SB 548, as introduced, Roth. Public utilities: renewables portfolio standard: publicly owned electric utility.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined, while local publicly owned electric utilities, as defined, are under the direction of their governing boards. The existing California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (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 (portfolio content requirements). For electrical corporations meeting specified conditions, existing law provides that electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources may be used for compliance with the portfolio content requirements if specified conditions are met.
This bill would additionally provide that, for a publicly owned electric utility in existence on or before January 1, 2010, that provides 200,000 megawatt-hours or fewer of electricity to retail end-use consumers in its service territory during a calender year, electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources may be used for compliance with the portfolio content requirements.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 399.18 of the Public Utilities Code is
2amended to read:
(a) This section applies to anbegin delete electrical corporation begin insert electric utility that meets anyend insert
4that as of January 1, 2010, met eitherend delete
5 of the following conditions:
6(1) begin deleteServed end deletebegin insertAn electrical corporation that, as of January 1, 2010,
7served end insert30,000 or fewer customer accounts in California and had
8issued at least four solicitations for eligible renewable energy
9resources prior to June 1, 2010.
10(2) begin deleteHad end deletebegin insertAn electrical corporation that, as of January 1, 2010,
11had end insert1,000 or fewer customer accounts in California and was not
12connected to any transmission system or to the Independent System
13Operator.
14(3) A local publicly owned electric utility that was in existence
15on or before January 1, 2010, and that provides 200,000
16megawatt-hours or fewer of electricity to retail end-use customers
17in its service territory during a calendar year.
18(b) For anbegin delete electrical corporationend deletebegin insert
electric utility described in
19subdivision (a)end insert or its successor, electricity products from eligible
20renewable energy resources may be used for compliance with this
21article, notwithstanding any procurement content limitation in
22Section 399.16, provided that both of the following conditions are
23met:
24(1) Thebegin delete electrical corporationend deletebegin insert electric utility described in
25subdivision (a)end insert or its successor participates in, and complies with,
26the accounting system administered by the Energy Commission
27pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 399.25.
P3 1(2) The Energy Commission verifies that the electricity
2generated by the facility is eligible to meet the requirements of
3
Section 399.15.
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