BILL NUMBER: SB 115	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 22, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 9, 2014
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 8, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 13, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hill
    (   Coauthor:   Senator   Block
  ) 
    (   Coauthor:   Assembly Member  
Mullin   ) 

                        JANUARY 16, 2013

   An act to amend Section  25711.5 of the Public Resources
Code, relating to energy.   1759 of the Public Utilities
Code, relating to the Public Utilities Commission. 


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 115, as amended, Hill.  Electric Program Investment
Charge Fund.   Public Utilities Commission: Bagley-Keene
Open Meeting Act: judicial review.  
   The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities
Commission, with jurisdiction over all public utilities. The
California Constitution grants the commission certain general powers
over all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature, and
authorizes the Legislature, unlimited by the other provisions of the
Constitution, to confer additional authority and jurisdiction upon
the commission that is cognate and germane to the regulation of
public utilities, and to establish the manner and scope of review of
commission action in a court of record. Existing law provides that
only the Supreme Court and the court of appeal have jurisdiction to
review, reverse, correct, or annul any order or decision of the
commission or to suspend or delay the execution or operation thereof,
or to enjoin, restrain, or interfere with the commission in the
performance of its official duties.  
   This bill would authorize an action to enforce the requirements of
the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act to be brought against the
commission in the superior court.  
   Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations,
as defined. The Reliable Electric Service Investments Act required
the commission to require the state's 3 largest electrical
corporations, until January 1, 2012, to identify a separate
electrical rate component, commonly referred to as the public goods
charge, to collect specified amounts to fund energy efficiency,
renewable energy, and research, development, and demonstration
programs that enhance system reliability and provide in-state
benefits. Existing decisions of the commission institute an Electric
Program Investment Charge, referred to as EPIC, to fund research,
development, and demonstration programs.  
   Existing law creates in the State Treasury the Electric Program
Investment Charge Fund to be administered by the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission and requires moneys
received by the Public Utilities Commission for those programs the
Public Utilities Commission has determined should be administered by
the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to
be forwarded by the Public Utilities Commission to the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission at least quarterly
for deposit in the fund. Existing law requires the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission, in administering
moneys in the fund for research, development, and demonstration
programs, to develop and administer the EPIC program for the purpose
of awarding funds to projects that will benefit ratepayers and lead
to technological advancement and breakthroughs to overcome the
barriers that prevent the achievement of the state's statutory energy
goals and that result in a portfolio of projects that is
strategically focused and sufficiently narrow to make advancement on
the most significant technological challenges, including: (1) energy
storage, (2) renewable energy resources and their integration into
the grid, (3) energy efficiency, (4) integration of electric vehicles
into the electrical grid, and (5) accurately forecasting the
availability of renewable energy resources for integration into the
electrical grid. Existing law provides that the chapter creating the
fund does not authorize the levy of a charge or any increase in the
amount collected pursuant to any existing charge, nor add to or
detract from, any existing authority of the Public Utilities
Commission to levy or increase charges.  
   This bill would require the portfolio of projects funded through
the EPIC program to additionally include projects pertaining to
safety of the electrical grid. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  yes
  no  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:  
   (a) On June 3, 2014, California's Fourth District Court of Appeal,
in Disenhouse v. Peevey (2014) 226 Cal.App.4th 1096, held that an
interested person desiring to enforce the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting
Act against the Public Utilities Commission must do so by filing a
petition for writ of mandamus in the Supreme Court or the Court of
Appeal and may not do so by filing an action for injunctive relief in
the superior court.  
   (b) The intent of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act is that
actions of state agencies be taken openly and that their deliberation
be conducted openly.  
   (c) The people's right to remain informed so that they may retain
control over the instruments of government that they have created is
not less of a right for some agencies than for other agencies, nor
shall the people's ability to enforce the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting
Act be more hampered for some agencies than for other agencies. 

   SEC. 2.    Section 1759 of the   Public
Utilities Code   is amended to read: 
   1759.  (a) No court of this state, except the Supreme Court and
the court of appeal, to the extent specified in this article, shall
have jurisdiction to review, reverse, correct, or annul any order or
decision of the commission or to suspend or delay the execution or
operation thereof, or to enjoin, restrain, or interfere with the
commission in the performance of its official duties, as provided by
law and the rules of court.
   (b) The writ of mandamus shall lie from the Supreme Court and from
the court of appeal to the commission in all proper cases as
prescribed in Section 1085 of the Code of Civil Procedure. 
   (c) This section does not apply to an action brought against the
commission to enforce the requirements of the Bagley-Keene Open
Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1
of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), which
action may be brought in the superior court.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 25711.5 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
   25711.5.  In administering moneys in the fund for research,
development, and demonstration programs under this chapter, the
commission shall develop and implement the Electric Program
Investment Charge (EPIC) program to do all of the following:
   (a) Award funds for projects that will benefit electricity
ratepayers and lead to technological advancement and breakthroughs to
overcome the barriers that prevent the achievement of the state's
statutory energy goals and that result in a portfolio of projects
that is strategically focused and sufficiently narrow to make
advancement on the most significant technological challenges that
shall include, but not be limited to, safety of the electrical grid,
energy storage, renewable energy and its integration into the
electrical grid, energy efficiency, integration of electric vehicles
into the electrical grid, and accurately forecasting the availability
of renewable energy for integration into the grid.
   (b) In consultation with the Treasurer, establish terms that shall
be imposed as a condition to receipt of funding for the state to
accrue any intellectual property interest or royalties that may
derive from projects funded by the EPIC program. The commission, when
determining if imposition of the proposed terms is appropriate,
shall balance the potential benefit to the state from those terms and
the effect those terms may have on the state achieving its statutory
energy goals. The commission shall require each reward recipient, as
a condition of receiving moneys pursuant to this chapter, to agree
to any terms the commission determines are appropriate for the state
to accrue any intellectual property interest or royalties that may
derive from projects funded by the EPIC program.
   (c) Require each applicant to report how the proposed project may
lead to technological advancement and potential breakthroughs to
overcome barriers to achieving the state's statutory energy goals.
   (d) Establish a process for tracking the progress and outcomes of
each funded project, including an accounting of the amount of funds
spent by program administrators and individual grant recipients on
administrative and overhead costs and whether the project resulted in
any technological advancement or breakthrough to overcome barriers
to achieving the state's statutory energy goals.
   (e) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code,
prepare and submit to the Legislature no later than April 30 of each
year an annual report in compliance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code that shall include all of the following:
   (1) A brief description of each project for which funding was
awarded in the immediately prior calendar year, including the name of
the recipient and the amount of the award, a description of how the
project is thought to lead to technological advancement or
breakthroughs to overcome barriers to achieving the state's statutory
energy goals, and a description of why the project was selected.
   (2) A brief description of each project funded by the EPIC program
that was completed in the immediately prior calendar year, including
the name of the recipient, the amount of the award, and the outcomes
of the funded project.
   (3) A brief description of each project funded by the EPIC program
for which an award was made in the previous years but that is not
completed, including the name of the recipient and the amount of the
award, and a description of how the project will lead to
technological advancement or breakthroughs to overcome barriers to
achieving the state's statutory energy goals.
   (4) Identification of the award recipients that are
California-based entities, small businesses, or businesses owned by
women, minorities, or disabled veterans.
   (5) Identification of which awards were made through a competitive
bid, interagency agreement, or sole source method, and the action of
the Joint Legislative Budget Committee pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (g) for each award made through an interagency agreement
or sole source method.
   (6) Identification of the total amount of administrative and
overhead costs incurred for each project.
   (f) Establish requirements to minimize program administration and
overhead costs, including costs incurred by program administrators
and individual grant recipients. Each program administrator and grant
recipient, including a public entity, shall be required to justify
actual administration and overhead costs incurred, even if the total
costs incurred do not exceed a cap on those costs that the commission
may adopt.
   (g) (1) The commission shall use a sealed competitive bid as the
preferred method to solicit project applications and award funds
pursuant to the EPIC program.
   (2) (A) The commission may use a sole source or interagency
agreement method if the project cannot be described with sufficient
specificity so that bids can be evaluated against specifications and
criteria set forth in a solicitation for bid and if both of the
following conditions are met:
   (i) The commission, at least 60 days prior to making an award
pursuant to this subdivision, notifies the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee and the relevant policy committees in both houses of the
Legislature, in writing, of its intent to take the proposed action.
   (ii) The Joint Legislative Budget Committee either approves or
does not disapprove the proposed action within 60 days from the date
of notification required by clause (i).
   (B) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact this paragraph to
ensure legislative oversight for awards made on a sole source basis,
or through an interagency agreement.
   (3) Notwithstanding any other law, standard terms and conditions
that generally apply to contracts between the commission and any
entities, including state entities, do not automatically preclude the
award of moneys from the fund through the sealed competitive bid
method.