BILL ANALYSIS Ķ
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS
Senator Ben Hueso, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 33 Hearing Date: 7/7/2015
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|Author: |Quirk |
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|Version: |6/23/2015 As Amended |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Jay Dickenson |
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SUBJECT: California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006:
Energy Integration Advisory Council
DIGEST: This bill establishes the Energy Sector Emissions
Reduction Advisory Council, an advisory body of state agencies
to inform the Air Resources Board's development of its next
greenhouse gas emissions reduction scoping plan.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Requires the reduction of statewide emissions of greenhouse
gases (GHGs) to 1990 levels by 2020. This is known as the
Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.
2)Directs the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to adopt, by
January 1, 2009, a scoping plan for achieving the maximum
technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in GHG
emissions by 2020, and to update the scoping plan at least
once every five years.
3)Requires the ARB to consult with all state agencies with
jurisdiction over sources, including the California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Energy
Commission (CEC), on all elements of its plan that pertain to
energy-related matters to ensure the GHG reduction activities
are complementary, nonduplicative, and can be implemented in
an efficient and cost-effective manner.
AB 33 (Quirk) Page 2 of ?
4)Requires ARB to convene an Environmental Justice Advisory
Committee to advise it in developing the scoping plan and any
other matter pertinent to the reduction of GHG emissions.
5)Requires the ARB to appoint an Economic and Technology
Advancement Advisory Committee to advise it on activities that
will facilitate investment in and implementation of
technological research and development opportunities that will
assist in the reduction of GHG emissions.
(Health and Safety Code §38500 et seq.)
This bill:
1)Establishes the Energy Integration Advisory Council comprised
of the following state-agency members: (a) chair of the CEC;
(b) president of the CPUC; (c) president of the California
Independent System Operator; (d) chair of the State Water
Resources Control Board; and (e), chair of the ARB.
2)Directs the council to recommend to ARB, for inclusion in
ARB's next scoping plan, strategies for GHG emissions
reductions from the electricity sector and integration of
increasing amounts of renewable energy to the electricity
grid.
3)Directs the council to base its recommendations upon technical
feasibility, cost-effectiveness and the extent to which
implementation would maintain the reliability of the
electricity grid and reduce emissions of GHGs.
4)Specifies energy-sector GHG reduction strategies the council
is to consider, at a minimum, including storage, regional
interconnection, retrofitting of existing natural-gas fired
powerplants, increased flexibility, demand response, and other
strategies, and requires separate analyses of the economic
effects and health, safety and welfare benefits of those
strategies.
5)Requires the council's preliminary recommendations to be
subject to public comment and revision by the council.
6)States that the council's recommendations and analyses are
intended to assist in updating the scoping plan and to inform
the regulations and approaches of the represented agencies and
do not change any statute, regulation, or regulatory decision.
AB 33 (Quirk) Page 3 of ?
Background
AB 32 Scoping Plan. The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006
(aka "AB 32") requires ARB to adopt a statewide GHG emissions
limit equivalent to 1990 levels by 2020. AB 32 requires ARB,
via a series of public workshops, to adopt a scoping plan to
achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective
reductions in GHG emissions. The act further requires ARB, in
developing the scoping plan, to consult with all state agencies
with jurisdiction over sources of GHGs, including the CPUC and
the CEC specifically, on all elements of its plan that pertain
to energy-related matters. The act directs ARB to adopt its
first scoping plan as of January 1, 2009, and to update the
scoping plan at least every five years thereafter. In keeping
with statutory requirements, ARB has adopted two GHG emissions
reduction scoping plans, the first in 2008 and an update in
2014.
2020 and beyond. AB 32 specifies a 2020 GHG emissions reduction
goal. The Legislature, however, in passing AB 32, envisioned
GHG reductions beyond 2020: the act directs ARB to make
recommendations to the governor and the Legislature on how to
continue GHG emissions reductions beyond 2020. Against that
backdrop, both the governor and members of the Legislature have
proposed longer-term GHG emissions reductions. Governor Brown
recently issued Executive Order B-30-15, which establishes a new
GHG reduction target of 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and
ordered ARB to update its scoping plan to reflect the target.
Similarly, Senator Pavley, the author of AB 32, has authored SB
32, which calls for a statewide GHG emissions limit equivalent
to 40 percent below the 1990 level, to be achieved by 2030.
Belt and suspenders. The author intends this bill, which
creates the Energy Sector Emissions Reductions Advisory Council,
to ensure the ARB's scoping plan update is informed by, and
coordinated with, the state's energy-related agencies. The bill
requires the council to develop and deliver recommendations to
ARB before the next scoping plan update on strategies to reduce
GHG emissions from the electricity sector and integrate
increasing volumes of renewable energy. The bill directs the
council to do its work in public - subject to Bagley-Keene open
meeting requirements, presumably - and according to specified
criteria.
AB 33 (Quirk) Page 4 of ?
AB 33 is very much in keeping with existing law, so much so that
many of the bill's specific requirements, and its general
purpose, echo the requirements of current statute. AB 33, like
existing law, requires ARB to work with and be informed by the
state's energy agencies as the board develops its scoping plan
update. AB 33 requires the council to consider the
technological feasibility and cost-effectiveness of potential
GHG emissions reduction measures, as does existing law. AB 33
requires the work of the council to be subject to public review
and comment. Similarly, existing law requires ARB to update its
scoping plan via a public process, which includes public
scrutiny and comment. Despite this considerable overlap, the
author contends the Legislature needs to ensure, through
statute, that the administration consult with its energy experts
in developing ARB's next scoping plan update to ensure it is
based upon the best available economic modeling and analytical
tools and the consensus of all of agencies involved.
Double Referral. Should this bill be approved by this committee,
it will be re-referred to the Senate Committee on Environmental
Quality for its consideration.
Prior/Related Legislation
SB 32 (Pavley, 2015) requires the ARB to approve statewide GHG
emissions limits of 40 percent below the 1990 level of GHG
emissions, to be achieved by 2030, and 80% below the 1990 level,
to be achieved by 2050. The bill is pending consideration by
the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources.
AB 32 (Nuņez/Pavley, Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006) enacted the
Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which created a statewide
GHG emission limit that would reduce emissions to 1990 levels by
2020.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.: Yes Local: No
AB 33 (Quirk) Page 5 of ?
ASSEMBLY VOTES:
Assembly Floor (71-5)
Assembly Appropriations Committee (12-0)
Assembly Natural Resources Committee (9-0)
SUPPORT:
California Energy Storage Alliance
California Manufacturers & Technology Association
Calpine Corporation
Environmental Defense Fund
Union of Concerned Scientists, if amended
OPPOSITION:
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Supporters contend it is critical, as
California expands it GHG emissions reductions goals, that the
state make well-informed decisions and that the Legislature
consider the potential costs and benefits of varying levels of
emissions in order to ensure that prices do not harm residential
and industrial consumers.
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