BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 802
Page 1
(Without Reference to File)
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
802 (Williams)
As Amended September 10, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |74-0 |(June 2, 2015) |SENATE: | |(September 11, |
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(vote not available)
Original Committee Reference: U. & C.
SUMMARY: Requires the California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC) to authorize electrical corporations or gas corporations
- investor-owned utilities (IOUs) - to provide incentives and
assistance for measures to conform a building to California
Energy Commission's (CEC) energy efficiency standards for
existing buildings and to allow IOUs to recover in rates the
reasonable costs of those incentives and assistance.
AB 802
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The Senate amendments:
1)Requires the CEC to make adjustments to its energy demand
forecasts.
2)Requires the CEC to use its assessments and forecasts relating
to various aspects of the energy industry to develop and
evaluate energy policies and programs.
3)Requires utilities to maintain records of the energy usage
data of all buildings to which they provide service for at
least the most recent 12 complete months, and require each
utility, upon the request and the written authorization or
secure electronic authorization of the owner, owner's agent,
or operator of a covered buildings, to deliver or provide
aggregated energy usage data for a covered building to the
owner, owner's agent, operator, or to the owner's account in
the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, as specified.
4)Authorizes the CEC to specify additional information to be
delivered by utilities for certain purposes.
5)Deletes the requirement that an owner or operator of a
building disclose the energy performance information to a
prospective buyer, lessee of the entire building, or lender
that would finance the entire building.
6)Requires CEC to adopt regulations providing for the delivery
to the Commission and public disclosure of benchmarking
results for covered buildings.
7)The bill would authorize the CEC to impose a civil fine, as
provided, for a violation of these data submission
requirements.
8)Make technical clarifying amendments.
AB 802
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EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires a charge on electricity and natural gas consumption
to fund cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation
activities. (Public Utilities Code Sections 381 and 890)
9)Requires electric corporation procurement plans to first meet
its unmet resource needs through all available energy
efficiency and demand reduction resources that are cost
effective, reliable, and feasible. (Public Utilities Code
Sections 454.5 (b)(9)(C))
10)Requires the CPUC to establish targets for all potentially
achievable cost-effective electricity and gas efficiency
savings. (Public Utilities Code Sections 454.55 and 454.56)
11)Requires the CEC to develop a statewide estimate of all
potentially achievable cost-effective electricity and natural
gas savings, establish targets for statewide annual energy
efficiency savings, and demand reduction for the next 10-year
period. (Public Resources Code Section 25310)
12)Requires the CEC to adopt cost-effective energy and water
efficiency standards for new buildings and appliances.
(Public Resources Code Section 25402)
13)Prohibits the sale of new appliances that do not meet the
AB 802
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energy and water efficiency standards adopted by the CEC.
(Public Resources Code Section 25402(c)(2))
14)Requires an owner or operator of a nonresidential building to
disclose the United States Environmental Protection Agency's
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager benchmarking data and ratings
for the most recent 12-month period to a prospective buyer,
lessee of the entire building, or lender that would finance
the entire building based on a schedule developed by the CEC.
(Public Resources Code Section 25402.10(d))
15)Requires the CEC to develop and implement a comprehensive
program to achieve greater energy savings in California's
existing residential and nonresidential building stock.
(Public Resources Code Section 25943)
FISCAL EFFECT: According to Senate Appropriations Committee:
1)Ongoing costs of $1.7 million to the Energy Resources Program
Account (General Fund) for additional workload and contracts
to implement the new benchmarking program and to incorporate
additional energy efficiency information into the CEC's
assessments and forecasts.
2)Unknown costs, but at least $900,000 to the Public Utilities
Reimbursement Account (special) for additional staff at the
CPUC to oversee, evaluate, and review the energy efficiency
program, and to provide an expedited authorization of high
opportunity projects.
3)Unknown costs, but potentially in the millions of dollars to
the General Fund and various special funds to the state as a
ratepayer of IOUs for additional energy efficiency program
costs.
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COMMENTS:
1)Background. Existing law requires that the state's energy
needs first be met by increasing energy efficiency under the
"loading order." Consistent with the loading order, existing
law requires electric and gas IOUs to meet unmet resources
with all available energy efficiency and demand reduction that
is cost effective, reliable, and feasible. To achieve these
targets, the IOUs administer energy efficiency programs with
ratepayer funds approved by the CPUC. Currently ratepayers
pay approximately $1 billion for financial incentives, loans,
and rebates for installing energy efficient appliances,
lighting, windows, HVAC systems, whole-house retrofits, and
sector-specific efforts.
2)Below-code buildings not eligible. Under the CPUC's existing
rules, the IOUs energy savings is calculated against a
baseline, which is based on a) "natural occurring savings," b)
standard industry practice, and c) Title 24 energy efficiency
standards for existing buildings. Thus, when the energy
efficiency project involves an existing building, only those
savings above the baseline are eligible for incentives and
assistance.
3)Minimum efficiency standards continue to tighten. Title 24 of
the California Code of Regulations establishes building
standards for energy efficiency. They were first adopted in
1978, and are currently updated approximately every three
years. The standards are developed by the CEC, and are
applied when a building permit is issued.
4)Energy Forecasts. Following a hearing in January 2013, before
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the Senate Energy, Utilities, and Commerce Committee, the
CPUC, CEC, and the California Independent System Operator
(CAISO) committed to aligning their respective processes to
coordinate energy efficiency so that there is proper
accounting; align the key milestones of the demand forecasting
process, including projections for energy efficiency; CEC
modifying its existing models to support forecasting at more
granular geographic levels in response to the needs of the
CPUC and CAISO; and developing new modeling methods to more
robustly capture efficiency impacts. Customer-specific energy
data could improve the accuracy of those forecasts.
In response to concerns regarding the privacy of energy data,
the author submitted a letter to the Senate Journal stating
that AB 802 does not require small residential property owners
of buildings with 16 or fewer residential utility accounts to
collect or deliver energy usage or building characteristic
information to the CEC. Rather, the bill gives owners of
buildings the right to receive such information.
Analysis Prepared by:
Sue Kateley / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083 FN:
0002439