BILL NUMBER: SB 1139 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 27, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 6, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 2, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hueso
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member V. Manuel Pérez)
FEBRUARY 20, 2014
An act to add Section 399.35 to the Public Utilities Code,
relating to energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1139, as amended, Hueso. California Renewables Portfolio
Standard Program.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission 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.
defined. The Public Utilities Act imposes
various duties and responsibilities on the commission with respect to
the purchase of electricity and requires the commission to review
and adopt a renewable energy procurement plan for each electrical
corporation pursuant to the California Renewables Portfolio Standard
Program. The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program
requires a retail seller, 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. Existing law
requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission (Energy Commission) to certify eligible renewable energy
resources that it determines meet specified statutory criteria. A
violation of the Public Utilities Act is a crime.
This bill would require, no later than December 31, 2024, each
retail seller of electricity and local publicly owned
electric utility to procure a proportionate share, as
determined by the Energy Commission, of a statewide total of 500
megawatts of electricity generated by specified baseload geothermal
powerplants. The bill would exempt a local publicly owned
electric utility serving fewer than 75,000 customers from the
procurement requirement. The bill would provide that the obligation
of a local publicly owned electric utility to procure its
proportionate share is deemed satisfied if one or more local publicly
owned electric utilities procures in the aggregate generation
capacity in an amount to satisfy the entire proportionate share of
all the local publicly owned electric utilities. The bill
would require, no later than January 1, 2016, each retail seller to
file with the Public Utilities Commission, and each local
publicly owned electric utility to file with the Energy Commission,
Commission a plan for complying with the
procurement requirement. The bill would provide that the electricity
procured by retail sellers and local publicly owned electric
utilities from these baseload geothermal powerplants does
not count towards meeting their obligations under the California
Renewables Portfolio Standard Program to purchase specified minimum
quantities of electricity products from eligible renewable energy
resources. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime
under the Public Utilities Act, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
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.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32)
established a policy to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to 1990
levels by 2020 and to continue reductions of emissions of greenhouse
gases beyond 2020.
(b) Executive Order S-3-05 set a policy to reduce emissions of
greenhouse gases by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.
Decarbonizing the electrical generation sector is a key part of
achieving California's policy goals for reducing emissions of
greenhouse gases.
(c) California's electrical supply portfolio must move from merely
increasing the proportion of generation from eligible renewable
energy resources to a portfolio of resources that supply all types of
needed generation, including baseload generation, ramping
generation, and peakload generation.
(d) Recent shortages in the supply of natural gas and the historic
price volatility of natural gas provide additional confirmation of
the need to reduce reliance on natural gas for electrical generation.
(e) California and the western United States have unique,
high-quality solar and geothermal resources. California utilities are
dramatically increasing their utilization of solar resources to
generate electricity, but not effectively increasing the utilization
of geothermal resources. California's long-term electrical supply
portfolio should include much greater reliance on geothermal
resources.
(f) Only a fraction of the geothermal resources that could be
supplying California consumers are currently being utilized, and
there has been very little increase in geothermal generation capacity
during the past decade.
(g) The current process used to procure new energy resources
eligible under the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program
does not adequately value the diverse types of renewable resources
needed to supply California with mostly carbon-free electricity after
2020 while maintaining reliability. Almost no new baseload eligible
renewable energy resources have been procured during the past decade.
(h) To maintain electrical system reliability relying on
generation that, for the most part, emits no greenhouse gases, that
generation must be deliverable to retail customers in real time.
(i) California's retail sellers and local publicly owned
electric utilities should add at least 500 megawatts of
electricity from new baseload geothermal generation by the end of
2024.
(j) Many geothermal resources have the additional benefit of
supplying lithium and other strategic minerals. Currently, the United
States is dependent on foreign supplies for these minerals. Lithium
is needed for electric vehicle batteries. The State Air Resources
Board has identified increasing electric vehicles as a California and
national priority as part of implementing AB 32 and reaching goals
for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Thus, increasing
production of lithium and other strategic minerals as a cobenefit of
increased production of baseload geothermal power is in the national
interest of the United States.
SEC. 2. Section 399.35 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
399.35. (a) No later than December 31, 2024, each retail seller
and local publicly owned electric utility shall
procure a proportionate share of a statewide total of 500 megawatts
of electricity generated by baseload geothermal powerplants that
began being constructed after January 1, 2015, and that meet the
requirements of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 399.16.
A local publicly owned electric utility serving fewer than
75,000 customers shall not be required to procure a proportionate
share.
(b) (1) No later than June
30, 2015, the Energy Commission shall determine the proportionate
share of the 500 megawatts of electricity that each retail seller
and local publicly owned electric utility is
required to procure pursuant to subdivision (a). For purposes of this
section, "proportionate share" shall be based on the forecast retail
sales for the year 2018.
(2) The obligation for a local publicly owned electric utility to
procure its proportionate share of a statewide total of 500 megawatts
of electricity generated by baseload geothermal powerplants pursuant
to this section is deemed satisfied if one or more local publicly
owned electric utilities procures in the aggregate generation
capacity from baseload geothermal powerplants in an amount sufficient
to satisfy the total proportionate share of all local publicly owned
electric utilities under this section.
(c) No later than January 1, 2016, each retail seller shall file
with the commission, and each local publicly owned electric
utility shall file with the Energy Commission,
commission a plan for complying with subdivision (a). Those
plans shall require each retail seller and local publicly
owned electric utility to procure at least one-half of its
proportionate share by December 31, 2019. Those plans may authorize a
retail seller or local publicly owned electric utility
to aggregate its proportionate share with the proportionate
share of another retail seller or local publicly owned
electric utility in order to minimize administrative and
contracting costs. The commission shall review and approve, modify,
or reject plans filed by retail sellers.
(d) The electricity procured pursuant to this section shall not
count towards meeting the requirements specified in subparagraph (B)
of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 399.15 or
paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 399.30.
399.15.
(e) The electricity procured pursuant to this section shall be
procured to reasonably minimize costs. Subdivision (c) of Section
399.15 shall not apply to electricity procured pursuant to this
section.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.