BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 217
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 217 (Bradford)
As Amended April 16, 2013
Majority vote
UTILITIES & COMMERCE 12-3 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Bradford, Bonilla, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Buchanan, Chávez, Fong, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Garcia, Gorell, | |Calderon, Campos, |
| |Roger Hernández, Quirk, | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| |Rendon, Skinner, Williams | |Hall, Ammiano, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, Wagner, Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Patterson, Beth Gaines, |Nays:|Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Jones | |Donnelly, Linder, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Creates a new program that provides rebates for solar
installations made by qualified low-income households.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Creates a program to make up to 50 megawatts of rebates
available to qualified single-family and multi-family
affordable housing.
2)Funds the program up to $108 million collected from customers
of investor-owned utilities.
3)Requires eligible participants to enroll in the utility Energy
Savings Assistance Program (ESAP).
4)Requires the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to
determine program elements to maximize overall benefit to
ratepayers.
5)Sunsets the program December 31, 2021.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Creates the California Solar Initiative (CSI) with a goal to
install solar energy systems with a generation capacity of
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3,000 megawatts, to make solar energy systems a viable
mainstream option for both homes and businesses in 10 years,
and to place solar energy systems on 50% of new homes in 13
years.
2)Specifies no less than 10% of the overall CSI funding is to be
directed toward programs assisting low-income households in
obtaining the benefits of solar technology.
3)Establishes a $217 million budget within CSI program to fund
the low-income solar rebate program.
4)Permits PUC to adopt decisions that established the
Single-Family Affordable Solar Homes Program (SASH) and the
Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing Program (MASH), which
provide monetary incentives for the installation of solar
energy systems on low-income residential housing.
5)States SASH and MASHP programs will operate until December 31,
2015, or until budgeted funds are exhausted, whichever occurs
sooner.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)By extending the surcharge, investor-owned utility customers
will pay increased rates of up to $108 million to fund the
low-income rebate programs.
2)Increased administrative costs of approximately $120,000 to
PUC.
COMMENTS :
1)Background : Pursuant to SB 1 (Murray), Chapter 132, Statutes
of 2006, a statewide goal to
install solar energy systems, with a generation capacity of
3,000 megawatts, to make solar energy systems a viable
mainstream option for both homes and businesses in 10 years.
This is known as the Go Solar California Campaign and there is
a statewide budget of $3.5 billion. The statewide effort also
includes CSI Program which is administered by PUC. The
purpose of CSI is to offer a $2.2 billion ratepayer funded
solar rebate program with a goal to install 1,940 megawatts of
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new solar electric systems on existing homes in investor-owned
utility (IOU) service territory by 2015.
AB 2723 (Pavley), Chapter 864, Statutes of 2006, required PUC
to ensure that not less than 10% of the CSI funds are used for
the installation of solar energy systems on low-income
residential housing and authorized the PUC to incorporate a
revolving loan or loan guarantee program for this purpose.
SASH Program provides higher incentives for low-income single
family homeowners. SASH is currently implemented by GRID
Alternatives (GRID), a non-profit solar contractor.
MASH program provides higher incentives for low-income
multifamily low-income residences and is implemented by the
respective IOUs - Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Southern
California Edison (SCE), and California Center for Sustainable
Energy in San Diego Gas and Electric territory (SDG&E).
SASH and MASH programs began in 2009 and each has a total
budget of $108 million.
Both programs were specifically designed to provide
appropriate incentives that allowed low-income homeowners and
multi-family tenants to benefit from California's growing
solar economy.
2)Continuing investments in low-income solar programs : This
bill establishes a low-income
solar program to continue providing the widespread benefits of
the existing programs to families and communities who
otherwise would not have access to solar. The proposed
program will be funded at $108 million - which is 50% less
than the existing program budget- over seven years. One of
the goals of CSI was to create a sustainable solar market, and
this has been occurring for general market customers through
lower solar prices and the rise of innovative financing models
(lease and power purchase agreements (PPAs)), which have
allowed more middle-income folks to invest in solar. Though
solar pricing has decreased since CSI began, the upfront cost
of solar will remain a barrier for low-income families and
will require additional price support to maintain their access
to solar.
According to PUC, SASH and MASH programs have installed
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approximately 25 megawatts to low-income residences. As of
February 2013, 2,500 single-family homes and over 280
multifamily residences have received solar energy systems
through SASH and MASH programs, respectively. SASH and MASH
programs sunset in 2015. In some territories, the programs
anticipate their incentive budgets will be fully reserved well
before the programs' sunset date in 2015. In some areas, the
programs may end as early as late 2013.
Analysis Prepared by : DaVina Flemings / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083
FN: 0000931