(1) There is hereby imposed a tax on every person other than a telephone corporation, electrical corporation, gas corporation, water corporation, or waste hauler using electrical energy in the city. The tax imposed by this section shall be at the rate of eight percent of the charges made for such energy for persons or businesses using such services for industrial, commercial or any use other than service to the person’s residence, and at the rate of four percent of the charges made for such energy for persons using such services for service to the person’s residence. The tax applicable to electrical energy provided by a nonutility supplier shall be determined by applying the tax rate to the equivalent charge the service user would have incurred if the energy had been provided by the electrical corporation franchised by the city. Rate schedules for this purpose shall be available from the city. Nonutility suppliers shall install, maintain and use an appropriate metering system which will enable compliance with this section. “Charges,” as used in this section, shall include charges made for metered energy and charges for service, including customer charges, service charges, standby charges, charges for temporary services, demand charges, annual and monthly charges, and any other charge authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

(2) As used in this section, the term “using electrical energy” shall not be construed to mean the storage of such energy by a person in a battery owned or possessed by him or her for use in an automobile or other machinery or device apart from the premises upon which the energy was received; provided, however, that the term shall include the receiving of such energy for the purpose of using it in the charging of batteries; nor shall the term include the mere receiving of such energy by an electric public utility or governmental agency at a point within the city for resale; nor shall the term include the use of such energy in the production or distribution of water by a public utility or a governmental agency.

(3) The tax imposed in this section shall be collected from the service user by the person supplying such energy. The amount of tax collected in one month shall be remitted to the tax administrator on or before the last day of the following month, unless the due date occurs on a weekend or a holiday, in which case the tax shall be remitted on or before the next business day thereafter. Taxes shall be deemed remitted on the date received by the tax administrator, or on the date postmarked, if remitted by first class United States mail with postage fully prepaid. With prior written approval of the tax administrator, remittance of tax may be predicated on a formula based upon the payment pattern of the supplier’s customers. (Ord. 593-P § 1, 2004; Ord. 441 § 1. 2002 Code § 7-5.7).