BILL NUMBER: AB 33	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	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

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Quirk
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Chávez, Jones, and Weber)
   (Coauthors: Senators Anderson and Hueso)

                        DECEMBER 1, 2014

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


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 33, as amended, Quirk. Electrical corporations: energy storage
 systems.  systems: long duration bulk energy
storage resources. 
    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  December 31, 2015,
and  December 31, 2020.  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.
 
   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.  
   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. 
   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)  Pumped   Long   duration bulk
energy storage and pumped  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. 
   (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. 

  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. 
   SEC. 2.    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.