hundred million dollars ($300,000,000) multiplied by the Wildfire Fund allocation metric.

(B) For an electrical corporation that qualifies as a regional electrical corporation at the end of the prior calendar year, an amount equal to twenty-five dollars ($25) multiplied by the number of customer accounts serviced by the electrical corporation within the state at the end of that calendar year.

(2) For purposes of Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 3298) and Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 3299), for a large electrical corporation, the amount determined pursuant to Section 3299.3. This paragraph shall become operative upon all large electrical corporations electing to participate in the account pursuant to Section 3299.

(e) “Council” means the California Catastrophe Response Council created pursuant to Section 8899.70 of the Government Code.

(f) (1) (A) For purposes of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 3281) and Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 3291), “covered wildfire” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 1701.8. This subparagraph shall become inoperative upon all large electrical corporations electing to participate in the account pursuant to Section 3299.

(B) For purposes of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 3281) and Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 3291), “covered wildfire” means a wildfire ignited before the effective date of this subparagraph and that meets the requirements of subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 1701.8. This subparagraph shall become operative upon all large electrical corporations electing to participate in the account pursuant to Section 3299.

(2) For purposes of Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 3298) and Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 3299), “covered wildfire” means a wildfire ignited on or after the effective date of this paragraph and that meets the requirements of subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 1701.8. This paragraph shall become operative upon all large electrical corporations electing to participate in the account pursuant to Section 3299.

(g) “Electrical corporation” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 218.

(h) “Eligible claims” means claims for third-party damages against an electrical corporation resulting from covered wildfires exceeding the greater of (1) one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) in the aggregate in any year, or (2) the amount of the insurance coverage required to be in place for the electrical corporation pursuant to Section 3293 or 3299.4, as appropriate, measured by the amount of that excess.

(i) “Fund” means the Wildfire Fund created pursuant to Section 3284.

(j) “High fire-threat district” means areas identified as tier 2 (elevated) or tier 3 (extreme) fire risk on the fire-threat map maintained by the commission.

(k) “Initial contribution” means either of the following:

(1) For a large electrical corporation, an amount equal to seven billion five hundred million dollars ($7,500,000,000) multiplied by the Wildfire Fund allocation metric.

(2) For a regional electrical corporation, an amount equal to six hundred twenty-five dollars ($625) multiplied by the number of customer accounts serviced by the electrical corporation within the state as of July 12, 2019.

(l) “Insolvency proceeding” means a bankruptcy, insolvency, liquidation, reorganization, or similar proceeding brought pursuant to Title 11 of the United States Code.

(m) “Large electrical corporation” means an electrical corporation with 250,000 or more customer accounts within the state.

(n) “Participating electrical corporation” means an electrical corporation that satisfies the conditions to participate in the fund pursuant to Section 3291 or 3292, as applicable.

(o) “Regional electrical corporation” means an electrical corporation with less than 250,000 customer accounts within the state.

(p) “Wildfire Fund allocation metric” means, for each large electrical corporation, the arithmetic average of (1) the land area of the electrical corporation’s territory, measured in square miles, in the high fire-threat districts as a proportion of all large electrical corporations’ territory in the high fire-threat districts and (2) the electrical corporation’s line miles of transmission and distribution lines in the high fire-threat districts as a proportion of all large electrical corporations’ line miles of transmission and distribution lines in the high fire-threat districts. The large electrical corporations’ averages shall then be adjusted to account for risk mitigation efforts. This adjustment shall reduce the allocation to electrical corporations that have invested historically in mitigation efforts and those allocations shall be reallocated to the other electrical corporations based on their proportionate share resulting from the initial calculation above. The Wildfire Fund allocation metric shall be determined by the Director of Finance no later than July 17, 2019. It is the expectation of the Legislature that the Wildfire Fund allocation metric is 64.2 percent for Pacific Gas and Electric Company, 31.5 percent for Southern California Edison Company, and 4.3 percent for San Diego Gas and Electric Company. If a new electrical corporation that is a large electrical corporation is admitted to the Wildfire Fund, the administrator shall promptly determine and publish a revised Wildfire Fund allocation metric based on the factors set forth in this subdivision.

(q) “Wildfire Fund assets” means the sum of all moneys and invested assets held in the fund, which shall include, without limitation, any loans or other investments made by the state to the fund, all interest or other income from the investment of money held in the fund, any other funds specifically designated for the fund by applicable law, the proceeds of any special charge or continuation of existing charge allocated to and deposited into the fund, reinsurance, and the proceeds of any bonds issued for the benefit of the fund.