BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2700
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 18, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2700 (Brown) - As Amended May 11, 2016
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|Policy |Utilities and Commerce |Vote:|15 - 0 |
|Committee: | | | |
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| |Natural Resources | |9 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill modifes the "least-cost, best-fit" (LCBF) criteria
used by California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to rank
contracts under the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS).
Specifically, this bill expands the workforce considerations in
the LCBF process to include the jobs retained by contracting
with existing renewable resources.
AB 2700
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FISCAL EFFECT:
State costs are absorbable within existing resources.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, California utilities'
portfolios have become less diverse, not more. The
procurement of new wind, solar thermal and solar PV has gone
up dramatically while the procurement of biomass and
geothermal has declined significantly.
This bill seeks to encourage the PUC to rank existing
renewable projects in a more favorable manner relative to
existing jobs.
2)Background. The RPS requires retail electricity sellers to
procure 50% of their retail sales from eligible renewable
energy resources by 2030 and thereafter.
Certain biomass facilities have been unable to secure new
contracts with utilities because the utilities have satisfied
their RPS procurement requirements using other, lower-cost
resources. The inability to secure new contracts has led to
the closure of several biomass plants and loss of jobs in
their communities. Contracts with existing geothermal plants
are also at risk of not being renewed and new geothermal
projects have not ranked favorably in the RPS selection
process.
AB 2700
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Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081