BILL NUMBER: SB 1247 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 25, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 22, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Senator Dutton
( Coauthors: Senators
Aanestad and Cox )
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend Section 399.12 of, and to repeal Section
399.12.5 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to energy.
An act to amend Sections 399.12 and 399.12.5 of the Public
Utilities Code, relating to energy, and declaring the urgency
thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1247, as amended, Dutton. Renewable energy resources.
resources: hydroelectric generation facilities.
The
(1) The existing California
Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires the Public Utilities
Commission to implement annual procurement targets for the
procurement of eligible renewable energy resources , as
defined, for all retail sellers, as defined, to achieve the
targets and goals of the program. Existing law defines
"eligible renewable energy resource" to mean an electric generating
facility that uses biomass, solar thermal, photovoltaic, wind,
geothermal, fuel cells using renewable fuels, small
hydroelectric generation of 30 megawatts or less, digester gas,
municipal solid waste conversion, landfill gas, ocean wave, ocean
thermal, or tidal current, and any additions or enhancements to the
facility using that technology, and that meets at least one other
requirement.
This bill would delete the existing expand
the definition of an eligible renewable energy resource
and, instead, define the term to mean an electric generating
facility that uses biomass, solar energy, wind, geothermal, fuel
cells using renewable fuels, hydroelectric generation, nuclear
generation, digester gas, municipal solid waste conversion, landfill
gas, ocean wave, ocean thermal, or tidal current, and any additions
or enhancements to the facility using that technology
to include hydroelectric generation facilities of any generating
capacity that commenced initial commercial operation after January 1,
2006 . The bill would make other conforming changes
and repeal certain provisions relating to the eligibility of
hydroelectric generation .
(2) Under existing law, the incremental increase in the amount of
electricity generated from a hydroelectric generation facility as a
result of efficiency improvements at the facility is electricity from
an eligible renewable resource for purposes of the California
Renewables Portfolio Standard Program if certain requirements are
met. One of these requirements is that the hydroelectric generation
facility has been certified within the immediately preceding 15 years
by the State Water Resources Control Board pursuant to the federal
Clean Water Act or by a California regional water quality control
board to which the state board has delegated authority.
This bill would adopt an alternative to that requirement for the
Rock Creek Powerhouse hydroelectric generation facility.
(3) The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
Vote: majority 2/3 . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 399.12 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
399.12. For purposes of this article, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(a) "Conduit hydroelectric facility" means a facility for the
generation of electricity that uses only the hydroelectric potential
of an existing pipe, ditch, flume, siphon, tunnel, canal, or other
manmade conduit that is operated to distribute water for a beneficial
use.
(a)
(b) "Delivered" and "delivery" have the same meaning as
provided in subdivision (a) of Section 25741 of the Public Resources
Code.
(b) "Eligible renewable energy resource" means an electric
generating facility that uses biomass, solar energy, wind,
geothermal, fuel cells using renewable fuels, hydroelectric
generation, nuclear generation, digester gas, municipal solid waste
conversion, landfill gas, ocean wave, ocean thermal, or tidal
current, and any additions or enhancements to the facility using that
technology.
(c) "Eligible renewable energy resource" means an electric
generating facility that meets the definition of "in-state renewable
electricity generation facility" in Section 25741 of the Public
Resources Code, except as follows:
(1) (A) A small hydroelectric generation facility of 30 megawatts
or less shall be eligible only if a retail seller or local publicly
owned electric utility owned or procured the electricity from the
facility as of December 31, 2005.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a conduit hydroelectric
facility of 30 megawatts or less that commenced operation before
January 1, 2006, is an eligible renewable energy resource.
(2) A hydroelectric generation facility of any capacity that
commenced initial commercial operation on or after January 1, 2006,
shall be considered an eligible renewable energy resource. A
hydroelectric facility shall not be considered an eligible renewable
energy resource pursuant to this paragraph if it will cause an
adverse impact on instream beneficial uses or cause a change in the
volume or timing of streamflow.
(3) A facility engaged in the combustion of municipal solid waste
shall not be considered an eligible renewable resource unless it is
located in Stanislaus County and was operational prior to September
26, 1996.
(c)
(d) "Procure" means that a retail seller or local
publicly owned electric utility receives delivered electricity
generated by an eligible renewable energy resource that it owns or
for which it has entered into an electricity purchase agreement.
Nothing in this article is intended to imply that the purchase of
electricity from third parties in a wholesale transaction is the
preferred method of fulfilling a retail seller's obligation to comply
with this article or the obligation of a local publicly owned
electric utility to meet its renewables portfolio standard
implemented pursuant to Section 387.
(d)
(e) "Renewables portfolio standard" means the specified
percentage of electricity generated by eligible renewable energy
resources that a retail seller is required to procure pursuant to
this article or the obligation of a local publicly owned electric
utility to meet its renewables portfolio standard implemented
pursuant to Section 387.
(e)
(f) (1) "Renewable energy credit" means a certificate
of proof, issued through the accounting system established by the
Energy Commission pursuant to Section 399.13, that one unit of
electricity was generated and delivered by an eligible renewable
energy resource.
(2) "Renewable energy credit" includes all renewable and
environmental attributes associated with the production of
electricity from the eligible renewable energy resource, except for
an emissions reduction credit issued pursuant to Section 40709 of the
Health and Safety Code and any credits or payments associated with
the reduction of solid waste and treatment benefits created by the
utilization of biomass or biogas fuels.
(3) No electricity generated by an eligible renewable energy
resource attributable to the use of nonrenewable fuels, beyond a de
minimis quantity, as determined by the Energy Commission, shall
result in the creation of a renewable energy credit.
(f)
(g) (1) "Retail seller" means an entity engaged in the
retail sale of electricity to end-use customers located within the
state, including any of the following:
(A) An electrical corporation, as defined in Section 218.
(B) A community choice aggregator. The commission shall institute
a rulemaking to determine the manner in which a community choice
aggregator will participate in the renewables portfolio standard
program subject to the same terms and conditions applicable to an
electrical corporation.
(C) An electric service provider, as defined in Section 218.3, for
all sales of electricity to customers beginning January 1, 2006. The
commission shall institute a rulemaking to determine the manner in
which electric service providers will participate in the renewables
portfolio standard program. The electric service provider shall be
subject to the same terms and conditions applicable to an electrical
corporation pursuant to this article. Nothing in this paragraph shall
impair a contract entered into between an electric service provider
and a retail customer prior to the suspension of direct access by the
commission pursuant to Section 80110 of the Water Code.
(2) "Retail seller" does not include any of the following:
(A) A corporation or person employing cogeneration technology or
producing electricity consistent with subdivision (b) of Section 218.
(B) The Department of Water Resources acting in its capacity
pursuant to Division 27 (commencing with Section 80000) of the Water
Code.
(C) A local publicly owned electric utility.
SEC. 2. Section 399.12.5 of the Public
Utilities Code is repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 399.12.5 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
399.12.5. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 399.12,
a small hydroelectric generation facility that satisfies the criteria
for an eligible renewable energy resource pursuant to Section 399.12
shall not lose its eligibility if efficiency improvements undertaken
after January 1, 2008, cause the generating capacity of the facility
to exceed 30 megawatts, and the efficiency improvements do not
result in an adverse impact on instream beneficial uses or cause a
change in the volume or timing of streamflow. The entire generating
capacity of the facility shall be eligible.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 399.12, the
incremental increase in the amount of electricity generated from a
hydroelectric generation facility as a result of efficiency
improvements at the facility, is electricity from an eligible
renewable energy resource, without regard to the electrical output of
the facility, if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The incremental increase is the result of efficiency
improvements from a retrofit that do not result in an adverse impact
on instream beneficial uses or cause a change in the volume or timing
of streamflow.
(2) (A) The hydroelectric generation facility has, within the
immediately preceding 15 years, received certification from the State
Water Resources Control Board pursuant to Section 401 of the
federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1341), or has received
certification from a regional board to which the state board has
delegated authority to issue certification, unless the facility is
not subject to certification because there is no potential for
discharge into waters of the United States.
(B) If the hydroelectric facility is not located in California,
the certification pursuant to Section 401 of the federal Clean Water
Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1341) may be received from the applicable state
board or agency or from a regional board to which the state board has
delegated authority to issue the certification.
(C) If the hydroelectric generation facility is the Rock Creek
Powerhouse, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Project Number 1962,
the efficiency improvements have received any necessary incremental
certification from the State Water Resources Control Board.
(3) The hydroelectric generation facility is owned by a retail
seller or a local publicly owned electric utility, was operational
prior to January 1, 2007, the efficiency improvements are initiated
on or after January 1, 2008, the efficiency improvements are not the
result of routine maintenance activities, as determined by the Energy
Commission, and the efficiency improvements were not included in any
resource plan sponsored by the facility owner prior to January 1,
2008.
(4) All of the incremental increase in electricity resulting from
the efficiency improvements are demonstrated to result from a
long-term financial commitment by the retail seller or local publicly
owned electric utility. For purposes of this paragraph, "long-term
financial commitment" means either new ownership investment in the
facility by the retail seller or local publicly owned electric
utility or a new or renewed contract with a term of 10 or more years,
which includes procurement of the incremental generation.
(c) The incremental increase in the amount of electricity
generated from a hydroelectric generation facility as a result of
efficiency improvements at the facility are not eligible for
supplemental energy payments pursuant to the Renewable Energy
Resources Program (Chapter 8.6 (commencing with Section 25740) of
Division 15 of the Public Resources Code), or a successor program.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety
within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go
into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to address, as soon as possible, rising electricity rates
that will slow the economic recovery of this state, it is necessary
that this act take effect immediately.