Amended in Senate August 2, 2016

Amended in Senate June 20, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 13, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2630

Introduced by Assembly Member Salas

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Arambula, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonta, Brown, Gray, Mathis, Medina, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, and Santiago)

(Coauthors: Senators Berryhill, Cannella, Fuller, Galgiani, and Pavley)

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 amended, Salas. begin delete San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy and Jobs Act. end delete begin insert California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program: electrical transmission planning. end insert

Existing law relative to electrical restructuring, within the Public Utilities Act, establishes the Independent System Operator to ensure the efficient use and reliable operation of the electric transmission grid. The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) 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, so that the total kilowatthours sold to their retail end-use customers achieves 25% of retail sales by December 31, 2016, 33% by December 31, 2020, 40% by December 31, 2024, 45% by December 31, 2027, and 50% by December 31, 2030. 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 procurement requirements established by the program. begin insert The Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative is a statewide initiative to help identify transmission projects to accommodate the state’s renewable energy goals. end insert

begin delete

This bill would require the PUC and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to evaluate, while taking into consideration ratepayer costs and benefits, potential eligible renewable energy resource projects in the San Joaquin Valley that provide specified benefits or attributes. The bill would require the PUC and the Energy Commission, on or before January 31, 2017, using that evaluation, to recommend to the Independent System Operator an amount of electricity to be generated from eligible renewable energy resources in the San Joaquin Valley that reasonably maximizes, consistent with the state’s overall need for electricity and the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program, the amount of electricity to be generated from eligible renewable energy resources that accomplishes specified objectives. The bill would require the PUC and the Energy Commission, on or before January 31, 2017, using the results of the evaluation, to recommend to the Independent System Operator any network transmission upgrades needed to fulfill the above-described generation quantity recommendations and would require that the transmission upgrade recommendations seek to minimize the need for new transmission by prioritizing the use of existing transmission corridors consistent with specified principles developed by the Energy Commission.

end delete begin insert

This bill would require the Independent System Operator, when undertaking transmission planning activities, to take into account a specified report relating to solar photovoltaic system development in the San Joaquin Valley and specified principles of transmission corridor planning developed by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission). The bill would require the Energy Commission, the PUC, and the Independent System Operator, when undertaking activities as part of the Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative, to take into account the above-specified report and principles.

end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

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

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert begin insert

It is the intent of the Legislature that the state’s
processes for identifying and planning for electrical transmission
projects take into account the May 2016 Solar Convening Report,
titled “A Path Forward: Identifying Least-Conflict Solar PV
Development in California’s San Joaquin Valley, ” and the
principles of transmission corridor planning developed by the
State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission in response to Senate Bill 2431 (Chapter 1457 of the
Statutes of 1988), known as the Garamendi Principles.

end insert

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 399.23 is added to the end insert begin insert Public Utilities Code end insert begin insert ,
to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 399.23. end insert   

(a) The Independent System Operator, when
undertaking transmission planning activities, shall take into
account the May 2016 Solar Convening Report, titled “A Path
Forward: Identifying Least-Conflict Solar PV Development in
California’s San Joaquin Valley,” and the principles of
transmission corridor planning developed by the Energy
Commission in response to Senate Bill 2431 (Chapter 1457 of the
Statutes of 1988), known as the Garamendi Principles.

(b) The Energy Commission, the commission, and the
Independent System Operator, when undertaking activities as part
of the Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative, shall take into
account the May 2016 Solar Convening Report and the Garamendi
Principles.

end insert

begin delete

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 generation from eligible renewable energy resources 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
resource project 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 at
all solar project locations, create jobs, and derive cobenefits for
disadvantaged communities.

(h) The Governor’s office has completed the San Joaquin Valley
Solar Convening identifying high potential solar energy
developments in the San Joaquin Valley that maximize renewable
energy benefits and minimize environmental biological and habitat
impacts.

(i) The report issued by the University of California in May
2016 on the outcome of the convening, entitled “A Path Forward:
Identifying Least-Conflict Solar PV Development in California’s
San Joaquin Valley,” identified 470,000 acres of least-conflict
land, amounting to roughly 5 percent of the 9.5 million acres in
the stakeholder study area.

(j) In order to identify least-conflict lands, the project team
convened four stakeholder groups early in the process: (1) an
environmental conservation group, (2) an agricultural farmland
conservation group, (3) a solar industry group, and (4) a
transmission group. An agricultural rangeland stakeholder group
was later added to gain a better understanding of regional land
value from this stakeholder perspective.

(k) The project team generated the final result, the composite
least-conflict area, using the information developed with the solar
industry, environmental conservation, and agricultural farmland
conservation stakeholder groups.

(l) Given the proximity to existing transmission corridors, solar
projects in the San Joaquin Valley can be developed in a way that
minimizes the need for new transmission by prioritizing the use
of existing transmission corridors consistent with the principles
of transmission corridor planning developed by the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission in response
to Senate Bill 2431 (Chapter 1457 of the Statutes of 1988), known
as the Garamendi Principles.

(m) 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 commission and the Energy Commission shall
evaluate, while taking into consideration ratepayer costs and
benefits, potential eligible renewable energy resource projects in
the San Joaquin Valley. Evaluation of projects that provide the
following benefits or attributes 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 commission and the Energy Commission shall
recommend to the Independent System Operator an amount of
electricity to be generated from eligible renewable energy resources
in the San Joaquin Valley that reasonably maximizes the amount
of electricity to be generated from eligible renewable energy
resources, consistent with the state’s overall need for electricity
and the requirements of this article, and that accomplishes all of
the following:

(1) Takes into account the 470,000 acres identified in the
Governor’s May 2016 Solar Convening Report, entitled “A Path
Forward: Identifying Least-Conflict Solar PV Development in
California’s San Joaquin Valley,” along with all other lands in the
Central Valley that have entitlements for solar development.

(2) Provides eligible renewable energy resources within the San
Joaquin Valley with full capacity deliverability status.

(3) Minimizes the need for new transmission by prioritizing the
use of existing transmission corridors consistent with the principles
of transmission corridor planning developed by the Energy
Commission in response to Senate Bill 2431 (Chapter 1457 of the
Statutes of 1988), known as the Garamendi Principles.

(c) Using the results of the evaluation, on or before January 31,
2017, the commission and the Energy Commission shall
recommend to the Independent System Operator any network
transmission upgrades needed to fulfill the recommendations made
pursuant to subdivision (b). This recommendation shall seek to
minimize the need for new transmission by prioritizing the use of
existing transmission corridors consistent with the Garamendi
Principles of transmission corridor planning.

end delete