BILL NUMBER: AB 270 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 25, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 16, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 1, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bradford
FEBRUARY 7, 2013
An act to add Sections 589 and 747.6 to the Public Utilities Code,
relating to public utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 270, as amended, Bradford. Public utilities: ratepayer-funded
energy efficiency assistance.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has
regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical and
gas corporations. The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to
require electrical and gas corporations to establish various
ratepayer-funded energy efficiency assistance programs. Under
existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order,
decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission
is a crime.
This bill would require the commission to require the electrical
and gas corporations to cooperate in establishing, by June 1, 2014, a
publicly available Internet Web site containing specified
information regarding ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs.
Because a violation of this provision is a crime, this bill would
create a state-mandated local program.
(2) Existing law requires the commission to prepare and submit to
the Governor and the Legislature an annual report on the costs of
programs and activities conducted by each electrical and gas
corporation.
This bill would require the commission to include in that annual
report information on its effort to identify ratepayer-funded energy
efficiency programs that are similar to programs
administered by other specified state agencies and to require
revisions to ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs to ensure
that those programs complement and do not duplicate the programs of
other state agencies.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) It is in the public interest to be able to measure the
effectiveness of energy efficiency programs to ensure that the state'
s interest in achieving its energy efficiency and climate change
goals are met.
(b) Over the past 15 years, California ratepayers and taxpayers
have spent a combined total of roughly $15 billion to support
development of energy efficiency and renewable energy in California.
(c) California currently lacks a comprehensive framework that
coordinates its efforts among programs administered by the Public
Utilities Commission, the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, and the
California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing
Authority.
(d) Current expenditures planned for energy efficiency in 2012-13
are $1 billion, and, historically, $9 billion have been expended for
energy efficiency programs funded by California ratepayers.
(e) There currently exists an information gap that inhibits
assessment and monitoring of the expenditures of ratepayer funds
expended toward energy efficiency improvements and programs, and
research, development, and demonstration programs.
SEC. 2. Section 589 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
589. (a) In an existing or new proceeding, the commission shall
require the electrical and gas corporations to cooperate in
establishing a single Internet Web site available to the public that
provides up-to-date information, no less frequent than once every 30
days, regarding ratepayer-funded energy efficiency assistance
programs that, to the extent the information is available, in an
aggregate format that would not provide identifying information about
individual customers of the electrical and gas corporations, include
all of the following:
(1) The types of energy efficiency measures installed.
(2) The location of each customer receiving ratepayer-funded
energy efficiency assistance.
(3) The amount of funds expended at each site.
(4) The expected annual energy savings and reduced energy usage
expected in kilowatthours or therms.
(b) (1) The commission shall order the electrical and gas
corporations to establish, based on data, ratepayer-funded energy
efficiency assistance program reports on program totals, geographical
and monthly statistics, cost distribution, and progress toward
program goals.
(2) The electrical and gas corporations shall make the reports
available on the Internet Web site established pursuant to
subdivision (a).
(c) The commission shall require the electrical and gas
corporations to publish data, including the amount expended, on the
ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs that are not direct
retrofits, including, but not limited to, research on building and
appliance standards and marketing and outreach, on the Internet Web
site established pursuant to subdivision (a).
(d) The commission shall take necessary steps to ensure the
Internet Web site established pursuant to subdivision (a) is
available to the public on or before June 1, 2014.
(e) The commission shall have a link to the Internet Web site
established pursuant to subdivision (a) on the commission's Internet
Web site and require the electrical and gas corporations to have a
link to the Internet Web site established pursuant to subdivision (a)
on the appropriate page of the Internet Web site of each electrical
and gas corporation.
(f) Unless the affected person, customer, or entity consents, the
information, data, and reports required to be provided pursuant to
this section shall not include any of the following:
(1) Personal information as defined in subdivision (e) of Section
1798.80 of the Civil Code.
(2) A customer's electrical or gas consumption data as defined in
subdivision (a) of Section 8380.
(3) Other information excluded from public disclosure pursuant to
the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 6250) of Division 7 of Part 1 of the Government Code).
SEC. 3. Section 747.6 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
747.6. The commission shall report annually on its effort to
identify ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs that are similar
to programs administered by the Energy Commission, the State Air
Resources Board, and the California Alternative Energy and Advanced
Transportation Financing Authority in its annual report prepared
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 747 and to require revisions
to ratepayer-funded programs, as necessary, to ensure that the
ratepayer-funded programs complement and do not duplicate programs of
other state agencies.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.