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