Eminent domain: public utilities.

(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including gas corporations, as defined. The existing Public Utilities Act prohibits any gas corporation from beginning the construction of, among other things, a line, plant, or system, or of any extension thereof, without having first obtained from the commission a certificate that the present or future public convenience and necessity require or will require that construction (certificate of public convenience and necessity) . Existing law authorizes certain public utilities to condemn property, as prescribed, but prohibits specified public utilities that offer competitive services from…