Amended in Senate August 19, 2016

Amended in Senate August 2, 2016

Amended in Senate June 20, 2016

Amended in Senate June 6, 2016

Amended in Senate September 4, 2015

Amended in Senate August 18, 2015

Amended in Senate June 23, 2015

Amended in Assembly June 1, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 6, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 33

Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chávez, Jones, and Weber)

(Coauthors: Senators Anderson and Hueso)

December 1, 2014

An act begin delete to add Section 2836.8 to the Public Utilities Code, end delete relating to electricity.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 33, as amended, Quirk. Electrical corporations: energy storage begin delete systems. end delete begin insert systems: long duration bulk energy storage resources. end insert

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law requires the commission to open a proceeding to determine appropriate targets, if any, for each load-serving entity, as defined, to procure viable and cost-effective energy storage systems to be achieved by begin delete December 31, 2015, and end delete December 31, 2020. begin delete If determined to be appropriate, the commission is required to adopt the procurement targets by October 1, 2013, and to reevaluate the determinations not less than once every three years. Pursuant to these requirements the commission adopted Decision 13-10-040 (October 17, 2013), Decision Adopting Energy Storage Procurement Framework and Design Program. end delete

begin delete

If, beginning January 1, 2017, the commission increases the targets for a load-serving entity to procure viable and cost-effective energy storage systems, this bill would require the commission to authorize pumped hydroelectric storage facilities of any size that become operational on or after January 1, 2017, to be eligible to meet those increased targets to the extent that those facilities meet otherwise applicable requirements.

end delete begin insert

This bill would require the commission to evaluate and analyze the potential for all types of long duration bulk energy storage resources to help integrate renewable generation into the electrical grid, as specified.

end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. 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) According to the California Independent System Operator
(ISO), the state is experiencing unprecedented changes in the
generation, delivery, and consumption of electricity. Along with
these changes come challenges for operating the state’s electrical
grid and resources in the most efficient manner, particularly in
terms of timing of generation in relation to the demand for
electricity.

(b) As part of the long-term procurement planning process at
the Public Utilities Commission, the ISO has identified a need for
fast-ramping and flexible resources to balance the electrical grid
and mitigate the effects of over-generation from renewable energy
resources.

(c) The ISO has identified energy storage, with its unique ability
to both utilize excess electricity generated by renewable energy
resources and to quickly inject that electricity back onto the
electrical grid to meet ramping and peak demand needs, as a part
of the new strategy for efficiently operating the electrical grid in
a manner that best protects the environment.

(d)  begin delete Pumped end delete begin insert Long duration bulk energy storage and pumped end insert
hydroelectric storage, in particular, when constructed in a
sufficiently large scale, possesses the characteristics to meet our
electrical grid’s need for rapid ramping capability and the capacity
to utilize over-generation from renewable energy resources.

begin delete

(e) Even with the recognized need identified by the ISO, there
remains a lack of incentive for the state’s electrical utilities to
procure large pumped hydroelectric energy storage because that
procurement does not meet any current utility mandate.

end delete

begin delete

SEC. 2.  

Section 2836.8 is added to the Public Utilities Code,
to read:

2836.8.  

(a) Beginning January 1, 2017, if the commission
increases the targets for a load-serving entity to procure viable and
cost-effective energy storage systems, pumped hydroelectric
storage facilities of any size that become operational on or after
January 1, 2017, shall be eligible to the extent that those facilities
meet otherwise applicable requirements.

(b) Subdivision (a) is declaratory of existing law and does not
limit the commission’s discretion in developing or adopting targets
for a load-serving entity to procure viable and cost-effective energy
storage systems.

end delete

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert begin insert

The commission, in coordination with the Energy
Commission, shall, as part of a new or existing proceeding,
evaluate and analyze the potential for all types of long duration
bulk energy storage resources to help integrate renewable
generation into the electrical grid. As part of the evaluation, the
commission shall assess the potential costs and benefits of all types
of long duration bulk energy storage resources, including impacts
to the transmission and distribution systems of location-specific
long duration bulk energy storage resources.

end insert