BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1773
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1773 (Obernolte) - As Amended April 13, 2016
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|Policy |Utilities and Commerce |Vote:|15 - 0 |
|Committee: | | | |
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| |Local Government | |9 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill allows specified joint powers authorities to
participate in the Renewable Energy Self-Generation Bill Credit
Transfer (RES-BCT) program. Specifically, this bill:
1)Expands the definition of "local government" to include joint
powers authorities (JPAs) with public agency members located
AB 1773
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within the same county and same electrical corporation service
territory.
2)Excludes a JPA from participating in the RES-BCT program, if
its public agency members are located in different counties or
different electrical corporation service territories. Also
excludes JPAs if their membership includes the federal
government, any federal department or agency, the State of
California or another state, or any department or agency of
this state or another state.
3)Expands the definition of "benefitting account" to include
specified accounts within a JPA and establishes eligibility
conditions.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Minor, if any additional state costs.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, JPAs were explicitly
prohibited from participating in the program, regardless of
their geographic scope. Organizations like the Victor Valley
Wastewater Reclamation Authority that operate within the
bounds of a local government entity are prohibited from
participating based on their status as a JPA. While
participation in the program has grown, there is still a fair
amount of room available under the cap of the program. This
bill authorizes a limited expansion of the RES-BCT program to
allow specified JPAs to participate.
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2)Background. AB 2466 (Laird), Chapter 540, Statutes of 2008,
established the RES-BCT program to allow a local government
agency to operate a small renewable electricity generating
facility in one location and have the utility credit the
electricity produced against the electricity consumed at
another location located within the local government
boundaries.
Under the RES-BCT program, local governments such as cities
and counties, school districts, special districts, political
subdivisions, and public agencies may participate, as well as
individual college campuses. In addition, the program
prohibits shifting costs to bundled service subscribers.
In 2011, no local governments were participating in the
RES-BCT program in any of the three investor-owned utility
(IOU) territories. The Legislature passed AB 512 (Gordon),
Chapter 478, Statutes of 2011, to increase the maximum size
for eligible renewable energy generation from 1 MW to 5 MW.
The three investor-owned utilities (IOUs) are required offer
contracts to local governments under the RES-BCT program until
the combined statewide cumulative generating capacity of all
eligible renewable facilities within their service territories
reaches 250 megawatts (MW).
According to the most recent available data, the statewide
cumulative amount of energy generated within the RES-BCT
program is now 50 MW, which leaves 200 MW available under the
total statewide program capacity.
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Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081