Amended in Assembly May 24, 2013

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 begin delete include provisions in its tariff and addenda to a standard contract or allow an electrical generation facility, as defined, to participate in the end delete begin insert provide a end insert community renewables option begin delete 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 end delete begin insert allowing a subscribing customer’s bill be adjusted to reflect the customer’s subscription in the output of a community renewables facility end insert . The bill would require the commission to authorize the tariff begin insert for community renewables option end insert by July 1, 2014. 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 authorize a local publicly owned utility to offer a comparable community renewables option. 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 begin delete 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 end delete begin insert participate in a program that allows a customer to
subscribe to the output of an electric generation facility end insert .

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

begin delete

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

(c)

end delete

begin insert (b) end insert  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
begin delete addendum described in subdivision (c) end delete , but not less than once per
year, information necessary for the electrical corporation to begin delete make
payment under the standard contract and addendum to the standard
contract that includes end delete begin insert administer the community renewables option
that 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 begin delete credit end delete begin insert adjustment end insert 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.

begin delete

(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)

end delete

begin insert (4) end insert  The electrical corporation shall pay the community
renewables facility for any unsubscribed output by multiplying
the unsubscribed output by the feed-in tariff payment.

begin delete

(6) All electricity purchases by an electrical corporation pursuant
to this section

end delete

begin insert (5) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert (A) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Customer subscriptions end insert shall begin insert not end insert be credited towards
the electrical corporation’s procurement requirements pursuant to
Section 399.15 begin delete and end delete begin insert but end insert shall begin insert continue to end insert count toward the electrical
corporation’s proportionate share of the statewide cap specified
in Section 399.20.

begin insert

(B) In calculating its procurement requirements pursuant to
Section 399.15, an electrical corporation may exclude from the
total retail sales the kilowatthours subscribed to by participating
customers pursuant to this section.

end insert begin insert

(6) Any unsubscribed output from a community renewables
generators shall continue to 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.

end insert begin delete

(d)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  No later than July 1, 2014, the commission shall authorize
the tariff for the community renewables option consistent with this
section begin insert , including setting a reasonable cap on total megawatts
that can be subscribed to under a community renewables program
pursuant to this section end insert .

begin delete

(e)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  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 begin delete renewable end delete begin insert renewables end insert option meets the
requirements of subdivision (c). begin delete 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 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 end delete begin insert All end insert
purchases pursuant to this subdivision shall count begin delete towards end delete begin insert toward end insert
the electrical corporation’s proportional share of the program’s
cap.

begin delete

(f)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  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.

begin delete

(g)

end delete

begin insert (f) end insert  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.

begin delete

(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)

end delete

begin insert (g) end insert  (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.  

A local publicly owned electric utility required to
comply with Section 399.32 may offer a comparable community
renewables option for an electric generation facility as defined in
Section 399.32.

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.