BILL ANALYSIS � 1
SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
ALEX PADILLA, CHAIR
AB 270 - Bradford Hearing Date:
June 18, 2013 A
As Amended: April 16, 2013 FISCAL B
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DESCRIPTION
Current law requires electrical and gas corporations (IOUs) to
pursue all cost effective and feasible energy efficiency and
demand reduction resources to meet unmet resource needs before
additional energy procurement. The (California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC) is required to identify potential energy
efficiency savings and establish targets for electrical and gas
utilities. (Public Utilities Codes 454.5-454.56)
This bill directs the CPUC to require that the IOUs produce a
single web site for public access of information regarding
energy efficiency programs including data on site location,
project cost, and projected energy savings. Customer specific
information would be excluded from the website as defined in
current law.
Current law requires that the CPUC prepare a written report to
the Legislature detailing mandated programs and their costs to
ratepayers. (PUC �747)
This bill requires the CPUC to report on its efforts to identify
ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs that are similar to
programs administered by other state agencies. The CPUC is also
required to make revisions to programs to ensure they are
complimentary and not duplicative of other state efforts.
BACKGROUND
Energy Efficiency - California has pursued its energy demand
reduction goals through two primary avenues: utility-sponsored
programs to reduce end-user consumption, and codes and standards
designed to lower the energy use of buildings and appliances. By
2004, these efforts had cumulatively saved more than 40,000
gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity and 12,000 megawatts (MW) of
peak electricity, equivalent to 24 500-MW power plants. More
than half of the statewide savings has come from the building
and appliance standards, with the balance resulting from
programs implemented by the state's IOUs and local
publicly-owned utilities (POUs). As a result of these efforts
California's energy use per capita has remained stable for more
than 30 years while the national per capita average has
increased by 40 percent and is nearly double that of California.
Energy efficiency is at the top of the "loading order," and
California's utilities are required to first meet their energy
needs through cost-effective energy efficiency measures before
renewable and conventional generation. The state's IOUs and, to
a lesser extent, the publicly owned utilities, administer
hundreds of energy efficiency programs that provide financial
incentives and rebates for installing energy efficient
appliances, lighting, windows, HVAC systems and other
technologies or measures. The Legislative Analyst Office (LAO)
reports that these programs have totaled $9 billion in ratepayer
funding since IOUs began administering them in 1998<1>. The CPUC
reports the IOUs have requested roughly $2 billion in funding
for energy efficiency programs in 2013-2014, including HVAC,
lighting, government partnerships, non-residential custom
projects, and financing programs. These programs are expected to
generate 4,670 GWh of energy savings in that cycle.
A summary of funding of previous and ongoing programs follows:
$1 billion per year from IOU ratepayers for programs
approved by the CPUC through 2014, with $220 million for
financing and expansion of the "Energy Upgrade
California" program offering residential energy
efficiency incentives and rebates up to $4,500 per
customer.
$25 million in ratepayer funds for a "Clean Energy
Upgrade Financing" program required by ABx1 14 (Skinner,
2011) to finance energy efficiency retrofits with loans
administered by the California Alternative Energy and
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<1> Roberts, T., Simbol, A., and Taylor, M. "Energy Efficiency
and Alternative Energy Programs", LAO, 2012
http://www.lao.ca.gov/laoapp/PubDetails.aspx?id=2677
Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (CAEATFA)
within the State Treasurer's Office.
$300 million per year from IOU ratepayers for free
energy efficiency and weatherization services for IOU
low-income customers approved by the CPUC.
$30 million per year in federal funding for free
weatherization services for low-income residents
administered by the California Department of Community
Services and Development (CDCS).
$185 million in one-time funding for free
weatherization services for low-income residents from the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)
administered by CDCS.
$280 million in one-time ARRA funds for energy
efficiency programs administered or coordinated by the
California Energy Commission (CEC), including Energy
Upgrade California and several pilot programs designed to
develop best practices for energy efficiency retrofits of
California's buildings constructed prior to adoption of
Title 24 energy efficiency building standards. These
pilots are intended to help CEC develop a comprehensive
energy efficiency strategy for this old building stock,
as required by AB 758 (Skinner, 2009).
COMMENTS
1. Author's Purpose . The author argues that California's
energy efficiency programs need collaboration,
accountability, and transparency to ensure their
effectiveness. The author believes that a public website
that aggregates the IOUs' efforts will bring public
transparency. Furthermore, by requiring the CPUC to
identify programs that overlap with other agency programs,
the state can better coordinate its efforts and reduce the
number of duplicative programs.
2. Inter-Agency Collaboration . This bill requires the CPUC
to identify programs that overlap with other state agency
programs including the CEC, the State Air Resources Board,
and the CAEATFA. This bill places the burden on the CPUC to
modify ratepayer funded programs to ensure that CPUC and
IOU efforts are complimentary to the other agency programs
and not duplicative. Is this the most cost-effective
prescription? Could it be more cost-effective to alter the
other agency-administered programs rather than the IOUs?
Furthermore, the bill does not address what is to occur if
a POU operates a program that is duplicative of a state
agency program. A more comprehensive top-down approach may
still be needed to provide a more holistic and
cost-effective approach to achieving the state's energy
efficiency goals.
3. Personal Information Protections . The bill requires that
certain personal information be excluded from the online
reports pursuant to current law and references those
sections. The IOUs and the CPUC are already bound by those
protections in current law and it is not necessary to
cross-reference those obligations. Additionally the bill
misstates the CPUC's obligation and incorrectly references
the Public Records Act. To prevent redundancy and the
potential for inadvertent modification of existing law, the
committee may wish to consider amending the bill to strike
lines 4-14, at page 4.
ASSEMBLY VOTES
Assembly Floor (70-0)
Assembly Appropriations Committee (17-0)
Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee
(15-0)
POSITIONS
Sponsor:
Author
Support:
Division of Ratepayer Advocates
Oppose:
None on file.
Kyle Hiner
AB 270 Analysis
Hearing Date: June 18, 2013