BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 1150 (V.M. Perez)
Hearing Date: 08/25/2011 Amended: 05/27/2011
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy Policy Vote: EU&C 11-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 1150 extends collections of ratepayer funds
under the Self Generation Incentive Program for one year.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Program oversight Absorbable within existing
resourcesSpecial *
Increases state agency About $1,000 Various
energy costs
Incentives paid to Unknown potential revenues Various
state agencies
* Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account.
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.
Current law authorizes the California Public Utilities
Commission to administer the Self-Generation Incentive Program
through December 31, 2011. Under this program, incentives are
provided to operators of fuel cell and wind distributed
electricity generation facilities. Originally, this program
provided incentives to a variety of renewable energy
technologies as well as very efficient combined heat and power
natural gas systems. Over time, the scope of the program has
been narrowed, such that currently only fuel cells and wind
technologies are eligible for incentives. The program is
budgeted at $83 million per year, supported by electricity and
natural gas ratepayers. While current law sunsets the authority
to collect ratepayer funds at the end of 2011, current law
authorizes the program to continue paying incentives through
AB 1150 (V.M. Perez)
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2015.
SB 412 (Kehoe, Chapter 182, statutes of 2009) authorizes funding
under the Self Generation Incentive Program for any technology
that supports the state's greenhouse gas reduction goals. The
Public Utilities Commission is currently developing revised
program rules, pursuant to SB 412.
AB 1150 authorizes the collection of $83 million in ratepayer
funds for one additional year (to December 31, 2012) to support
the Self Generation Incentive Program.
The Public Utilities Commission indicates that any costs to
oversee the expenditure of additional funds under the bill can
be accommodated within existing resources.
Like most electricity and natural gas customers, state agencies
contribute to the program. State agencies comprise about 1.2
percent of investor owned utility electricity use and about 1.7
percent of natural gas use. Thus, state agencies will pay about
$1 million in additional electricity and natural gas costs under
the bill.
State agencies are also eligible for incentives under the
program if they install distributed generation systems. The
extent to which state agencies will participate in the program
in future years, and hence benefit from its incentives, is
unknown. According to research done by the U.S. Department of
Energy Pacific Region Clean Energy Application Center at the
University of California - Berkeley, the state could potentially
receive incentives up to $9 million, based on reasonable
assumptions of the potential for distributed generation projects
at state facilities. The actual amount of incentives paid to
state agencies will depend on their participation in the
program.
The potential for state agencies to participate in the program
and collect incentives is significant. However, staff notes
that, to date, state agencies have received only about $12
million in incentives under the program, out of total program
expenditures of $865 million since 2001.
AB 864 (Huffman) makes several changes to the eligibility rules
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of the Self Generation Incentive Program. That bill is in this
committee.