BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair


          AB 489 (Skinner) - Energy: conservation.
          
          Amended: As introduced          Policy Vote: EU&C 6-2
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: August 30, 2013                     Consultant:  
          Marie Liu     
          
          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  








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          the 2010-11 Budget Act, which authorized the use of funds from  
          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.