Amended in Assembly April 23, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 9, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 21, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1295

Introduced by Assembly Member Roger Hernández

February 22, 2013

An act to add and repeal Chapter 7.6 (commencing with Section 2831) of Part 2 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1295, as amended, Roger Hernández. Public utilities: renewable energy: community renewables option.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory jurisdiction over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined, while local publicly owned electric utilities, as defined, are under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Under existing law, the local government renewable energy self-generation program authorizes a local government, as defined, to receive a bill credit, as defined, to be applied to a designated benefiting account for electricity exported to the electrical grid by an eligible renewable generating facility, as defined, and requires the commission to adopt a rate tariff for the benefiting account.

The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program, referred to as the RPS program, requires a retail seller of electricity, as defined, and local publicly owned electric utilities to purchase specified minimum quantities of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, for specified compliance periods, sufficient to ensure that the procurement of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources achieves 20% of retail sales for the period January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2013, inclusive, 25% of retail sales by December 31, 2016, and 33% of retail sales by December 31, 2020, and in all subsequent years. The RPS program, consistent with the goals of procuring the least-cost and best-fit eligible renewable energy resources that meet project viability principles, requires that all retail sellers procure a balanced portfolio of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as specified.

This bill would require an electrical corporation to include provisions in its tariff and addenda to a standard contract or allow an electrical generation facility, as defined, to participate in the community renewables option that would allow the facility to assign the payment by the electrical corporation due to that facility to a subscribing customer, as defined, in the form of a bill credit. begin insert The bill would require the commission to authorize the tariff by July 1, 2014. end insert The bill would, on and after January 1, 2016, require the commission to evaluate the demand for the community renewables option. If the commission finds that the community renewables option should be discontinued, the bill would make the above provisions inoperative. The bill would begin delete require end delete begin insert authorize end insert a local publicly owned utility begin delete , by July 1, 2015, end delete to offer a comparable community renewables option begin delete and would require the governing board of the local publicly owned utility to review and approve the community renewables option end delete . This bill would repeal the provision of the community renewables option on January 1, 2020.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Chapter 7.6 (commencing with Section 2831) is
added to Part 2 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, to read:

 

Chapter  7.6. Community Renewables Facility

 

2831.  

As used in this article, the following terms mean the
following:

(a) “Community renewables facility” means an electric
generation facility that has elected to participate in the community
renewables option.

(b) “Community renewables option” means the right of an
electric generation facility to assign the payment by the electrical
corporation due to that facility in accordance with this article to
subscribing customers of the electrical corporation in the form of
a bill credit.

(c) “Electric generation facility” means an electric generation
facility located within the service territory of, and developed to
sell electricity to, an electrical corporation that meets all of the
following criteria:

(1) Has an effective capacity of not more than three megawatts.

(2) Is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical
transmission and distribution grid.

(3) Is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical
transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the
deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers.

(4) Is an eligible renewable energy resource, as defined in
Section 399.12.

(5) Meets all the requirements established pursuant to Section
399.20 that are applicable to electric generation facilities.

(d) “Feed-in tariff payment” means the payment that is due to
the electric generation facility in accordance with the tariff or
standard contract established pursuant to Section 399.20 as
described in a monthly total payment.

(e) “Subscribing customer” means a customer of an electrical
corporation who has subscribed to the output of a community
renewables facility.

(f) “Subscription amount” means the percentage of kilowatthours
delivered to an electrical corporation from a community renewables
facility to which a subscribing customer has subscribed.

(g) “Unsubscribed output” means the percentage of
kilowatthours delivered to an electrical corporation from a
community renewables facility to which no subscribing customer
has subscribed.

2831.5.  

A community renewables facility is not an electrical
corporation, as defined in Section 218 or an electric service
provider, as defined in Section 218.3.

2832.  

(a) An electrical corporation shall include provisions in
its tariff and an addendum to a standard contract developed
pursuant to Section 399.20 to provide for a community renewables
option allowing a community renewables facility to assign the
payment of electricity begin insert , adjusted to remove the value of any
renewable attributes if the customer elects to retain the renewable
attributes, end insert by the electrical corporation due to that facility to a
subscribing customer in the form of a bill credit.

(b) The subscribing customer’s bill credit shall be calculated as
the feed-in tariff payment multiplied by the customer’s subscription
amount.

(c) In approving the tariff, the commission shall ensure all of
the following:

(1) Customers that do not participate in the community
renewables option are indifferent to whether other customers
participate in the community renewables option, and no costs are
shifted from subscribing customers to nonsubscribing customers.

(2) An electric generation facility that has executed a standard
contract with an electrical corporation and has begun deliveries
pursuant to the contract may, in its sole discretion, elect to become
a community renewables facility.

(3) (A) The community renewables facility is solely responsible
for any and all arrangements, agreements, or disputes with its
subscribing customers concerning the community renewables
option. The community renewables facility shall communicate, in
writing, to the electrical corporation, in a timely manner, to be
specified in the electrical corporation’s tariff and contract
addendum described in subdivision (c), but not less than once per
year, information necessary for the electrical corporation to make
payment under the standard contract and addendum to the standard
contract that begin delete , include, end delete begin insert includes, end insert but is not limited to, all of the
following:

(i) The name of each subscribing customer.

(ii) The service address and service account number of each
subscribing customer to which a bill credit should be applied.

(iii) Each subscribing customer’s subscription amount.

(iv) The unsubscribed output, if any, for which payment should
be made directly to the community renewables facility.

(B) The electrical corporation shall not be a party to an
arrangement or agreement between the community renewables
facility and the subscribing customer.

(4) The electrical corporation shall continue to bill subscribing
customers for all electricity consumed pursuant to each subscribing
customer’s otherwise applicable tariff. The payments made to a
subscribing customer in the form of a bill credit shall be applied
to the subscribing customer’s monthly bill calculated pursuant to
the customer’s otherwise applicable tariff.

(5) The electrical corporation shall pay the community
renewables facility for any unsubscribed output by multiplying
the unsubscribed output by the feed-in tariff payment.

(6) All electricity purchases by an electrical corporation pursuant
to this section shall be credited towards the electrical corporation’s
procurement requirements pursuant to Section 399.15 and shall
count toward the electrical corporation’s proportionate share of
the statewide cap specified in Section 399.20.

(d)  begin delete The end delete begin insert No later than July 1, 2014, the end insert commission shall begin delete not end delete
authorize begin insert the tariff for end insert the community renewables option begin delete until it
has adopted the tariff end delete consistent with this section.

(e) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (5) of subdivision (c)
of Section 2831, the commission may allow the renewable
programs adopted by the commission in commission decisions
10-12-048 and 09-06-049 to include a community renewables
option if the community renewable option meets the requirements
of subdivision (c). If the commission elects to establish a
community renewables option pursuant to this subdivision, the
subscribing customer’s monthly bill credit shall be calculated as
the amount that would begin delete be end delete otherwise be paid to the participating
renewable generator in accordance with the power purchase
contract between the utility and the renewable generator multiplied
by the customer’s subscription amount, and all purchases pursuant
to this subdivision shall count towards the electrical corporation’s
proportional share of the program’s cap.

(f) An electrical corporation shall recover from the community
renewables facility any costs of implementing the community
renewables option reasonably attributable to the community
facility. Any implementation costs not reasonably attributable to
the community renewables facility shall be recovered from the
ratepayers, as determined by the commission.

(g) If a customer participates in direct transactions pursuant to
paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 365 or Section 365.1,
the electrical corporation that provides distribution service for the
customer is not obligated to allow that customer to participate in
a community renewables option.

(h) On or before July 1, 2015, an energy service provider or
community choice aggregator shall offer a comparable community
renewables option of eligible renewable energy resources as
defined in Section 399.12 in accordance with the procurement
practices of that load serving entity. The commission shall review
and approve the community renewables option proposed by the
load serving entity to ensure that it is comparable to the
requirements specified in subdivision (c).

(i) (1) On and after January 1, 2016, the commission shall
evaluate the demand for the community renewables option and
consider whether to continue offering a community renewables
option.

(2) If the commission determines that the community renewables
option should terminate, the commission shall issue an order to
that effect and deliver a copy of the order to the Secretary of State.
The section shall become inoperative on the effective date of the
order.

2832.5.  

begin delete On or before July 1, 2015, a end delete begin insert A end insert local publicly owned
electric utility required to comply with Section 399.32 begin delete shall end delete begin insert may end insert
offer a comparable community renewables option for an electric
generation facility as defined in Section 399.32. begin delete The governing
board of the local publicly owned electric utility shall review and
approve the community renewables option. end delete

2833.  

This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.