BILL NUMBER: AB 2630 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 2, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 20, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2016
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. San Joaquin Valley Clean
Energy and Jobs Act. California Renewables Portfolio
Standard Program: electrical transmission planning.
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.
The Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative is a statewide
initiative to help identify transmission projects to accommodate the
state's renewable energy goals.
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.
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.
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. 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.
SEC. 2. Section 399.23 is added to the
Public Utilities Code , to read:
399.23. (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.
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.