BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 793 (Gray) - Renewable energy: publically owned electric
utility: hydroelectric generation facility.
Amended: July 9, 2013 Policy Vote: EU&C 11-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 12, 2013 Consultant:
Marie Liu
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 793 would prohibit Merced Irrigation District's
Renewable Portfolio Standard obligation from exceeding its
retail sales that are not supplied by the New Exchequer Dam.
Fiscal Impact: One-time costs of $70,000 from the Energy
Resources Programs Account (General Fund) to update regulations
in FY 2013-14.
Background: The Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requires
invest-owned utilities, publically owned utilities, community
choice aggregators, and energy service providers to increase
purchases of renewable energy so that 33% of total retail sales
are procured from renewable energy resources by December 31,
2020. In the interim, each entity would be required to procure
an average of 20% of renewable energy for the period of January
1, 2011 through December 31, 2013 and 25% by December 31, 2016.
(PUC §399.11 et seq.)
Hydroelectric generation is only eligible as a renewable energy
source under RPS if the facility produces 30 megawatts or less
or 40 megawatts or less if the hydroelectric generation units
are operated as part of a water supply or conveyance system in
operation prior to 2005. (PRC §25741)
Existing law allows specified publically owned utilities that
have ownership or long-term contracts for generation from large
hydroelectric generation resources, including Trinity and the
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, to base its RPS
procurement obligations only on the electricity demands
unsatisfied by hydroelectric generation. (PUC §399.30)
AB 793 (Gray)
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The New Exchequer Dam is part of the Merced River Hydroelectric
Project in Mariposa County and is operated by the Merced
Irrigation District, which is a publically owned utility. The
dam and hydroelectric facility was put into service in 1967 and
currently has a capacity of 94.5 megawatts. While the facility
is owned and operated by the Merced Irrigation District,
currently Pacific Gas and Electric receives all the electricity
under a contract which expires on July 1, 2014.
Proposed Law: This bill would prohibit a publically owned
utility that owns and operates a hydroelectric facility from
being required to procure eligible renewable energy resources in
excess of retail sales not supplied by its own generation
provided that the hydroelectric generation meets certain
requirements. The specific requirements include that the
hydroelectric generation must be from a facility that: is owned
and operated by the utility as of 1967, serves a utility with a
distribution system demand of less than 150 MW, and is under
contract but will revert to ownership and control of the utility
after June 2014.
Related Legislation: SB 591(Canella) is substantially similar to
this bill and is currently in Asm. Natural Resources.
Staff Comments: This bill's description of a hydroelectric
facility only fits the New Exchequer Dam which is owned by the
Merced Irrigation District.
Proposed regulations to implement the RPS statue were released
by the CEC on March 1, 2013. Should this bill pass, these
regulations will have to be updated. The CEC estimates that such
an update is likely to take approximately half a PY (Energy
Resource Specialist) for a one-time cost of $70,000.