BILL NUMBER: AB 2630 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Salas
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to add Section 399.23 to the Public Utilities Code,
relating to electricity.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2630, as introduced, Salas. San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy and
Jobs Act.
Existing law, the Public Utilities Act, establishes the
Independent System Operator to ensure the efficient use and reliable
operation of the electric transmission grid. The Clean Energy and
Pollution Reduction Act of 2015 establishes a target of 50% for the
amount of electricity generated and sold to retail customers per year
from eligible renewable energy resources, to be achieved by December
31, 2030.
This bill would require the Public Utilities Commission and the
State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to
evaluate potential renewable energy projects on least-conflict lands
in the San Joaquin Valley, as specified, and, on or before January
31, 2017, using that evaluation, to recommend to the Independent
System Operator an amount of renewable energy production in the San
Joaquin Valley that reasonably maximizes, consistent with the state's
overall need for renewable energy, the use of least-conflict lands
as identified by the San Joaquin Valley Solar Convening.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the San
Joaquin Valley Clean Energy and Jobs Act.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division
25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code)
established a policy to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to 1990
levels by 2020 and to continue reductions of emissions of greenhouse
gases beyond 2020.
(b) The Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015 (Chapter
547 of the Statutes of 2015) established further clean energy
policies to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and expand renewable
energy to at least 50 percent of total retail sales of electricity
in California by December 31, 2030.
(c) The San Joaquin Valley remains mired in chronic double digit
unemployment, unprecedented rates of poverty, a severe ongoing
drought, and poor air quality.
(d) California's energy sector is undergoing significant
advancement and transformation driven by evolving regulation,
expanding renewable energy goals, and increasing greenhouse gas
emissions reduction efforts.
(e) While rich in natural resources and clean energy
opportunities, the San Joaquin Valley has largely been left behind in
California's clean energy revolution. The overwhelming majority of
the state's new transmission assets have been sited in other regions,
particularly southern California, and renewable energy investment,
jobs, and economic and environmental benefits have followed grid
access.
(f) Unlocking the renewable energy potential of the San Joaquin
Valley by providing more equitable investment in a clean energy
economy should be a key priority of California policymakers.
(g) Timely investment and improved transmission access are
critical to the San Joaquin Valley and will allow the region to more
effectively and efficiently develop clean energy opportunities,
create jobs, and derive cobenefits for disadvantaged communities.
(h) The Governor's office is nearing completion of the San Joaquin
Valley Solar Convening to identify high potential least-conflict
lands for solar energy development in the San Joaquin Valley that
maximize renewable energy benefits and minimize environmental
biological and habitat impacts.
(i) Development of renewable energy projects on least-conflict
lands will provide for the economically viable and environmentally
beneficial reuse of physically impaired agricultural soils,
facilitate solutions to agricultural drainage problems by retiring
marginal agricultural land from irrigated agriculture, and redirect
increasing scarce surface water supplies from impaired lands to more
productive agricultural land.
(j) As future clean energy investments are planned and
implemented, state officials must ensure an appropriate share is
targeted to improve environmental quality, expand economic
development, contribute to environmental solutions, and create jobs
in the San Joaquin Valley.
SEC. 3. Section 399.23 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
399.23. (a) The Public Utilities Commission and the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission shall evaluate
potential renewable energy projects on least-conflict lands in the
San Joaquin Valley. Evaluation of projects that provide the following
benefits shall be prioritized:
(1) The economically viable and environmentally beneficial reuse
of drainage-impaired agricultural lands.
(2) The retirement of drainage-impaired agricultural land and
facilitation of regional agricultural drainage solutions.
(3) The facilitation of surface water supply redirection from
drainage-impaired agricultural lands to other productive agricultural
land.
(b) Using the results of the evaluation, on or before January 31,
2017, the Public Utilities Commission and the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission shall recommend to the
Independent System Operator an amount of renewable energy production
in the San Joaquin Valley that reasonably maximizes, consistent with
the state's overall need for renewable energy, the use of
least-conflict lands as identified by the San Joaquin Valley Solar
Convening.