Amended in Senate June 19, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1110

Introduced by Assembly Member Ting

February 27, 2015

An act to amend begin delete Section 4115 end delete begin insert Sections 398.1, 398.2, and 398.4 end insert of the begin delete Revenue and Taxation Code, end delete begin insert Public Utilities Code, end insert relating to begin delete taxation. end delete begin insert energy. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1110, as amended, Ting. begin delete Property taxation: redemption deficiency. end delete begin insert Emissions of greenhouse gases reporting: retail electricity suppliers. end insert

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Under existing law, entities offering electric services in California are required to disclose information on the sources of energy that are used to provide electric services. Existing law requires every retail supplier, as defined, that makes an offer to sell electricity that is consumed in California to disclose its electricity sources for the previous calendar year. These disclosures are required to be made to end-use customers and potential end-use customers. Existing law requires a retail supplier to disclose its electricity sources as a percentage of annual sales that is derived from specified sources of energy, including eligible renewable energy resources.

end insert begin insert

This bill would require a retail supplier, including an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, electric service provider, and community choice aggregator to also disclose the emissions of greenhouse gases associated with its electricity sources. The bill would prohibit an adjustment in the calculation of emissions of greenhouse gases through the application of renewable energy credits, carbon offset credits, or other attributes acquired from any facility not providing the actual delivered electricity used to serve a retail customer.

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The Public Utilities Act makes any public utility and any corporation other than a public utility, that violates the act, or that fails to comply with any part of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission, guilty of a crime.

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Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements by an electrical corporation or electric service provider would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding what is a crime. By placing additional reporting duties upon local publicly owned electric utilities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

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This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons.

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Under existing property tax law, unpaid property taxes are declared delinquent and subject to penalties and costs, and, if the taxes remain unpaid, the property is declared tax-defaulted and subject to sale. Existing law authorizes the tax collector to provide notification of the tax-defaulted status of the property to the property owner, as specified, and authorizes the property to be redeemed until the right of redemption is terminated. Existing law requires the tax collector to issue a certification of redemption when tax-defaulted property is redeemed, as specified. Existing law authorizes a tax collector, if that tax collector has erroneously computed the amount necessary to redeem a parcel of property as to which a redemption certificate has been issued and that error resulted in an underpayment of the amount required to redeem the property, to collect the amount of the redemption deficiency if the tax collector sends notice of, or a bill for, the underpayment, as specified. Existing law requires the redemption deficiency to be collected, as provided, if payment of the redemption deficiency is not made by the property owner within 30 days following the mailing of the notice or bill.

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This bill would instead extend the time available to make a redemption deficiency from 30 days to 45 days following the mailing of the notice or bill.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert .

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 398.1 of the end insert begin insert Public Utilities Code end insert begin insert is
amended to read: end insert

398.1.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that there is a
need for reliable, accurate, and timely information regarding fuel
sources for electric generation offered for retail sale in California.

(b) The purpose of this article is to establish a program under
which entities offering electric services in California disclose
accurate, reliable, and simple to understand information on the
sources of begin delete energy end delete begin insert energy, and the associated emissions of
greenhouse gases, end insert that are used to provide electric services.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 398.2 of the end insert begin insert Public Utilities Code end insert begin insert is amended
to read: end insert

398.2.  

The definitions set forth in this section shall govern the
construction of this article.

(a) “Retail supplier” means an entity that offers an electricity
product for sale to retail consumers in begin delete California. end delete begin insert California,
including an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric
utility, electric service provider, and community choice aggregator. end insert

(b) “System operator” means the Independent System Operator
with responsibility for the efficient use and reliable operation of
the transmission grid, as provided by Section 345, or a local
publicly owned electric utility that does not utilize the Independent
System Operator.

(c) “Specific purchases” means electricity transactions begin delete which end delete
begin insert that end insert are traceable to specific generation sources by any auditable
contract trail or equivalent, such as a tradable commodity system,
that provides commercial verification that the electricity source
claimed has been sold once and only once to a retail consumer.
Retail suppliers may rely on annual data to meet this requirement,
rather than hour-by-hour matching of loads and resources.

(d) “Unspecified sources of power” means electricity that is not
traceable to specific generation sources by any auditable contract
trail or equivalent, including a tradable commodity system, that
provides commercial verification that the electricity source claimed
has been sold once, and only once, to a retail consumer.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 398.4 of the end insert begin insert Public Utilities Code end insert begin insert is amended
to read: end insert

398.4.  

(a) Every retail supplier that makes an offering to sell
electricity that is consumed in California shall disclose its
electricity sources begin insert and the associated emissions of greenhouse
gases end insert for the previous calendar year.

(b) The disclosures required by this section shall be made to
potential end-use consumers in all product-specific written
promotional materials that are distributed to consumers by either
printed or electronic means, including the retail supplier’s Internet
Web site, if one exists, except that advertisements and notices in
general circulation media shall not be subject to this requirement.

(c) The disclosures required by this section shall be made
annually to end-use consumers of the offered electricity. The annual
disclosure shall be made by the end of the first complete billing
cycle for the third quarter of the year, and shall be consistent with
information provided to the Energy Commission pursuant to
Section 398.5.

(d) The disclosures required by this section shall be made
separately for each offering made by the retail supplier.

(e) On or before January 1, 1998, the Energy Commission shall
specify guidelines for the format and means for disclosure required
by Section 398.3 and this section, based on the requirements of
this article and subject to public hearing.

(f) The costs of making the disclosures required by this section
shall be considered to be generation related.

(g) The disclosures required by this section shall comply with
the following:

(1) A retail supplier’s disclosure of its electricity sources shall
be expressed as a percentage of annual sales derived from each of
the following categories:

(A) Unspecified sources of electricity.

(B) Specific purchases.

(2) A retail supplier’s disclosure of its electricity sources shall
also separately identify total California system electricity, which
is the sum of all in-state generation and net electricity imports by
fuel type.

(h) Each of the categories specified in subdivision (g) shall be
additionally identified as a percentage of annual sales that is
derived from the following fuels or sources of energy:

(1) Coal.

(2) Large hydroelectric (greater than 30 megawatts).

(3) Natural gas.

(4) Nuclear.

(5) Eligible renewable energy resources pursuant to the
California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (Article 16
(commencing with Section 399.11)), begin insert identified by the
corresponding categories described in end insert begin insert subdivision (b) of Section
399.16, end insert including any of the following:

(A) Biomass and biowaste.

(B) Geothermal.

(C) Eligible hydroelectric.

(D) Solar.

(E) Wind.

(6) Other categories as determined by the Energy Commission.

(i) All electricity sources disclosed as specific purchases shall
meet the requirements of subdivision (c) of Section 398.2.

(j) Specific purchases identified pursuant to this section shall
be from sources connected to the Western Electricity Coordinating
Council interconnected grid.

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(k) Compliance with this section by a local publicly owned
electric utility shall constitute compliance with paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b) of Section 387.

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(k) The emissions of greenhouse gases associated with a retail
supplier’s electricity sources shall be reported as the sum of all
annual emissions of greenhouse gases divided by annual retail
electric sales. Emissions of greenhouse gases shall be calculated
using the emissions reported for electricity supplied by entities
required to report emissions of greenhouse gases pursuant to
Article 2 (commencing with Section 95100) of Subchapter 10 of
Chapter 1 of Division 3 of Title 17 of the California Code of
Regulations. Emissions of greenhouse gases shall include any
emissions otherwise attributable to any first deliverer, as defined
in paragraph (178) of subdivision (a) of Section 95102 of Title 17
of the California Code of Regulations, supplying electricity directly
or indirectly to the retail supplier. For purposes of this calculation,
no adjustment shall be made to the calculation of emissions of
greenhouse gases assigned to any retail supplier through the
application of the following:

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(1) Renewable energy credits, as defined in subdivision (h) of
Section 399.12.

end insert begin insert

(2) Offset credits issued pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with
Section 95801) of Subchapter 10 of Chapter 1 of Division 3 of
Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations.

end insert begin insert

(3) Other attributes acquired from any facility not providing
the actual delivered electricity used to serve a retail customer.

end insert

(l) The provisions of this section shall not apply to generators
providing electric service onsite, under an over-the-fence
transaction as described in Section 218, or to an affiliate or
affiliates, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 372.

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begin insert SEC. 4. end insert   

end insert begin insert

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act or because costs that may be
incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred
because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a
crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or
infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.

end insert

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SECTION 1.  

Section 4115 of the Revenue and Taxation Code
is amended to read:

4115.  

If payment of the redemption deficiency is not made
within 45 days following the mailing of the notice or bill required
by Section 4114, the deficiency shall be transferred to the secured
roll prepared or being prepared for the assessment year in which
such notice or bill is mailed to the assessee, and shall thereafter
be treated and collected like other taxes on such roll; provided,
however, that if before the date of transfer to the secured roll, with
the date of entry specified thereon, the real property on which such
redemption deficiency constitutes a lien has been transferred or
conveyed to a bona fide purchaser for value or becomes subject
to a bona fide encumbrance for value, such redemption deficiency
shall not create, impose or constitute a lien on such real property
but shall be transferred to the unsecured roll in the name of the
assessee at the time the original insufficient payment was made
and shall thereafter be treated and collected like other taxes on
said roll.

The entry on the roll shall be followed with “Deficiency in
Redemption of Parcel Number ____ on __________, 20_.” The
foregoing entry may be made on a document separate from the
roll if reference is made on the roll to the document wherein the
entry is made. The delinquent tax abstract from which the
redemption deficiency is transferred may, at the option of the
county, serve as the separate document.

end delete