BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 489
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   February 17, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                AB 489 (Skinner) - As Introduced:   February 19, 2013

          Policy Committee:                              Natural  
          ResourcesVote:6-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill removes the requirement for the California Energy  
          Commission (CEC) to fund the development of its Comprehensive  
          Energy Efficiency Program for Existing Buildings (AB 758  
          program) with American Recovery and Reinvestment (ARRA) funds or  
          other non-state funds available to the Commission for this  
          purpose.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)No fiscal impact to the CEC.   This bill aligns statute with  
            actions taken in the 2010/11 Budget Act authorizing the use of  
            funds from the Energy Resources Program Account (ERPA) for the  
            administration of the program.

          2)Unknown cost pressure, potentially in the millions of dollars,  
            to fund AB 758 efficiency and retrofit projects. 


           COMMENTS  

          1)  Background.    Previously enacted legislation, AB 758  
            (Skinner), Statutes of 2009, required the Energy Commission to  
            develop an energy efficiency program for existing residential  
            and commercial buildings.  The statute limited program funding  
            to ARRA and other non-state funds.  When the program was  
            created, the author expressed her intent for the AB 758  
            program to be an ongoing program funded by any available  
            sources.
             
          2)Purpose.   This bill aligns statute with Budget actions and  








                                                                  AB 489
                                                                  Page  2

            allows the AB 758 program to be funded with available state  
            funds.  
                 
            3)AB 758 ARRA Projects.
                 
           In 2009, The CEC implemented 11 pilot projects throughout the  
          state to assess and retrofit inefficient residential and  
          commercial buildings in the following categories:

          a)$116 million for residential.

          b)$30 million for targeted commercial.

          c)$27.5 million for the Department of General Services.

          d)$18.8 million for Clean Energy Workforce Training Programs  
            (CEWTP).

           1)ERPA Funds.  Most CEC activities are funded through a  
            surcharge on all electricity provided by Investor Owed  
            Utilities and Publicly Owned Utilities.   The proceeds from  
            the surcharge are deposited in the ERPA account.  
             
           2)Previous Legislation.   This bill is identical to the  
            introduced version of AB 2408 (Skinner), 2012.  AB 2408 passed  
            off the Appropriations Committee Suspense File 12-5 and  
            amended in the Senate to an unrelated topic. 
           

           
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081