BILL ANALYSIS Ó 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