BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1094
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 20, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1094 (Williams) - As Amended May 12, 2015
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Policy |Utilities and Commerce |Vote:|11 - 3 |
|Committee: | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| |Natural Resources | |7 - 2 |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the California Energy Commission (CEC), in
consultation with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), to
conduct an analysis of energy consumption by plug-in equipment
and develop an implementation plan to achieve specified energy
AB 1094
Page 2
efficiency targets. Specifically, this bill requires CEC in
consultation with the PUC to:
1)Conduct an analysis of plug-in equipment electricity
consumption and trends, drawing on existing data where
appropriate. Requires that the analysis be focused on the top
80% of plug-in equipment electricity consumption;
2)By January 1, 2018, set statewide reduction targets for
greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted through electricity production
consumed by energy consumption for plug-in equipment.
Develop, revise and update an implementation plan to achieve
statewide targets. Track and report on the progress of the
implementation plan.
Additionally, this bill:
1)Requires the PUC, in collaboration with CEC, to work with
stakeholders to address challenges to the achievement of the
statewide targets.
2)Defines "plug-in equipment" as an electrical device that plugs
into a power outlet, including, but not limited to, household
appliances, electronic products, miscellaneous electrical
loads, portable and other plug-in HVAC equipment, and
commercial plug-in appliances.
Specifies that "plug-in equipment" does not include
non-plug-in HVAC equipment, lighting, infrastructure loads
AB 1094
Page 3
wired directly to the building electrical system, wired smoke
or carbon monoxide detectors, lighting switches, and electric
vehicles.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Increased one-time costs of up to $1 million for the CEC (GF
or special fund).
2)Increased one-time costs of up to $5 million for the PUC
(special fund).
COMMENTS:
1)Rationale. According to the author, plug-in equipment is
responsible for nearly 60% of residential and 16% of
commercial electricity consumption in California. Across both
sectors, plug-in equipment consumes the equivalent annual
output of 23 500-megawatt power plants. This is projected to
increase to 27 power plants by 2030.
This bill addresses this large, yet often overlooked, sector
of energy consumption.
2)Background . The CEC has been proposing and adopting appliance
regulations since its inception in 1977. As new product
designs, new information about products, and new information
about energy usage become available, the CEC will periodically
AB 1094
Page 4
propose new regulations or update existing regulations. The
CEC continuously researches, investigates, assesses, and
identifies appliance and end use products which may ultimately
become the subject of an appliance regulation. The CEC is
preempted from adopting energy efficiency regulations on
products which are already regulated for their energy usage by
the Federal government.
The PUC oversees existing investor-owned utility (IOU)
administered ratepayer-funded energy efficiency rebate and
codes and standards programs.
3)Governor's Executive Order. On April 29, 2015, Governor Brown
issued an executive order establishing a statewide GHG
emission reduction target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, and 80% below 1990 levels by
2050
As part of the executive order, state agencies with
jurisdiction over sources of GHG emissions were ordered to
implement measures pursuant to their existing statutory
authority to achieve the required reductions. This bill is
consistent with that order.
4)Previous Legislation. AB 2529 (Williams, 2014) would have
required CEC and PUC to perform a study of energy usage by
plug-in equipment and develop an implementation plan to
achieve specified reductions in energy consumption by 2030.
This bill was held on suspense in this Committee.
This bill narrows the scope of AB 2529 to the top 80% of
AB 1094
Page 5
plug-in equipment, and requires CEC and PUC to draw upon
existing data and already funded studies.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081