California Alternate Rates for Energy program.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. The Public Utilities Act requires the commission, in establishing residential electric rates, to ensure that the rates are sufficient to enable the electrical corporation to recover a just and reasonable amount of revenue from residential customers as a class, while observing the principle that electricity service is a necessity, for which a low affordable rate is desirable while observing…