AB 489, as introduced, Skinner. Energy: conservation.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), by March 1, 2010, to establish a regulatory proceeding to develop a comprehensive program to achieve greater energy savings in the state’s existing residential and nonresidential building stock. The Energy Commission is required to periodically update the comprehensive program to improve or refine the program requirements and report on the status of the program in the integrated energy policy report. The Energy Commission is required to fund these activities from the Federal Trust Fund consistent with the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or other sources of nonstate funds available to the commission.
This bill would repeal the provision requiring the commission to fund these activities in this manner.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 25943 of the Public Resources Code is
2amended to read:
(a) (1) By March 1, 2010, the commission shall
2establish a regulatory proceeding to develop and implement a
3comprehensive program to achieve greater energy savings in
4California’s existing residential and nonresidential building stock.
5This program shall comprise a complementary portfolio of
6techniques, applications, and practices that will achieve greater
7energy efficiency in existing residential and nonresidential
8structures that fall significantly below the current standards in Title
924 of the California Code of Regulations, as determined by the
10commission.
11(2) The comprehensive program may include, but need not be
12limited to, a broad range of energy assessments, building
13benchmarking, energy rating, cost-effective energy efficiency
14
improvements, public and private sector energy efficiency
15financing options, public outreach and education efforts, and green
16workforce training.
17(b) To develop and implement the program specified in
18subdivision (a), the commission shall do both of the following:
19(1) Coordinate with the Public Utilities Commission and consult
20with representatives from the Department of Real Estate, the
21Department of Housing and Community Development,
22investor-owned and publicly owned utilities, local governments,
23real estate licensees, commercial and home builders, commercial
24property owners, small businesses, mortgage lenders, financial
25institutions, home appraisers, inspectors, energy rating
26organizations, consumer groups, environmental and environmental
27justice groups, and other entities the commission deems
28appropriate.
29(2) Hold
at least three public hearings in geographically diverse
30locations throughout the state.
31(c) In developing the requirements for the program specified in
32subdivision (a), the commission shall consider all of the following:
33(1) The amount of annual and peak energy savings, greenhouse
34gas emission reductions, and projected customer utility bill savings
35that will accrue from the program.
36(2) The most cost-effective means and reasonable timeframes
37to achieve the goals of the program.
38(3) The various climatic zones within the state.
P3 1(4) An appropriate method to inform and educate the public
2about the need for, benefits of, and environmental impacts of, the
3comprehensive energy efficiency
program.
4(5) The most effective way to report the energy assessment
5results and the corresponding energy efficiency improvements to
6the owner of the residential or nonresidential building, including,
7among other things, the following:
8(A) Prioritizing the identified energy efficiency improvements.
9(B) The payback period or cost-effectiveness of each
10improvement identified.
11(C) The various incentives, loans, grants, and rebates offered
12to finance the improvements.
13(D) Available financing options including all of the following:
14(i) Mortgages or sales agreement components.
15(ii) On-bill financing.
16(iii) Contractual property tax assessments.
17(iv) Home warranties.
18(6) Existing statutory and regulatory requirements to achieve
19energy efficiency savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions.
20(7) A broad range of implementation approaches, including both
21utility and nonutility administration of energy efficiency programs.
22(8) Any other considerations deemed appropriate by the
23commission.
24(d) The program developed pursuant to this section shall do all
25of the following:
26(1) Minimize the overall costs of establishing and
implementing
27the comprehensive energy efficiency program requirements.
28(2) Ensure, for residential buildings, that the energy efficiency
29assessments, ratings, or improvements do not unreasonably or
30unnecessarily affect the home purchasing process or the ability of
31individuals to rent housing. A transfer of property subject to the
32program implemented pursuant to this section shall not be
33invalidated solely because of the failure of a person to comply
34with a provision of the program.
35(3) Ensure, for nonresidential buildings, that the energy
36improvements do not have an undue economic impact on California
37businesses.
38(4) Determine, for residential buildings, the appropriateness of
39the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) program to support the
P4 1goals of this section and whether there are a sufficient number of
2HERS-certified
raters available to meet the program requirements.
3(5) Determine, for nonresidential structures, the availability of
4an appropriate cost-effective energy efficiency assessment system
5and whether there are a sufficient number of certified raters or
6auditors available to meet the program requirements.
7(6) Coordinate with the California Workforce Investment Board,
8the Employment Training Panel, the California Community
9Colleges, and other entities to ensure a qualified, well-trained
10workforce is available to implement the program requirements.
11(7) Coordinate with, and avoid duplication of, existing
12proceedings of the Public Utilities Commission and programs
13administered by utilities.
14(e) A home energy rating or energy assessment service does not
15meet the
requirements of this section unless the service has been
16certified by the commission to be in compliance with the program
17criteria developed pursuant to this section and is in conformity
18with other applicable elements of the program.
19(f) The commission shall periodically update the criteria and
20adopt any revision that, in its judgment, is necessary to improve
21or refine program requirements after receiving public input.
22(g) Before implementing an element of the program developed
23pursuant to subdivision (a) that requires the expansion of statutory
24authority of the commission or the Public Utilities Commission,
25the commission and the Public Utilities Commission shall obtain
26legislative approval for the expansion of their authorities.
27(h) The commission shall report on the status of the program in
28the integrated energy
policy report pursuant to Section 25302.
29(i) The commission shall fund activities undertaken pursuant
30to this section from the Federal Trust Fund consistent with the
31federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public
32Law 111-5) or other sources of nonstate funds available to the
33commission for the purposes of this section.
34(j)
end delete
35begin insert(i)end insert For purposes of this section, “energy assessment” means a
36determination of an energy user’s energy consumption level,
37relative efficiency compared to other users, and opportunities to
38achieve greater efficiency
or improve energy resource utilization.
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