BILL ANALYSIS Ó Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary Senator Kevin de León, Chair AB 489 (Skinner) - Energy: conservation. Amended: As introduced Policy Vote: EU&C 6-2 Urgency: No Mandate: No Hearing Date: July 1, 2013 Consultant: Marie Liu This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: AB 489 would allow state funds to be used to achieve energy efficiency improvements in existing buildings under the AB 758 program. Fiscal Impact: Unknown cost pressures, potentially in the millions of dollars to fund efficiency and retrofit projects under the AB 758 program. Background: The AB 758 Program requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to develop and implement a comprehensive program to achieve greater energy savings in California's existing residential and nonresidential building stock. Section 25943 of the PRC restricts the funding of the AB 759 program to monies from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and other non-state funds. The CEC was awarded $280 million in one-time ARRA funds for this program. The ARRA funds have since been spent down and expired. In order to continue the CEC's work, the 2010-11Budget Act authorized 10 permanent positions plus $500,000 for outside contracts funded by the Energy Resource Program Account (ERPA), a state fund, contrary to PRC §25943. Proposed Law: This bill would delete the requirement that the AB 489 program be paid for only by funds from ARRA and other non-state sources. Related Legislation: AB 2408 (Skinner), as introduced, was identical to this bill but was later amended to address an unrelated matter. Staff Comments: This bill aligns statute with actions taken in the 2010-11 Budget Act, which authorized the use of funds from > (>) Page 1 the Energy Resources Program Account (ERPA) for the administration of the AB 758 program. However, removing the statutory restriction creates a cost pressure on the ERPA to fund projects above and beyond what has already been appropriated to the CEC.