BILL NUMBER: AB 1990 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 21, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 6, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 26, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 25, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 10, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 1, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Fong
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to amend and renumber Section 387.6 of, and to add Sections
399.23 and 399.33 to, the Public Utilities Code, relating to
electricity.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1990, as amended, Fong. Renewable energy resources: renewable
feed-in tariff set aside for most impacted and disadvantaged
communities.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has
regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical
corporations, as defined, while local publicly owned electric
utilities, as defined, are under the direction of their governing
board. Existing law requires every electrical corporation to file
with the commission a standard tariff for electricity generated by an
electric generation facility, as defined, that qualifies for the
tariff, is owned and operated by a retail customer of the electrical
corporation, and is located within the service territory of, and
developed to sell electricity to, the electrical corporation.
Existing law requires that, in order to qualify for the tariff, the
electric generation facility: (1) have an effective capacity of not
more than 3 megawatts, subject to the authority of the PUC to reduce
this megawatt limitation, (2) be interconnected and operate in
parallel with the electric transmission and distribution grid, (3) be
strategically located and interconnected to the electric
transmission system in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of
electricity generated at the facility to load centers, and (4) meet
the definition of an eligible renewable energy resource under the
California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program. Existing decisions
of the PUC implementing these requirements refer to these tariff
requirements as a renewable feed-in tariff. Existing law requires a
local publicly owned electric utility that sells electricity at
retail to 75,000 or more customers to adopt and implement a tariff
for electricity purchased from an electric generation facility
meeting certain size, deliverability, and interconnection
requirements and to consider certain factors. Under existing law, the
obligation of an electrical corporation or local publicly owned
electric utility to make a renewable feed-in tariff available to
additional electric generation facilities terminates once the
generating capacity of the electric generation facilities receiving
service pursuant to the utility's renewable feed-in tariff reaching
its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts of
cumulative rated generating capacity served pursuant to renewable
feed-in tariffs.
This bill would require the commission, by August 1, 2014, to add
an additional 125 megawatts of cumulative rated generation capacity,
split proportionately between the state's electrical corporations, to
the proportion of the statewide cap of 750 megawatts that is
applicable to electric generation facilities that are eligible for
service pursuant to renewable feed-in tariffs. The bill would require
a local publicly owned electric utility that sells electricity at
retail to 75,000 or more customers, by August 1, 2014, to add an
additional 65 megawatts of cumulative rated generation capacity,
split proportionately between those utilities, to the proportion of
the statewide cap of 750 megawatts that is applicable to electric
generation facilities that are eligible for service pursuant to
renewable feed-in tariffs. The bill would limit eligibility for the
additional generation capacity to electric generation facilities with
a rated capacity under 500 kilowatts that are located in the state's
most impacted and disadvantaged communities, as defined.
Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any
order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the
commission is a crime.
Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and
because a violation of an order or decision of the commission
implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose
a state-mandated local program by expanding the application of a
crime. Because the bill would impose various duties upon local
publicly owned electric utilities, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for specified reasons.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature to support
small-scale local clean energy in communities throughout the state in
order to increase green jobs and businesses that benefit the
communities where electrical utility customers live, especially in
the most impacted and disadvantaged communities with high
unemployment that bear a disproportionate burden from air pollution,
disease, and other impacts from the generation of electricity from
the burning of fossil fuels.
SEC. 2. Section 387.6 of the Public Utilities Code is amended and
renumbered to read:
399.32. (a) It is the policy of the state and the intent of the
Legislature to encourage electrical generation from eligible
renewable energy resources.
(b) As used in this section, "electric generation facility" means
an electric generation facility located within the service territory
of, and developed to sell electricity to, a local publicly owned
electric utility, and that meets all of the following criteria:
(1) Has an effective capacity of not more than three megawatts.
(2) Is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical
transmission and distribution grid.
(3) Is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical
transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the
deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load
centers.
(4) Is an eligible renewable energy resource pursuant to this
article.
(c) A local publicly owned electric utility that sells electricity
at retail to 75,000 or more customers shall adopt a standard tariff
for electricity purchased from an electric generation facility.
(d) The governing board of the local publicly owned electric
utility shall ensure that the tariff adopted pursuant to subdivision
(c) reflects the value of every kilowatthour of electricity generated
on a time-of-delivery basis. The governing board may adjust this
value based on the other attributes of renewable generation. The
governing board shall ensure, with respect to rates and charges, that
ratepayers that do not receive service pursuant to the tariff are
indifferent to whether a ratepayer with an electric generation
facility receives service pursuant to the tariff.
(e) A local publicly owned electric utility that sells electricity
at retail to 75,000 or more customers shall make the tariff
available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility
within the service territory of the utility, upon request, on a
first-come-first-served basis, until the utility meets its
proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative
rated generation capacity served under this section and Section
399.20. The proportionate share shall be calculated based on the
ratio of the utility's peak demand compared to the total statewide
peak demand.
(f) The local publicly owned electric utility may make the terms
of the tariff available to owners and operators of an electric
generation facility in the form of a standard contract.
(g) Every kilowatthour of electricity purchased from an electric
generation facility shall count toward meeting the local publicly
owned electric utility's renewables portfolio standard annual
procurement targets for purposes of Section 399.30.
(h) (1) A local publicly owned electric utility may establish
performance standards for any electric generation facility that has a
capacity greater than one megawatt to ensure that those facilities
are constructed, operated, and maintained to generate the expected
annual net production of electricity and do not impact system
reliability.
(2) A local publicly owned electric utility may reduce the three
megawatt capacity limitation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) if
the utility finds that a reduced capacity limitation is necessary.
(i) Within 10 days of receipt of a request for a tariff pursuant
to this section from an owner or operator of an electric generation
facility, the local publicly owned electric utility that receives the
request shall post a copy of the request on its Internet Web site.
The information posted on the Internet Web site shall include the
name of the city in which the facility is located, but information
that is proprietary and confidential, including, but not limited to,
address information beyond the name of the city in which the facility
is located, shall be redacted.
(j) A local publicly owned electric utility may deny a tariff
request pursuant to this section if the local publicly owned electric
utility makes any of the following findings:
(1) The electric generation facility does not meet the
requirements of this section.
(2) The transmission or distribution grid that would serve as the
point of interconnection is inadequate.
(3) The electric generation facility does not meet all applicable
state and local laws and building standards , and
utility interconnection requirements.
(4) The aggregate of all electric generating facilities on a
distribution circuit would adversely impact utility operation and
load restoration efforts of the distribution system.
(k) Upon receiving a notice of denial from a local publicly owned
electric utility, the owner or operator of the electric generation
facility denied a tariff pursuant to this section shall have the
right to appeal that decision to the governing board of the local
publicly owned electric utility.
(l) In order to ensure the safety and reliability of electric
generation facilities, the owner of an electric generation facility
receiving a tariff pursuant to this section shall provide an
inspection and maintenance report to the local publicly owned
electric utility at least once every other year. The inspection and
maintenance report shall be prepared at the owner's or operator's
expense by a California-licensed contractor who is not the owner or
operator of the electric generation facility. A California-licensed
electrician shall perform the inspection of the electrical portion of
the generation facility.
(m) The contract between the electric generation facility
receiving the tariff and the local publicly owned electric utility
shall contain provisions that ensure that construction of the
electric generating facility complies with all applicable state and
local laws and building standards, and utility interconnection
requirements.
(n) (1) All construction and installation of facilities of the
local publicly owned electric utility, including at the point of the
output meter or at the transmission or distribution grid, shall only
be performed by that local publicly owned electric utility.
(2) All interconnection facilities installed on the local publicly
owned electric utility's side of the transfer point for electricity
between the local publicly owned electric utility and the electrical
conductors of the electric generation facility shall be owned,
operated, and maintained only by the local publicly owned electric
utility. The ownership, installation, operation, reading, and testing
of revenue metering equipment for electric generating facilities
shall be performed only by the local publicly owned electric utility.
SEC. 3. Section 399.23 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
399.23. (a) For purposes of this section, "most impacted and
disadvantaged communities" means census tracts that are identified
as being within the top 20 percent of results from the
regional cumulative impact screening methodology using the
environmental justice screening method metrics developed by
Professors James L. Sadd, Manuel Pastor, Rachel Morello-Frosch,
Justin Scoggins, and Bill Jesdale (Vol. 8, International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health (May 2011), Playing It Safe:
Assessing Cumulative Impact and Social Vulnerability through an
Environmental Justice Screening Method in the South Coast Air Basin,
California, pages 1441 to 1459, inclusive), or a regional screening
method that uses by the Governor's Office of Planning
and Research, in consultation with the Office of the Secretary of the
Environment, using the best available data to consider the
following categories of vulnerability:
(1) Health risk and exposure from environmental hazards.
(2) Socioeconomic vulnerability.
(3) Climate vulnerability.
(4) Proximity of sensitive land uses.
(b) By not later than August 1, 2014, the commission shall add an
additional 125 megawatts of cumulative rated generation capacity,
split proportionately between the state's electrical corporations, to
the proportion of the statewide cap of 750 megawatts that is
applicable to electric generation facilities that are eligible for
the tariffs required by Section 399.20. Eligibility for the
additional 125 megawatts of cumulative rated generation capacity
shall be limited to electric generation facilities with a rated
capacity under 500 kilowatts that are located in the state's most
impacted and disadvantaged communities.
SEC. 4. Section 399.33 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
399.33. (a) For purposes of this section, "most impacted and
disadvantaged communities" means census tracts that are
identified as being within the top 20 percent of results from the
regional cumulative impact screening methodology using the
environmental justice screening method metrics developed by
Professors James L. Sadd, Manuel Pastor, Rachel Morello-Frosch,
Justin Scoggins, and Bill Jesdale (Vol. 8, International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health (May 2011), Playing It Safe:
Assessing Cumulative Impact and Social Vulnerability through an
Environmental Justice Screening Method in the South Coast Air Basin,
California, pages 1441 to 1459, inclusive), or a regional screening
method that uses the best available data to consider the following
categories of vulnerability: has the same meaning as
defined in subdivision (a) of Section 399.23.
(1) Health risk and exposure from environmental hazards.
(2) Socioeconomic vulnerability.
(3) Climate vulnerability.
(4) Proximity of sensitive land uses.
(b) By not later than August 1, 2014, a local publicly owned
electric utility that sells electricity at retail to 75,000 or more
customers shall add an additional 65 megawatts of cumulative rated
generation capacity, split proportionately between those utilities,
to the proportion of the statewide cap of 750 megawatts that is
applicable to electric generation facilities that are eligible for
the tariffs required by Section 399.32. Eligibility for the
additional 65 megawatts of cumulative rated generation capacity shall
be limited to electric generation facilities with a rated capacity
under 500 kilowatts that are located in the state's most impacted and
disadvantaged communities.
SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a
local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act or because costs that may be
incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred
because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a
crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or
infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.