BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2713
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Date of Hearing: May 11, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2713 (Chiu) - As Amended April 27, 2016
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| |Utilities and Commerce | |14 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY: This bill requires cities and counties to accept
electronic submissions of permit applications for advanced
energy storage installations, and requires the Governor's Office
of Planning and Research (OPR) to create a California Energy
Storage Permitting Guidebook. Specifically, this bill:
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1)Requires, on or before September 30, 2017, every city, county,
or city and county with a population of 200,000 or more
residents, and on or before January 31, 2018, every city,
county, or city and county with a population of less than
200,000 residents, to make all documentation and forms
associated with the permitting of advanced energy storage
available on a publicly accessible website, if the city,
county, or city and county has an website.
2)Requires every city, county, or city and county to allow for
electronic submission of a permit application and associated
documentation, and to authorize the electronic signature on
all forms, applications, and other documentation in lieu of a
wet signature by an applicant.
3)Prohibits any fee charged for the permitting or inspection of
an advanced energy storage installation to be calculated based
on the value of the installation or any other factor not
directly associated with the cost to issue the permit and
inspect the installation.
4)Requires, on or before January 1, 2019, OPR, in consultation
with local building officials, the State Fire Marshal, the
storage industry, labor representative from the utility and
construction industries, licensed electrical contractors,
electrical corporations, publically owned utilities, the
California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and other
stakeholders, and through review of any existing streamlined
permitting practices used by cities, counties, or city and
counties, to create a California Energy Storage Permitting
Guidebook (Guidebook) modeled substantially on the California
Solar Permitting Guidebook.
5)Prohibits OPR, in developing the Guidebook, from including
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provisions that are in conflict with or inconsistent with
provisions of the California Building standards Code, the
California Electrical Code, or any other model code adopted by
the California Building Standards Commission pursuant to the
California Building Standards Law.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Annual costs of at least $110,000 to OPR (GF) for two years to
consult with experts and stakeholders and develop the required
guidelines and other information necessary to create a
guidebook. This includes approximately $45,000 for Senior
Counsel (1/3 PY) and $60,000 to $70,000 for a program analyst
(1 PY).
2)Unknown, but likely significant costs to other state agencies
to consult with OPR regarding guideline development. This may
include the State Fire Marshal, CPUC, Building Standards
Commission, Department of General Services, and others.
3)One-time costs of approximately $300,000 (GF) for OPR to
develop and print the Guidebook. Staff notes that past
guidebooks were paid for by outside groups. There is no such
arrangement in this case.
4)Non-reimbursable costs to cities and counties to make
documentation and forms associated with the permitting of
advanced energy storage available on their websites, to allow
electronic submissions of the applications, and authorize
electronic signatures, likely fully offset by fees cities and
counties are authorized to charge for these activities.
COMMENTS:
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1)Purpose. According to the author, "Across cities and counties
in California, applications to install energy storage projects
are increasing but two critical elements are missing. First,
the state lacks a 'handbook' for uniform best practices of
energy storage permitting. Second, in some cities and
counties across the state it remains difficult to access and
submit the necessary documents and forms associated with the
permitting of energy storage systems. The 'handbook' and
online resources will help further the deployment of energy
storage solutions while continuing to support the state's
renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions goals."
2)Background. AB 2514 (Skinner), Chapter 469, Statutes of 2010,
required the CPUC to determine appropriate targets for load
serving entities to procure energy storage system and required
load serving entities to meet any targets adopted by the CPUC
by 2015 and 2020. AB 2514 also required publicly owned
utilities to set their own targets for the procurement of
energy storage and meet those targets by 2016 and 2021. In
October 2013, the CPUC issued a decision that required
California's three investor owned utilities to procure an
aggregate of 1,324 Megawatts of energy storage by the end of
2020, with installation by the end of 2024.
Because the amount of electric generation is relatively fixed
over short periods of time, even though demand for electricity
fluctuates throughout the day, developing energy storage
technologies can help the state manage the electric grid
during peak demand periods. Energy storage devices can help
make renewable energy, which are energy outputs that cannot be
controlled by grid operators, easier to dispatch. The most
common form of energy storage devices are batteries. However,
there are no commercially available batteries that could
cost-effectively store the large amount of electricity that
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can be produced by large scale wind and solar facilities.
Utilities are continuing to engage in projects to determine
the viability of different energy storage projects.
3)Energy Storage Permitting Guidebook. The California Solar
Permitting Guidebook was developed for local governments and
permitting agencies to facilitate installation of small solar
energy systems. The guidebook provides recommendations in
which local governments can reduce permit processing times and
increase their output while facilitating local economic
development. This bill requires OPR, on or before January 1,
2019, to create a California Energy Storage Permitting
Guidebook modeled substantially on the California Solar
Permitting Guidebook.
Premature? Unlike past efforts by OPR to develop guidebooks,
where much guidance and best practices existed and on which
OPR had been working for several years prior to the specific
request, there is very little comparable existing information
on energy storage on which to draw. Federal guidance has not
yet been released, there are few, if any local model
ordinances, OPR has no topic experts on staff, and outside
groups are not yet actively engaged. Much of the relevant
information that OPR gathered and compiled in the past, will
have to be developed in this case, at much greater expense
than in the past. The Committee may wish to consider whether
there is a more efficient approach.
4)Related Legislation. AB 2868 (Gatto), pending hearing in this
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Committee, would require the PUC, in consultation with the
State Air Resources Board and the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission, to direct electrical
corporations to file applications for programs and investments
to accelerate widespread deployment of distributed energy
storage systems.
5)Previous Legislation.
a) AB 1236 (Chiu and Low), Chapter 598, Statutes of 2015,
required counties and cities, including charter cities, to
create an expedited permitting and inspection process for
electric vehicle charging stations.
b) AB 2188 (Muratsuchi), Chapter 521, Statutes of 2014,
required every city or county to adopt an ordinance that
creates an expedited permitting process for small,
residential rooftop solar energy systems, altered the
definition of what is a reasonable restriction on a solar
energy system, and made additional changes to the Solar
Rights Act of 1978.
c) AB 2514 (Skinner), Chapter 469, Statutes of 2010,
required the PUC to determine appropriate targets, if any,
for load serving entities to procure energy storage
systems, required load serving entities to meet any targets
adopted by the PUC by 2015 and 2020, and required
publicly-owned utilities to set their own targets for the
procurement of energy storage and meet those targets by
2016 and 2021.
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Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081