AB 415, as introduced, Chávez. Green Tariff Shared Renewables Program.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. The Green Tariff Shared Renewables Program requires a participating utility, defined as being an electrical corporation with 100,000 or more customers in California, to file with the commission an application requesting approval of a tariff to implement a program enabling ratepayers to participate in electrical generation facilities that use eligible renewable energy resources, consistent with certain legislative findings and statements of intent.
This bill would make a nonsubstantive revision to the legislative findings and statements of intent.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 2831 of the Public Utilities Code is
2amended to read:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
4(a) Building operational generating facilities that utilize sources
5of renewable energy within California, to supply the state’s demand
6for electricity, provides significant financial, health, environmental,
7and workforce benefits to the State of California.
8(b) The California Solar Initiative will achieve its goals, resulting
9in over 150,000 residential and commercial onsite installations of
10solar energy systems. However, the California Solar Initiative
11cannot reach all residents and businesses that want to participate
12and is limited to only solar energy systems and not other eligible
13renewable energy resources. A green tariff shared renewables
14program seeks to build
on the success of the California Solar
15Initiative by expanding access to all eligible renewable energy
16resources to all ratepayers who are currently unable to access the
17benefits of onsite generation.
18(c) There is widespread interest from many large institutional
19customers, including schools, colleges, universities, local
20governments, businesses, and the military, for the development of
21generation facilities that are eligible renewable energy resources
22to serve more than 33 percent of their energy needs.
23(d) Public institutions will benefit from a green tariff shared
24renewables program’s enhanced flexibility to participate in shared
25generation facilities that are eligible renewable energy resources.
26(e) Building operational generating facilities that are eligible
27renewable energy resources creates jobs, reduces
emissions of
28greenhouse gases, and promotes energy independence.
29(f) Many large energy users in California have pursued onsite
30electrical generation from eligible renewable energy resources,
31but cannot achieve their goals due to rooftop or land space
32limitations, or size limits on net energy metering. The enactment
33of this chapter will create a mechanism whereby institutional
34customers, such as military installations, universities, and local
35governments, as well as commercial customers and groups of
36individuals, can meet their needs with electrical generation from
37eligible renewable energy resources.
P3 1(g) It is the intent of the Legislature that a green tariff shared
2renewables program be implemented inbegin delete suchend delete a manner that
3 facilitates a large, sustainable market for offsite electrical
4generation from
facilities that are eligible renewable energy
5resources, while fairly compensating electrical corporations for
6the services they provide, without affecting nonparticipating
7ratepayers.
8(h) It is the further intent of the Legislature that a green tariff
9shared renewables program be implemented in a manner that
10ensures nonparticipating ratepayer indifference for the remaining
11bundled service, direct access, and community choice aggregation
12customers.
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