BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1332
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1332 (Negrete McLeod)
As Amended June 7, 2012
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :21-12
UTILITIES & COMMERCE 9-4
APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Bradford, Fletcher , |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Roger Hernández, Huffman, | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| |Ma, Swanson | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Gorell, Knight, Nestande, |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| |Valadao | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Modifies current law with regard to Feed in Tariffs
(FIT) contracts offered by publicly owned utilities (POUs).
Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes that POUs shall implement their FIT program by no
later than July 1, 2013.
2)Modifies the calculation of the tariff to consider avoided
costs for distribution and transmission system upgrades, the
value of offsetting peak electricity demand, and environmental
and greenhouse gas reduction values.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, any costs for each of POUs to meet the additional
mandates of this bill will be recovered from their ratepayers.
COMMENTS :
Author's Statement . To date only four of the nine POUs have
implemented FIT required by current law. Without a clear
timeframe for program implementation POUs may continue to delay
program development.
SB 1332
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Further, of the three POUs that have implemented the 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 have yet to attract developer
interest. This is likely due to the fact that the original
bill, SB 32 (Negrete McLeod), Chapter 328, Statutes of 2009, did
not provide sufficient direction in what should be considered
when developing the rate to be paid under FIT contracts.
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 investor owned utilities (IOUs), FIT
operates as a "must-take" contract in its portfolio. If the
participant generates the power, IOU must take it and pay for
generation from the facility according to the terms of FIT
contract.
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
megawatts (MWs). The California Public Utilities Commission
(PUC) has a rulemaking open to implement the terms of SB 32
(Negrete McLeod) and expand IOU FIT to three 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Susan Kateley / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083
FN: 0004853
SB 1332
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