BILL NUMBER: AB 2723 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 864
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 30, 2006
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 30, 2006
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 31, 2006
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 30, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 28, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 23, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 7, 2006
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 26, 2006
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 3, 2006
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Pavley
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Cohn, Frommer, Koretz, Levine,
Lieber, Ruskin, Saldana, and Shirley Horton)
(Coauthors: Senators Kehoe, Kuehl, and Murray)
FEBRUARY 24, 2006
An act to add Section 2852 of the Public Utilities Code, relating
to energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2723, Pavley Electricity: solar energy: low-income residential
housing.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has
regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical
corporations and gas corporations, as defined. A decision of the PUC
adopted the California Solar Initiative under which the PUC will
oversee a program to promote solar energy technologies, administered
by electrical corporations and gas corporations, for commercial and
residential customers, funded through electrical corporation and gas
corporation revenues and collected from gas and electric utility
distribution rates.
This bill would prohibit the establishment of the California Solar
Initiative from resulting in the diversion of any moneys from any
existing programs for low-income ratepayers, or from cost-effective
energy efficiency or demand response programs. The bill would require
the PUC to ensure that not less than 10% of the funds for the
California Solar Initiative are utilized for the installation of
solar energy systems, as defined, on low-income residential housing,
as defined. The bill would authorize the PUC to incorporate a
revolving loan or loan guarantee program into the California Solar
Initiative for low-income residential housing.
The bill would require that all moneys set aside for the purpose
of funding the installation of solar energy systems on low-income
residential housing, that are unexpended and unencumbered on January
1, 2016, and all unencumbered moneys thereafter repaid from loans
made for the installation of solar energy systems on low-income
residential housing, be utilized to augment existing cost-effective
energy efficiency measures in low-income residential housing that
benefit ratepayers.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 2852 is added to Chapter 9 of Part 2 of
Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, to read:
2852. (a) As used in this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "California Solar Initiative" means the program providing
ratepayer funded incentives for eligible solar energy systems adopted
by the Public Utilities Commission in Decision 05-12-044 and
Decision 06-01-024.
(2) "Low-income residential housing" means either of the
following:
(A) Residential housing financed with low-income housing tax
credits, tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds, general obligation bonds,
or local, state, or federal loans or grants, and for which the rents
of the occupants who are lower income households, as defined in
Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code, do not exceed those
prescribed by deed restrictions or regulatory agreements pursuant to
the terms of the financing or financial assistance.
(B) A residential complex in which at least 20 percent of the
total units are sold or rented to lower income households, as defined
in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code, and the housing
units targeted for lower income households are subject to a deed
restriction or affordability covenant with a public entity that
ensures that the units will be available at an affordable housing
cost, as defined in Section 50052.5 of the Health and Safety Code, or
at an affordable rent, as defined in Section 50053 of the Health and
Safety Code for a period of at least 30 years.
(3) "Solar energy system" means a solar energy device that has the
primary purpose of providing for the collection and distribution of
solar energy for the generation of electricity, that produces at
least one kilowatt, and except for a solar energy device for a
nonprofit building, produces not more than five megawatts,
alternating current rated peak electricity, and that meets or exceeds
the eligibility criteria established by the commission or the State
Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission.
(b) In establishing the California Solar Initiative, no moneys
shall be diverted from any existing programs for low-income
ratepayers, or from cost-effective energy efficiency or demand
response programs.
(c) (1) The commission shall ensure that not less than 10 percent
of the funds for the California Solar Initiative are utilized for the
installation of solar energy systems on low-income residential
housing. Notwithstanding any other law, the commission may modify the
monetary incentives made available pursuant to the California Solar
Initiative to accommodate the limited financial resources of
low-income residential housing.
(2) The commission may incorporate a revolving loan or loan
guarantee program into the California Solar Initiative for low-income
residential housing. All loans outstanding as of January 1, 2016,
shall continue to be repaid consistent with the terms and conditions
of the program adopted and implemented by the commission pursuant to
this subdivision, until repaid in full.
(3) All moneys set aside for the purpose of funding the
installation of solar energy systems on low-income residential
housing that are unexpended and unencumbered on January 1, 2016, and
all moneys thereafter repaid pursuant to paragraph (2), except to the
extent those moneys are encumbered pursuant to this section, shall
be utilized to augment existing cost-effective energy efficiency
measures in low-income residential housing that benefit ratepayers.