Section 715.

(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) "Comparative energy usage disclosure program" means a program pursuant to which an electrical corporation or gas corporation discloses information to residential subscribers relative to the amount of energy used by the metered residence compared to similar residences in the subscriber's geographical area.

(2) "Experimental design" with respect to an energy efficiency evaluation has that meaning as described on pages 30 and 31 of the commission's publication titled "California Energy Efficiency Evaluation Protocols: Technical, Methodological, and Reporting Requirements for Evaluation Professionals," dated April 2006.

(b) In order for the commission to evaluate potential energy savings that can be achieved through behavioral change, on or before March 15, 2010, or within 90 days of having collected a year's worth of data, and each March 15, or one year from the last reporting date, thereafter, up to and including March 15, 2014, each electrical corporation and gas corporation having a comparative energy usage disclosure program shall report to the commission the nature of the utility's program and the energy savings resulting from that program.

(c) (1) The commission shall, using an experimental design, evaluate the information supplied by electrical corporations and gas corporations relative to their comparative energy usage disclosure programs and determine the net energy savings that are currently being achieved and which could be achieved through expansion of comparative energy usage disclosure programs.

(2) The commission may request additional information from an electrical corporation or gas corporation that the commission determines is needed to perform the evaluation pursuant to paragraph (1). An electrical corporation or gas corporation from which the commission requests additional information shall timely provide the commission with the information requested if it is reasonably available. The commission may, for comparison purposes, additionally request that the Energy Commission supply the commission with that information supplied by a local publicly owned electric utility pursuant to Section 9615.5.

(d) The commission shall report to the Energy Commission and the Legislature on the results of its evaluation and any action undertaken by the commission in response to the evaluation.

(e) Nothing in this section limits the authority of the commission, pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (e) of Section 739, to require an electrical corporation or gas corporation to disclose comparative energy usage information on the billing statement of a residential customer.

(f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2015, and, as of January 1, 2016, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2016, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

(Added by Stats. 2009, Ch. 352, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2010. Inoperative July 1, 2015. Repealed as of January 1, 2016, by its own provisions.)