Amended in Assembly May 15, 2014

Amended in Assembly May 6, 2014

Amended in Assembly April 21, 2014

Amended in Assembly March 28, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 2137


Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk

February 20, 2014


An act to add Section 12098.9 to the Government Code, and to add Section 323.5 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to energy efficiency.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2137, as amended, Quirk. Energy efficiency programs: information available for small businesses.

Existing law creates the Office of Small Business Advocate within the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Existing law establishes the duties and functions of the advocate, which include advisory participation in the consideration of all legislation and administrative regulations that affect small businesses. Existing law also requires the office to post specified information on its Internet Web site, including information about emergency preparedness, responses, and recovery strategies for small businesses and information regarding programs administered through the statewide network of small business financial development corporations.

This bill would require the office to develop and maintain on its Internet Web site a section dedicated to all of thebegin delete energy efficiencyend deletebegin insert demandside energy managementend insert programs that are available to small businesses within the state.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations, as defined. The Public Utilities Act requires the Public Utilities Commission to review and accept, modify, or reject a procurement plan for each electrical corporation in accordance with specified elements, incentive mechanisms, and objectives. The act requires that an electrical corporation’s proposed procurement plan include certain elements, including a showing that the electrical corporation will first meet its unmet needs through all available energy efficiency and demand reduction resources that are cost effective, reliable, and feasible. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, to identify all potentially achievable cost-effective electricity efficiency savings and to establish efficiency targets for electrical corporations to achieve pursuant to their procurement plan. The Public Utilities Act additionally requires the Public Utilities Commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, to identify all potentially achievable cost-effective natural gas efficiency savings and to establish efficiency targets for gas corporations to achieve and requires that a gas corporation first meet its unmet resource needs through all available gas efficiency and demand reduction resources that are cost effective, reliable, and feasible.begin insert Under their existing authorities, the Public Utilities Commission and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, in collaborating with various entities, have developed the Energy Upgrade California program to promote and finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects for homes and businesses, reduce energy use, and help train contractors and building professionals.end insert

This bill would require the Public Utilities Commissionbegin delete to develop and maintain on its Internet Web site a section dedicated to all of the electrical corporation and gas corporation energy efficiency programs that are available to small businesses within the state, which emphasizes energy efficiency measures that are likely to be of most interest to small businesses. The bill would require the Public Utilities Commission, when available, to include hyperlink or URL connections to electrical corporation and gas corporation Internet Web sites that enable users of the Internet to directly access available information on those utility Internet Web sites. The bill would require the commission to require those electrical corporations and gas corporations that are responsible for the joint Internet Web site dedicated to energy efficiency programs that is administered by a 3rd party, to include on that joint Internet Web site a hyperlink or URL connection to the section of the commission’s Internet Web site that is dedicated to the energy efficiency programs available to small businesses.end deletebegin insert and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to jointly ensure that the Internet Web site for the Energy Upgrade California program be revised to include information related to demandend insertbegin insertside management programs for nonresidential customers, with emphasis on small businesses.end insert

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Existing law makes any public utility, as defined, and any corporation other than a public utility, that violates the Public Utilities Act, or that fails to comply with any part of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission guilty of a crime.

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Because the provisions of this bill are within the act and require action by the commission to implement its requirements with respect to certain electrical corporations and gas corporations, a violation of these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.

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The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

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This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: begin deleteyes end deletebegin insertnoend insert.

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

P3    1

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all the
2following:

3(a) Helping small businessesbegin delete become more energy efficientend delete
4begin insert better manage their energy useend insert can help California reduce energy
5consumption and thereby help in reducing emissions of greenhouse
6gases throughout the state.

7(b) Small businesses are the backbone of California’s economic
8prosperity.

9(c) Maximizing thebegin delete energy efficiencyend deletebegin insert demandside energy
10managementend insert
programs the state, electrical corporations, gas
P4    1corporations, and local publicly owned electric and gas utilities
2offer can help small businesses become more productive and assist
3in reducing electrical demand during peak demand periods.

4(d) To better serve the public, and to benefit the state, the state
5shall promote and facilitate the fullest possible participation of
6small businesses to benefit frombegin delete energy efficiencyend deletebegin insert demandside
7energy managementend insert
programs run by the state, as well as any
8programs of an electrical corporation, gas corporation, or local
9publicly owned electric or gas utility.

10

SEC. 2.  

Section 12098.9 is added to the Government Code, to
11read:

12

12098.9.  

(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms
13have the following meanings:

14(1) begin delete“Energy efficiency end deletebegin insert“Demandside energy management end insert
15programs” mean all energy efficiency,begin insert demandside response, clean
16distributed generation,end insert
energy conservation, energy savings, or
17weatherization programs of the state or a local government,
18electrical corporations, gas corporations, or a local publicly owned
19electric or gas utility.

20(2) “Electrical corporation,” “gas corporation,” and “local
21publicly owned electric utility” have the same meanings as
22respectively defined in Sections 218, 222, and 224.3 of the Public
23Utilities Code. “Local publicly owned gas utility” includes the gas
24departments of the City of Long Beach and the City of Palo Alto.

25(3) “Small business” has the same meaning as defined in Section
2614837.

27(b) In order to educate small business owners of the availability
28of various programs promoting the efficient use of energy, the
29office shall develop and maintain on its Internet Web site a section
30dedicated to all of thebegin delete energy efficiencyend deletebegin insert demandside energy
31managementend insert
programs that are available to small businesses within
32the state. The office shall consult with the Public Utilities
33Commission, the State Energy Resources Conservation and
34Development Commission, and local publicly owned electric and
35gas utilities in developing the information to include on its Internet
36Web site.

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37

SEC. 3.  

Section 323.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
38read:

39

323.5.  

(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms
40have the following meanings:

P5    1(1) “Energy efficiency programs” mean all energy efficiency,
2energy conservation, energy savings, or weatherization programs
3of electrical corporations or gas corporations subject to direction
4and supervision by the commission.

5(2) “Hyperlink” means a special Hypertext Markup Language
6(HTML) code that allows text or graphics to serve as a link that,
7when clicked on, takes a user to another place in the same
8document, to another document, or to another Internet Web site
9or Web page.

10(3) “Small business” has the same meaning as defined in Section
1114837 of the Government Code.

12(4) “Uniform Resource Locator” or “URL” means the address
13of an Internet Web site or the location of a resource on the World
14Wide Web that allows a browser to locate and retrieve the Internet
15Web site or the resource.

16(b) In order to educate small business owners of the availability
17of various electrical corporation and gas corporation programs
18promoting the efficient use of electricity and natural gas, the
19commission shall develop and maintain on its Internet Web site a
20section dedicated to all of the energy efficiency programs that are
21available to small businesses within the state, which emphasizes
22energy efficiency measures that are likely to be of most interest
23to small businesses. Where available, the commission shall include
24hyperlink or URL connections to electrical corporation and gas
25corporation Internet Web sites that enable users of the Internet to
26directly access available information on those utility Internet Web
27sites.

28(c) The commission shall require those electrical corporations
29and gas corporations that are responsible for the joint Internet Web
30site dedicated to energy efficiency programs that is administered
31by a third party, to include on that joint Internet Web site a
32hyperlink or URL connection to the section of the commission’s
33Internet Web site that is dedicated to the energy efficiency
34programs available to small businesses described in subdivision
35(b).

36(d) (1) Nothing in this section limits the authority of the
37commission to make information relative to energy efficiency
38programs available to other target audiences in addition to small
39businesses.

P6    1(2) Nothing in this section limits the authority of the commission
2to make information specially available to small businesses relative
3to other public utility programs that may be of special interest to
4small businesses.

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5

SEC. 4.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
6Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
7the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
8district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
9infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
10for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
11the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
12the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
13Constitution.

end delete
14begin insert

begin insertSEC. 3.end insert  

end insert

begin insertSection 323.5 is added to the end insertbegin insertPublic Utilities Codeend insertbegin insert, to
15read:end insert

begin insert
16

begin insert323.5.end insert  

(a) For the purposes of this section, “demandside
17energy management programs” and “small business” have the
18same meanings as set forth in Section 12098.9 of the Government
19Code.

20(b) The commission and the Energy Commission shall jointly
21ensure that the Internet Web site for the Energy Upgrade California
22program be revised to include information related to demandside
23energy management programs for nonresidential customers, with
24emphasis on small businesses.

end insert


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