BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 793|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 793
Author: Quirk (D)
Amended: 8/18/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U. & C. COMMITTEE: 6-1, 6/30/15
AYES: Hueso, Hill, Lara, Leyva, McGuire, Pavley
NOES: Morrell
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fuller, Cannella, Hertzberg, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 5/7/15 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Energy efficiency
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill furthers the adoption of energy management
technology meaning a product, service, or software that allows
a customer to better understand and manage energy use in the
customers home or business - through mandatory education
efforts, monetary awards and inclusion of such technology in
home weatherization programs for low-income electric or gas
utility customers.
ANALYSIS: Existing law:
1)Requires an electrical corporation to first meet its unmet
resource needs through all available energy efficiency and
demand reduction resources that are cost effective, reliable,
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and feasible. (Public Utilities Code §454.5 (b)(9)(C))
2)Requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to
establish energy efficiency targets for electrical and gas
corporations. (Public Utilities Code §§454.55 and 454.56)
3)Requires electric and gas corporations to provide
weatherization assistance to low-income customers and
specifies that weatherization may include attic insulation,
caulking, weatherstripping, a low-flow showerhead, water
heater blanket, and door and building envelope repairs to
reduce air infiltration. (Public Utilities Code §2790 (a),
(b))
4)Specifies that weatherization may also include other building
conservation measures, energy-efficient appliances, and energy
education programs determined by the CPUC to be feasible and
considering the cost effectiveness of the measures as a whole
and the policy of reducing energy-related hardships facing
low-income households. (Public Utilities Code §2790 (c))
5)Requires the CPUC to establish policies and procedures by
which any party, including, but not limited to, a local entity
that establishes a community choice aggregation program, may
apply to become administrators for cost-effective energy
efficiency and conservation programs. (Public Utilities Code
Section 381.1)
This bill:
1)Adds energy management technology (EMT) to the list of things
that may also be considered as weatherization, if determined
by the CPUC to be feasible.
2)Directs the CPUC to require an electrical or gas corporation
to (a) develop a program, by January 1, 2017, to provide
incentives to residential or small or medium business
customers to acquire EMT for use in the customer's home or
business, and to (b) develop, by June 30, 2016, a plan to
educate residential and small and medium business customers
about the incentive program described above.
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3)Specifies the CPUC may require that the education plan
described in (2) be integrated into, or coordinated with, any
education campaign required by the CPUC.
4)Requires each electrical or gas corporation to report annually
to the CPUC on actual energy savings resulting from the
incentive program.
5)Requires the CPUC to evaluate all electrical or gas
corporation energy savings claims achieved pursuant to the
incentive program in a manner consistent with
commission-adopted evaluation protocols and determine if the
program shall continue or be modified.
6)States that bill's provisions do no amend or limit the ability
of a community choice aggregator (CCA) to apply to administer
an energy efficiency or conservation program or a demand-side
management program.
Background
Energy management technology. EMT, as used in this bill, refers
to a broad range of products, services, or software that allows
a customer to better understand and manage energy use in their
home or place of business. Based on supporting documents
provided by this bill's proponents, such technology seems to
have in common the ability to allow a customer to read his or
her energy usage in real time or near real time through,
generally, communication with a home or business's smart meter.
Bill proponents contend that such technologies have the
potential to allow customers to better understand and manage
their energy usage, thereby leading to reductions in energy use.
These proponents note that, to date, adoption of such
technologies, especially by residential and smaller business
customers, has been very limited.
The author's office and many bill supporters blame this current
low level of adoption of EMT on a lack of education and
outreach. The author seeks to remedy this situation by: (1)
including EMT among the measures and products that might be
included in the weatherization services the CPUC requires
electric and gas utilities to provide to low-income customers,
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and (2) requiring electrical and gas corporations to offer a
rebate program, within the existing energy efficiency program,
for customers who purchase EMT devices. Both the existing
weatherization program and the existing energy efficiency
program are described below.
Weatherization services for low-income customers. In keeping
with statute, the CPUC created the Energy Savings Assistance
Program by which the investor-owned utilities (IOUs) provide
no-cost weatherization services to low-income households who
meet the California Alternate Rates for Energy, known as CARE
income guidelines. (According to the CPUC, customers are
CARE-eligible if their household income falls below certain
defined amounts.) Services provided include attic insulation,
energy efficient refrigerators, energy efficient furnaces,
weatherstripping, caulking, low-flow showerheads, waterheater
blankets, and door and building envelope repairs which reduce
air infiltration. Statute governing this program is worded
strangely in that it lists measures and technologies that may be
included, when feasible, as weatherization, and then separately
lists additional measures and technologies that may also be
included as weatherization, if determined by the CPUC to be
feasible, taking into consideration cost-effectiveness of the
measures as a whole and the policy of reducing energy-related
hardships facing low-income households. This bill adds EMT to
the list of measures and technologies that may also be included
as weatherization, if it determined by CPUC to meet the
specified standards.
Energy utility energy efficiency programs. The "loading order"
guides the state's energy policies and decisions according to
the following order of priority: (1) decreasing electricity
demand by increasing energy efficiency; (2) responding to energy
demand by reducing energy usage during peak hours; (3) meeting
new energy generation needs with renewable resources; and (4)
meeting new energy generation needs with clean fossil-fueled
generation. This policy has been adopted by the energy agencies
- the California Energy Commission and CPUC - and its principles
guide all energy programs.
Consistent with the loading order, statute requires both
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electric and gas IOUs to meet unmet resource needs with all
available energy efficiency and demand reduction that is
cost-effective, reliable and feasible. The CPUC uses these
criteria to establish energy efficiency targets for the IOUs.
To achieve those targets, the IOUs (and, in some cases, CCAs
such as Sonoma Clean Power) administer energy efficiency
programs with ratepayer funds approved by the CPUC. Currently
funded at about $1 billion per year, the programs include a
portfolio of financial incentives, loans, and rebates for
installing energy efficient appliances, lighting, windows, HVAC
systems, whole-house retrofits, and specialized programs aimed
at a variety of sectors. According to existing CPUC rules, each
IOU claims credit for energy savings from the energy efficiency
measures resulting from its program. The CPUC evaluates the
claimed energy savings and, after adjustment, authorizes
financial rewards for the IOUs.
This bill requires the electrical and gas corporations to
implement programs, within the existing energy efficiency
programs, to provide incentives to a residential or small- or
medium-sized business customer who acquires EMT for use in the
customer's home or place of business. In addition, this bill
requires the electrical and gas corporations to implement a plan
to educate residential and small and medium business customers
about the incentive program.
Prior/Related Legislation
AB 802 (Williams, 2015) directs the CPUC to change is its
calculation of savings from an energy efficiency project so as
to allow IOUs to recover in rates the cost energy efficiency
savings to bring an existing building up to code. The bill
passed the Assembly on a vote of 74-0 and is currently awaiting
consideration by the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
AB 1330 (Bloom, 2015) establishes an annual energy efficiency
resource standard for every retail seller of electricity and
every gas utility. The bill passed the Assembly on a vote of
46-29 and is currently awaiting consideration by the Senate
Committee on Appropriations.
SB 350 (De Leon, 2015) requires the California Energy Commission
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to adopt and periodically update a program to achieve a doubling
of the energy efficiency of buildings by January 1, 2030. The
bill passed the Senate on a vote of 24-14 and is currently
awaiting consideration by the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified8/19/15)
California Energy Efficiency Industry Council
Center for Sustainable Energy
Clean Power Campaign
Environmental Defense Fund
Marin Clean Energy
Mission:data Coalition
Office of Ratepayer Advocates
Sierra Club California
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
TechNet
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/19/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The education plan required by this bill,
and deployment of EMT that the bill incentivizes, will arm
residential and business customers with a better understanding
of their energy usage. This will allow them to make informed
decisions on how to optimize their energy consumption and reduce
their bills. Customer will be able to monitor their electricity
usage and costs in real-time or near real-time, allowing them to
adjust their usage instantaneously in response to changes in
prices or system reliability events. This will increase overall
energy efficiency, alleviate pressure on the system's energy
grid, and help reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions by reducing the
need for gas-fired "peaker" plants to meet high demand.
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 5/7/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, 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, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Roger Hernández, Steinorth
Prepared by:Jay Dickenson / EUC / (916) 651-4107
8/20/15 13:52:33
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