(a) If a public utility has been granted a certificate of public convenience and necessity authorizing and requiring it to furnish gas or electric service within a certain service area and, as a result of a change of organization or a reorganization, territory consisting of all, or any part, of that service area becomes a part of, or is formed into, a district authorized by its principal act to furnish gas or electric service, the district shall not furnish that service within the territory except upon approval by both of the following:
(1) The commission after receipt and consideration of the report of the Public Utilities Commission made as provided in Section 56131.
(2) The voters within the territory, given at an election as provided in Section 56130.
(b) If both of those approvals are given, upon assumption of service by the district the public utility may at any time thereafter withdraw service within the territory, unless otherwise ordered by the Public Utilities Commission.
(c) “Gas or electric service,” as used in this section and in Sections 56130, 56131, and 56875, means the distribution and sale for any purpose, other than for the purpose of resale, of gas or electricity for light, heat, or power.
(Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 761, Sec. 45. Effective January 1, 2001.)