AB 1144, as introduced, Rendon. California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program: unbundled renewable energy credits.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. The existing definition of an electrical corporation excludes from that definition a corporation or person employing landfill gas technology or digester gas technology for the generation of electricity for (1) its own use or the use of not more than 2 of its tenants located on the real property on which the electricity is generated, (2) the use of or sale to not more than 2 other corporations or persons solely for use on the real property on which the electricity is generated, or (3) the sale or transmission to an electrical corporation or state or local public agency, if the sale or transmission of the electricity service to a retail customer is provided through the transmission system of the existing local publicly owned electric utility or electrical corporation of that retail customer.
The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish a renewables portfolio standard requiring all retail sellers, as defined, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, at specified percentages of the total kilowatthours sold to their retail end-customers during specified compliance periods. The program additionally requires each local publicly owned electric utility, as defined, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources to achieve the targets established by the program. The program, consistent with the goals of procuring the least-cost and best-fit eligible renewable energy resources that meet project viability principles, requires that all retail sellers procure a balanced portfolio of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as specified, referred to as the portfolio content requirements.
This bill would provide that unbundled renewable energy credits may be used to meet the first category of the portfolio content requirements if (1) the credits are earned by electricity that is generated by an entity that, if it were a person or corporation, would be excluded from the definition of an electrical corporation by operation of the exclusions for a corporation or person employing landfill gas technology or digester gas technology, (2) the entity employing the landfill gas technology or digester gas technology has a first point of interconnection with a California balancing authority, a first point of interconnection with distribution facilities used to serve end users within a California balancing authority area, or are scheduled from the eligible renewable energy resource into a California balancing authority without substituting electricity from another source, and (3) where the electricity generated that earned the credit is used at a facility owned by a public entity.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 399.16 of the Public Utilities Code is
2amended to read:
(a) Various electricity products from eligible renewable
4energy resources located within the WECC transmission network
5service area shall be eligible to comply with the renewables
6portfolio standard procurement requirements in Section 399.15.
7These electricity products may be differentiated by their impacts
8on the operation of the grid in supplying electricity, as well as,
9meeting the requirements of this article.
10(b) Consistent with the goals of procuring the least-cost and
11best-fit electricity products from eligible renewable energy
12resources that meet project viability principles adopted by the
13commission pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section
P3 1399.13 and that provide the benefits set forth in Section 399.11, a
2balanced portfolio of eligible
renewable energy resources shall be
3procured consisting of the following portfolio content categories:
4(1) Eligible renewable energy resource electricity products that
5meetbegin delete eitherend deletebegin insert anyend insert of the following criteria:
6(A) Have a first point of interconnection with a California
7balancing authority, have a first point of interconnection with
8distribution facilities used to serve end users within a California
9balancing authority area, or are scheduled from the eligible
10renewable energy resource into a California balancing authority
11without substituting electricity from another source. The use of
12another source to provide real-time ancillary services required to
13maintain an hourly or subhourly import
schedule into a California
14balancing authority shall be permitted, but only the fraction of the
15schedule actually generated by the eligible renewable energy
16resource shall count toward this portfolio content category.
17(B) Have an agreement to dynamically transfer electricity to a
18California balancing authority.
19(C) Unbundled renewable energy credits that are earned by
20electricity that is generated by an entity that, if it were a person
21or corporation, would be excluded from the definition of an
22electrical corporation by operation of subdivision (c) or (d) of
23Section 218, that meets the criteria of subparagraph (A), and where
24the electricity generated that earned the credit is used at a facility
25owned by a public entity.
26(2) Firmed and shaped eligible renewable energy resource
27electricity products providing incremental electricity and scheduled
28into a California balancing authority.
29(3) Eligible renewable energy resource electricity products, or
30any fraction of the electricity generated, including unbundled
31renewable energy credits, that do not qualify under the criteria of
32paragraph (1) or (2).
33(c) In order to achieve a balanced portfolio, all retail sellers
34shall meet the following requirements for all procurement credited
35toward each compliance period:
36(1) Not less than 50 percent for the compliance period ending
37December 31, 2013, 65 percent for the compliance period ending
38December 31, 2016, and 75 percent thereafter of the eligible
39renewable energy resource electricity products associated with
P4 1contracts executed
after June 1, 2010, shall meet the product
2content requirements of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b).
3(2) Not more than 25 percent for the compliance period ending
4December 31, 2013, 15 percent for the compliance period ending
5December 31, 2016, and 10 percent thereafter of the eligible
6renewable energy resource electricity products associated with
7contracts executed after June 1, 2010, shall meet the product
8content requirements of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b).
9(3) Any renewable energy resources contracts executed on or
10after June 1, 2010, not subject to the limitations of paragraph (1)
11or (2), shall meet the product content requirements of paragraph
12(2) of subdivision (b).
13(4) For purposes of electric service providers only, the
14restrictions in this subdivision on crediting eligible renewable
15energy resource
electricity products to each compliance period
16shall apply to contracts executed after January 13, 2011.
17(d) Any contract or ownership agreement originally executed
18prior to June 1, 2010, shall count in full toward the procurement
19requirements established pursuant to this article, if all of the
20following conditions are met:
21(1) The renewable energy resource was eligible under the rules
22in place as of the date when the contract was executed.
23(2) For an electrical corporation, the contract has been approved
24by the commission, even if that approval occurs after June 1, 2010.
25(3) Any contract amendments or modifications occurring after
26June 1, 2010, do not increase the nameplate capacity or expected
27quantities of annual generation, or substitute a different
renewable
28energy resource. The duration of the contract may be extended if
29the original contract specified a procurement commitment of 15
30or more years.
31(e) A retail seller may apply to the commission for a reduction
32of a procurement content requirement of subdivision (c). The
33commission may reduce a procurement content requirement of
34subdivision (c) to the extent the retail seller demonstrates that it
35cannot comply with that subdivision because of conditions beyond
36the control of the retail seller as provided in paragraph (5) of
37subdivision (b) of Section 399.15. The commission shall not, under
38any circumstance, reduce the obligation specified in paragraph (1)
P5 1of subdivision (c) below 65 percent for any compliance obligation
2after December 31, 2016.
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