BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 645 (Williams) - Electricity: California Renewables Portfolio
Standard.
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|Version: February 24, 2015 |Policy Vote: E., U., & C. 8 - 3 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Marie Liu |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 645 would increase the Renewable Portfolio Standard
target to require that 50 percent of electricity come from
renewable energy resources by 2030.
Fiscal
Impact:
Annual costs of $900,000 from the Energy Resources Program
Account (General Fund) for the California Energy Commission
(CEC) for new responsibilities ensuring compliance with RPS
standards by publically-owned utilities (POUs).
Ongoing staffing needs of $350,000 annually to the Public
Utilities Reimbursement Account (special) for CPUC staffing
needs for ongoing enforcement of the higher RPS standards.
Unknown costs to the General Fund and various special funds to
the state as a ratepayer of electricity to the extent that
electricity prices may be affected by increasing the RPS
standard.
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Background: Existing law requires all retail sellers of electricity -
investor-owned utilities (IOU), community choice aggregators
(CCAs), and energy service providers (ESPs) - and publicly-owned
utilities (POU) to increase purchases of renewable energy such
that at least 33 percent of retail sales are procured from
renewable energy resources by December 31, 2020. This is known
as the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). The CPUC is
explicitly authorized to require retail sellers of electricity
to procure renewable energy resources in excess of the
33-percent RPS requirement. (PUC §399.11 et seq.). The CPUC
oversees RPS compliance with IOUs while the CEC oversees POUs.
Proposed Law:
This bill would establish a RPS target of 50% for December 31,
2030. To reach this goal, this bill would establish compliance
periods of 33% by December 31, 2020, 38% by December 31, 2023,
44% by December 31, 2026, and 50% by December 31, 2030.
Related
Legislation: SB 350 (De Leon) would direct a 50% reduction in
petroleum use, require that 50% of electricity come from
renewable resources, and require a doubling of the energy
efficiency of existing buildings. SB 350 is awaiting hearing in
the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Staff
Comments: The CEC notes that implementation of a 50% RPS
standard will require the management of a much larger amount of
data than the 33% standard. To manage this additional data, the
CEC anticipates needing six additional positions at an
approximate cost of $897,000 annually.
The CPUC additionally anticipates it would need one position at
an annual cost of $123,000 annually and $1.5 million in contract
costs. These costs are needed for additional analysis and
modeling of the impact of a higher RPS standard for renewable
energy transmission planning, impacts of energy-only
transmission on resource planning, regional RPS markets, and
over-generation. Staff notes that these costs appear to be
consistent with the costs associated with raising the RPS
AB 645 (Williams) Page 2 of
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standard in SB 350.
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