BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1332| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: SB 1332 Author: Negrete McLeod (D) Amended: 4/26/12 Vote: 21 SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES & COMMUN. COMM. : 7-5, 04/17/12 AYES: Padilla, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Kehoe, Pavley, Rubio, Simitian NOES: Fuller, Berryhill, Emmerson, Strickland, Wright NO VOTE RECORDED: De León SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 SUBJECT : Renewable energy resources: electric utilities SOURCE : Clean Coalition DIGEST : This bill requires the governing board of a local publicly owned utility to consider avoided costs of distribution and transmission upgrades, the offset of peak demand and all current and anticipated environmental and greenhouse gas reduction compliance costs and avoided costs, and requires that the specified publicly-owned utilities (POUs) adopt a Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) by March 1, 2013. ANALYSIS : Existing law requires all investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and POUs, that serve more than 75,000 retail customers, to develop a standard contract or tariff (aka FiT) available for renewable energy facilities up to CONTINUED SB 1332 Page 2 three megawatts (MWs). Statewide participation is capped at 750 MWs. Existing law requires the FiT contract price for IOUs to include all current and anticipated environmental compliance costs, including but not limited to, mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollution offsets associated with the operation of new generating facilities in the local air pollution control or air quality management district where the electric generation facility is located. What is a Feed-in-Tariff ? - A FiT is a simple, comprehensible, transparent contracting mechanism for small renewable generators to sell power to a utility at predefined terms and conditions, without contract negotiations. For the IOUs, the FiT operates as a "must-take" contract in its portfolio. If the participant generates the power, the IOU must take it and pay for it according to the pre-defined terms of the FiT. Small renewable generator FiTs are available in the territories of the three largest IOUs and provide a 10, 15, or 20-year fixed-price, non-negotiable contract for systems sized up to 1.5 MW. The California Public Utilities Commission has a rulemaking open to implement the terms of SB 32 (Negrete McLeod, 2009) and expand the IOU FiT to 3 MWs. The total program allocation between the three IOUs, is approximately 500 MWs. Applicable POUs - Existing law requires that only the largest POUs adopt a FiT and specifies that those serving a population of 75,000 customers or more make a FiT available to renewable developers in those territories. The affected POUs are: Anaheim, Glendale, Imperial, Los Angeles, Modesto, Riverside, Turlock, and Sacramento. The total program allocation between the nine POUs is approximately 250 MWs. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes SUPPORT : (Verified 5/21/12) SB 1332 Page 3 Clean Coalition (source) American Biogas Council Los Angeles Business Council Sierra Club California Solar Developers Council Union of Concerned Scientists OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/21/12) Southern California Public Power Authority RM:nl 5/21/12 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****