BILL NUMBER: AB 2340	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Williams
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Blumenfield)

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to add Section 379.9 to the Public Utilities Code, relating
to electricity distribution.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2340, as introduced, Williams. Distribution grid: distributed
generation.
   Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has
regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical
corporations, as defined. Existing law requires the PUC to
administer, until January 1, 2016, a self-generation incentive
program for distributed generation resources to facilitate the
integration of those resources into the electrical grid, improve
efficiency and reliability of the distribution and transmission
system, and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, peak demand, and
ratepayer costs.
   This bill would require the PUC to convene a proceeding on or
before July 1, 2013, to develop rules, as prescribed, for the
reimbursement of distribution grid upgrade costs to developers of
wholesale distribution generation facilities constructed subsequent
to the completion of interconnection studies. The bill would require
those costs to be included in each electrical corporation's rate
base.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 379.9 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
   379.9.  The commission shall convene a proceeding on or before
July 1, 2013, to develop rules for the reimbursement of distribution
grid upgrade costs to developers of wholesale distribution generation
facilities constructed subsequent to the completion of
interconnection studies. Those costs shall be included in each
electrical corporation's rate base. The rules shall ensure that
distribution grid upgrades are cost-effective for ratepayers. The
commission, in developing the rules, shall consider federal rules
under which transmission grid upgrade costs are reimbursed.