BILL NUMBER: AB 1779 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 20, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Beth Gaines
FEBRUARY 18, 2014
An act to amend add Section
2827.3 of 25229 to the Public
Utilities Resources Code, relating to
electricity energy .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1779, as amended, Beth Gaines. Net energy metering:
study. Energy resources: report.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission to adopt, on a biennial basis, an integrated
energy policy report, containing among other things, an overview of
major energy trends and issues facing the state. Existing law
requires the Public Utilities Commission, by February 1 of each year,
to prepare and submit to the policy and fiscal committees of the
Legislature a report on specified topics generally relating to the
fiscal impact of renewable energy programs on electrical
corporations.
This bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation
and Development Commission to prepare a report that assesses the
effect in the aggregate of specified state policies on electricity
reliability and rates and whether these policies are achieving the
stated environmental and economic goals of these policies. In
preparing the report, the bill would require the commission to
consult with the Public Utilities Commission, the State Air Resources
Board, the State Water Resources Control Board, and other
appropriate executive branch organizations. The bill would require
the commission to submit the report to the Legislature by June 30,
2015, and by June 30 annually thereafter. The bill would require the
commission to also post the report on its Internet Web site.
Existing law requires all electric utilities to develop a standard
contract or tariff providing for net energy metering, and to make
this contract available to eligible customer generators, upon
request, except as provided. Existing law requires the Public
Utilities Commission to complete a study by October 1, 2013, to
determine who benefits from, and who bears the economic burden, if
any, of, the net energy metering program, and to determine the extent
to which each class of ratepayers and each region of the state
receiving service under the net energy metering program is paying the
full cost of the services provided to them by electrical
corporations, and the extent to which those customers pay their share
of the costs of public purpose programs. Existing law requires the
commission to report the results of the study to the Legislature
within 30 days of its completion.
This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to the latter
provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 25229 is added to the
Public Resources Code , to read:
25229. (a) The commission shall prepare a report that assesses
the effect in the aggregate of the policies specified in subdivision
(b) on electricity reliability and rates and whether these policies
are achieving the stated environmental and economic goals of these
policies. The commission shall identify and quantify any trade-offs
involved if an aspect of one goal conflicts with an aspect of another
goal.
(b) In the report required pursuant to subdivision (a), the
commission shall assess the following policies and their implementing
regulations, if any:
(1) The California Renewable Energy Resources Act of 2011 (Chapter
1 of the First Extraordinary Session of the Statutes of 2011),
including renewable energy plant development costs, transmission
costs, and back-up generation costs resulting from the implementation
of the act.
(2) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division
25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code).
(3) The State Water Resources Control Board's Policy on the Use of
Coastal and Estuarine Waters for Power Plant Cooling.
(4) The Governor's goal to build 12,000 megawatts of localized
electricity generation as described in the Governor's "Clean Energy
Jobs Plan" issued in 2011.
(5) Additional major policies that affect electricity reliability
and rates, as they are implemented, including, but not limited to,
the State Water Resources Control Board's new flow criteria for the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem developed pursuant Section
85086 of the Water Code.
(c) In preparing the report pursuant to subdivision (a), the
commission shall consult with the Public Utilities Commission, the
State Air Resources Board, the State Water Resources Control Board,
and other appropriate executive branch organizations.
(d) The commission shall submit the report to the Legislature by
June 30, 2015, and by June 30 annually thereafter. The commission
shall also post the report on its Internet Web site.
(e) The report to be submitted to the Legislature pursuant to this
section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code.
SECTION 1. Section 2827.3 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
2827.3. (a) By October 1, 2013, the commission shall complete a
study to determine who benefits from, and who bears the economic
burden, if any, of, the net energy metering program authorized
pursuant to Section 2827, and to determine the extent to which each
class of ratepayers and each region of the state receiving service
under the net energy metering program is paying the full cost of the
services provided to them by electrical corporations, and the extent
to which those customers pay their share of the costs of public
purpose programs. In evaluating program costs and benefits for
purposes of the study, the commission shall consider all electricity
generated by renewable electric generating systems, including the
electricity used onsite to reduce a customer's consumption of
electricity that otherwise would be supplied through the electrical
grid, as well as the electrical output that is being fed back to the
electrical grid for which the customer receives credit or net surplus
electricity compensation under net energy metering. The study shall
quantify the costs and benefits of net energy metering to
participants and nonparticipants and shall further disaggregate the
results by utility, customer class, and household income groups
within the residential class. The study shall further gather and
present data on the income distribution of residential net energy
metering participants. In order to assess the costs and benefits at
various levels of net energy metering implementation, the study shall
be conducted using multiple net energy metering penetration
scenarios, including, at a minimum, the capacity needed to reach the
solar photovoltaic goals of the California Solar Initiative pursuant
to Section 25780 of the Public Resources Code, and the estimated net
energy metering capacity under the 5-percent minimum requirement of
paragraphs (1) and (4) of subdivision (c) of Section 2827.
(b) (1) The commission shall report the results of the study to
the Legislature within 30 days of the study's completion.
(2) The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795
of the Government Code.
(3) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this
section is repealed on July 1, 2017.