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