BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2227
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Date of Hearing: May 7, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE
Steven Bradford, Chair
AB 2227 (Bradford) - As Amended: April 24, 2012
SUBJECT : Local publicly owned electric utilities: California
Energy Commission (CEC): reporting.
SUMMARY : This bill recasts and revises reporting requirements
applicable to publicly owned utilities and repeals certain
reporting requirements. Specifically, this bill :
1)Places reporting requirements related to publicly owned
utilities (POU) in one section of the Public Utilities Code.
2)Requires POUs to make data on energy efficiency expenditures
available, on a quarterly basis, on a website.
EXISTING LAW
Requires POUs to report periodically to the CEC on:
1)Public Goods Fund expenditures - Annually
2)Energy Efficiency and demand response - Annually
3)Renewable resources
a. renewable portfolio standards - Annually
b. Product Content, Annually, end of third quarter
c. Procurement - Within 60 days after June 1, every
third year beginning June 1, 2007
d. solar incentives - Annually, June 1
4)Resource adequacy measures - Upon request by CEC
5)Energy storage activities - One report January 2017 and
another January 2022
These requirements are found in various sections of the Public
Utilities Code and the Public Resources Code: Public Utilities
Code: 385.2 (b)(1), 387.5(c), 398.4(a), 398.5(a), 399.30(l),
2836(b)(4), 2939(a), 9615(b, c, d, e), and 9620 (d).
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)California's electric utilities are required to report on a
AB 2227
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regular basis to the California Energy Commission (CEC) and
other state and federal agencies on a wide variety of energy
issues. This bill recognizes the need for a practical and
comprehensive approach toward the collection of data for
energy policy purposes. This bill will consolidate publicly
owned electric utilities' reporting requirements into a single
section of the Public Utilities Code.
Expenditures on energy efficiency are not currently made
available to the customers of the POUs, other than those
customers who might have heard of the CEC and found where on
the CEC website this information might be stored.
2) Reporting requirements to be posted on an Internet
Website . At least one POU in California does not have a
website. According to the bill, the information is required
to be accessible on an Internet Web site Ýemphasis added].
There is no requirement for a POU to have a website. A POU
can meet this requirement by posting its data on its local
government website or another website (possibly their
industry association website). A POU can then send the link
to this data to the CEC.
3)Energy Efficiency Expenditures. This bill proposes a new
requirement that POUs make data about energy efficiency and
renewable energy programs expenditures available in a manner
that breaks down the recipients of the rebates or incentives
by customer classes and, if residential, whether the customers
are low-income customers. It may not be practical or possible
to breakdown residential customer income levels for all forms
of energy efficiency programs. For example, point-of-sale
energy efficiency rebates that provide a discount upon
purchase (light bulbs or appliances). In these cases, income
data is not collected on these customers, therefore a POU
would have difficulty meeting this provision. The author may
wish to consider the following amendment:
(3) A summary of expenditures made for energy efficiency
programs and renewable energy programs pursuant to Section
2854 during the then-current fiscal year that includes the
following:
(A) The number of rebates or other incentives provided.
(B) The moneys spent or encumbered for each energy
efficiency program and renewable energy program pursuant to
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Section 2854.
(C) A breakdown, to the extent practicable , of the
recipients of rebates or other incentives by customer
classes and, for residential customers by whether the
recipients are low-income customers.
(D) The information required by this paragraph shall be
updated not less often than quarterly.
4)According to the sponsor, as a result of separate pieces of
legislation enacted over time, many of the current energy
reporting requirements are now duplicative and are required at
different times of the year, depending on the particular
policy in question. They often do not correspond with previous
data-disclosure requirement and schedules, creating an
inefficient structure of complicated, time-consuming, and
costly reporting obligations."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Northern California Power Authority (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Susan Kateley / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083