Pub. Util. Code, § 334

The Legislature finds and declares that in order to ensure the success of electric industry restructuring, in the transition to a new market structure it is important to ensure a reliable supply of electricity. Reliable electric service is of paramount importance to the safety, health, and comfort of the people of California. Transmission connections between electric utilities allow them to share generation resources and reduce the number of powerplants necessary to maintain a reliable system. The connections between utilities also create exposure to events that can cause widespread and extended transmission and service outages that reach far beyond the originating utility service area. California utilities and those in the western United States voluntarily adhere to reliability standards developed by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council. The economic cost of extended electricity outages, such as those that occurred in California and throughout the Western Electricity Coordinating Council on July 2, 1996, and August 10, 1996, to California’s residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial customers is significant. The proposed restructuring of the electricity industry would transfer responsibility for ensuring short- and long-term reliability away from electric utilities and regulatory bodies to the Independent System Operator and various market-based mechanisms. The Legislature has an interest in ensuring that the change in the locus of responsibility for reliability does not expose California citizens to undue economic risk in connection with system reliability.