BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1332
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Date of Hearing: June 18, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE
Steven Bradford, Chair
SB 1332 (Negrete-McLeod) - As Amended: June 7, 2012
SENATE VOTE : 21-12
SUBJECT : Renewable Energy Resources: electric utilities
SUMMARY : SB 1332 modifies current law with regard to Feed in
Tariffs (FIT) contracts offered by publicly owned utilities.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes that publicly owned utilities shall implement
their FIT program by no later than July 1, 2013.
2)Modifies the calculation of the tariff to remove 'avoided
cost.'
EXISTING LAW :
1)Existing law requires all investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and
publicly-owned utilities (POUs) that serve more than 75,000
retail customers to develop a standard contract or FIT
available for renewable energy facilities up to three
megawatts (MWs). Statewide participation is capped at 750
MWs. (399.20 and 399.23 Public Utilities Code)
2)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. (399.23 Public
Utilities Code)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement . To date only four of the nine POUs have
implemented the FIT required by current law. Without a clear
timeframe for program implementation POUs may continue to
SB 1332
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delay program development.
Further, of the three POUs that have implemented program,
participation has varied widely. The Sacramento Municipal
Utility District implemented their FIT in a manner that fully
subscribed their program on the day it became available.
However, Anaheim and riverside has yet to attract developer
interest. This is likely due to the fact that the original
bill, SB 32 (Negrete McLeod, 2009) did not provide sufficient
direction in what should be consider when developing the rate
to be paid under the FIT contracts.
2)What is a Feed-in-Tariff ? A FIT should be a simplified
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
generation from the facility according to the terms of the FIT
contract.
3)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
(PUC) 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.
4)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.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Imperial Irrigation District (if amended)
LA Business Council
SB 1332
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Sierra Club California
Solar Developers Council
Union of Concerned Scientists
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Susan Kateley / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083