BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 719
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 719 (Roger Hernández)
As Amended April 16, 2013
Majority vote
UTILITIES & COMMERCE 10-3
APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Bradford, Bonilla, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Buchanan, Fong, Garcia, | |Bradford, |
| |Roger Hernández, Quirk, | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| |Rendon, Skinner, Williams | |Eggman, Gomez, Hall, |
| | | |Ammiano, Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Patterson, Beth Gaines, |Nays:|Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Jones | |Donnelly, Linder, Wagner |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Requires an electrical corporation to replace
low-efficiency light bulbs with high-efficiency light bulbs in
street light poles that the electrical corporation owns.
Specifically, this bill :
a)Requires electrical corporations, as part of the energy
efficiency targets established by the California Public
Utilities Commission (PUC), to replace low-efficiency light
bulbs with high-efficiency light bulbs in street light poles
that the electrical corporation owns, at the same rate as the
city, county, or city and county in which any of the
electrical corporation's street light poles are located or at
the highest rate of an adjacent city or county if the street
light poles are located in a city or county that does not own
any street light poles.
b)Expresses the intent of the Legislature that this program be
funded through existing collection mechanisms, and that the
implementation of this program not result in an increase in
any amount collected.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, increased state costs of administering the tariff of
AB 719
Page 2
approximately $120,000 (special fund).
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement . According to the author, "Our street
lights are neglected public facilities that are operating on
outdated energy technology with cities footing the higher
energy costs associated with this old technology. Corporate
utilities that stand by without making energy efficiency
retrofits, profit from the status quo when more energy is
consumed by their customers, at the expense of the tax payers
and the environment. In my district, of the 653,209 street
lights that the servicing utility company owns, only 16 of
those have been replaced with energy efficiency lighting. That
is less than two tens of thousandths of one percent (0.000025)
of their street lights. Something has to be done to provide
relief to our cities and counties, particularly when they are
making strides and efforts of their own in addressing the
matter."
2)Who Owns the Street Lights ? Street light poles can be owned
by local governments, Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs),
homeowner associations, or private parties. According to data
provided by PUC, local government and IOUs own the following
number of street light poles:
------------------------------------------
|Utility | IOU owned | Local |
| | | Government |
| | | Owned |
|----------------+-----------+-------------|
|PG&E | 175,585 | 554,000 |
|----------------+-----------+-------------|
|SCE | 653,209 | 115,460 |
|----------------+-----------+-------------|
|SDG&E | 27,981 |119,469 |
| | | |
------------------------------------------
The local government pays the energy bill for the street light
regardless of whether the pole is owned by the government or
the utility.
A number of cities in California have received loans and
AB 719
Page 3
grants to fund energy efficient streetlight replacements
through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(AARA), administered by the California Energy Commission
(CEC). It is not known how many cities have converted street
lights without assistance or how many will be able to convert
assistance now that the grant program has stopped accepting
new applications (although some new assistance may be
available through revolving loan programs).
Of the local government owned poles, roughly 20% in Pacific
Gas and Electric (PG&E) area have been converted, about 1% in
Southern California Edison's (SCE's) area have been converted,
and about 40% of San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) area poles
have been converted. Very few utility-owned poles (less than
40 total) have been converted.
3)Who's Motivated to Convert Street Lights ? Generally it is the
entity paying the energy bill that has a motivation to reduce
energy consumption. In this situation, the pole is owned by
the utility and the local government pays the energy bill. As
a result, local governments are motivated to find ways to
reduce energy usage and save money.
Currently, local governments are eligible for ratepayer-funded
rebates to help reduce street light conversion costs. PUC has
not allowed utilities to be eligible for ratepayer-funded
rebates for this purpose.
PG&E is proposing to replace up to 160,000 non-decorative
utility-owned streetlights in its 2014 General Rate Case.
PG&E is proposing that the costs for the program through an
adjustment in the facility charge for customers who elect to
participate in and benefit from the program. PG&E estimates
replacing High Pressure Sodium Vapor (HPSV) with Light
Emitting Diodes (LEDs) will save 52.8 million kilowatt-hours
annually, reduce customer energy bills (which includes the
cost of the facility charge), and improve reliability through
fewer streetlight burnouts.
4)New Technologies May or May Not Meet the Service Requirements
for Street Lights . HPSV lights are the predominant type of
street light technology. Energy efficiency opportunities for
improving street lights can be accomplished via induction
lights or LED lights. Depending on models and usage,
AB 719
Page 4
induction lights can reduce energy consumption by 10% to 50%
and last up to four times longer than HPSV lights. LED lights
can reduce energy consumption by up to 50% and last twice as
long as HSPV lights.
LED lighting systems do not have established standards
therefore there may be financial risks with purchasing
currently-available technology that does not deliver the type
and level of lighting necessary to provide similar level of
lighting services that were provided by the HSPV technology.
According to a 2011 report by the Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute's Lighting Research Center which tested various
streetlight technologies against design criteria specified by
the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the tested
LED streetlights required from 3% to 92% more poles per mile
than the base case to meet the ANSI standard. Pole
configuration (staggered vs. single sided). The study found
that with the additional poles necessary to achieve equivalent
lighting the net energy consumption would increase an average
of 51% to 41% more per mile. Rensselaer estimated that an
incentive range of $250 to $1550 per streetlight in addition
to a volume discount for an LED with a life of 25,000 hours or
longer or an induction streetlight would be needed to achieve
a lower life-cycle cost per mile than the study's base case.
As lighting technologies improve, it is likely these issues
will be addressed.
Alternatively, or in addition, control technologies could help
reduce street light energy consumption by dimming or turning
off the lamp during certain specified time periods.
5)Street Lights Perform a Service . Communities use street
lights to provide a public benefit. Examples of public benefit
include providing enhanced visibility at intersections where
vehicles might encounter pedestrians or to deter criminals who
benefit from the cover of darkness. According to United States
(U.S.) Department of Justice, it street lighting is not always
that straightforward and some crime-prevention experts
hypothesize that street light can sometimes increase crime
(nighttime as well as daytime). For purposes of safety, U.S.
Department of Justice, in its report on "Improving Street
Lighting to Reduce Crime in Residential Areas," they describe
several considerations for police to consider for specific
lighting improvement projects:
AB 719
Page 5
a) Product life;
b) Energy Efficiency;
c) Color rendering (the perceived color of an object);
d) Optical Control (direction of light distribution);
e) Brightness (of the object and the light emanating from
the lamp);
f) Vertical illumination (the measure of light delivered at
a sufficient height from the ground so that people can see
the faces of other pedestrians); and
g) Glare.
Analysis Prepared by : Susan Kateley / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083
FN: 0000556