BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 568|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 568
Author: Dodd (D)
Amended: 5/14/15 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U. & C. COMMITTEE: 10-0, 6/16/15
AYES: Hueso, Fuller, Cannella, Hertzberg, Hill, Lara, Leyva,
McGuire, Morrell, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Pavley
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-0, 5/22/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Reclamation District No. 108: hydroelectric power
SOURCE: Northern California Water Association
DIGEST: This bill allows Reclamation District No. 108 (RD 108),
on the western edge of the Sacramento River, to construct and
operate a hydroelectric powerplant and transmission lines.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes the formation of reclamation districts for the
reclamation of any land within any city, which land is subject
in any manner, to overflow or incursions from the tide or
inland waters of the state, and proscribes the powers of such
districts. (Water Code §50110 et seq.)
AB 568
Page 2
2)Authorizes Reclamation District No. 1004 (RD 1004), in
conjunction with the County of Colusa, to construct, maintain
and operate a plant for the generation of hydroelectric power.
(Water Code §50906)
3)Allows RD 1004 to lease the hydroelectric plant, transmission
lines, and related facilities, and sell the power generated to
a public utility or public agency engaged in the distribution,
use or sale of electricity. (Water Code §50906)
4)Allows the construction of the plant and transmission lines to
be financed by the issuance of time warrants, and allows the
RD 1004 Board of Trustees, by resolution, to only use the
proceeds from the hydroelectric power plant, instead of
assessments, to pay for the time warrants. (Water Code
§50906)
5)Requires proceeds from the sale of electricity to be utilized
to retire any time warrants issued for construction of the
facilities and otherwise for the powers and purposes for which
the district was formed. (Water Code §50906)
6)Prohibits RD 1004 from selling the power directly to the
customer, other than to a public utility or public agency.
(Water Code §50906)
This bill:
1)Provides RD 108 all the powers and authorities related to the
hydroelectric power currently enjoyed by RD 1004, as described
above under "Existing law."
2)Repeals the provisions described above, for RD 108 only, as of
January 1, 2021.
Background
AB 568
Page 3
Reclamation districts. Reclamation districts provide flood
protection to the Central Valley. Statute provides for the
formation, governance and powers of various types of special
districts, including reclamation districts. Statute provides
several types of special districts with the authority to operate
hydroelectric power generation facilities. However, statute
does not provide reclamation districts with this power,
generally. One exception is RD 1004 in Colusa County, which
statute, in 1984, authorized to construct, maintain, and operate
a plant for the generation of hydroelectric power.
RD 108. RD 108, as described on its website, is located along
the western edge of the Sacramento River and delivers water to
nearly 48,000 acres of farmland within southern Colusa County
and northern Yolo County. The district was formed in 1870 to
build levees and reclaim flooded land.
According to the author, RD 108 uses a significant amount of
energy operating its pumping facilities. RD 108 has constructed
a 386 kilowatt solar electricity generating facility. In
addition, RD 108 has joined a joint powers authority (JPA) with
Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority,
Maxwell Irrigation District, Glenn County, Colusa County, and
the Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District.
As a member of the JPA, RD 108 expects to benefit from
generation of hydropower following development of the proposed
Sites Reservoir north of the Delta. However, RD 108 does not
have the authority to construct or operate such a hydropower
facility or to transmit or sell the electricity its produces.
AB 568 grants RD 108 such authority.
Not without controversy. As mentioned above, statute allows
many special districts that manage water to build and operate
hydroelectric facilities. It is unclear why reclamation
districts are not, generally, provided the same authority. The
proposal to allow RD 108 to construct and operate a
hydroelectric facility is not particularly controversial.
However, development of the Sites Reservoir is controversial.
Several conservation and environmental organizations oppose this
bill because it facilitates development of the reservoir. These
groups contend the reservoir would harm the Delta ecosystem
while providing few, if any, resource management benefits.
AB 568
Page 4
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/16/15)
Northern California Water Association (source)
California Municipal Utilities Association
County of Colusa
County of Yolo
Water Resources Association of Yolo County
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/16/15)
American Whitewater
California Outdoors
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
Foothill Conservancy
Friends of the River
Sierra Club California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Proponents claim this bill will allow
RD 108 to reduce its energy costs in an environmentally
responsible way.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: Opponents contend this bill
facilitates development of the Sites Reservoir, which they
contend would harm the Delta ecosystem while providing few, if
any, resource management benefits.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-0, 5/22/15
AYES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla,
Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
AB 568
Page 5
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, O'Donnell, Olsen, Waldron, Weber
Prepared by:Jay Dickenson / E., U., & C. / (916) 651-4107
6/18/15 18:40:32
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