BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 793 (Wolk) - Green Tariff Shared Renewables Program.
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|Version: May 5, 2015 |Policy Vote: E., U., & C. 8 - 3 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: May 11, 2015 |Consultant: Marie Liu |
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This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 793 would require the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC) to determine a reasonably estimated bill
credit and charge for a period of up to 20 years for a customer
participating in a Green Tariff Shared Renewables (GTSR)
Program.
Fiscal
Impact: Ongoing costs of approximately $130,000 from the Public
Utilities Reimbursement Account (special) to estimate costs and
credits over 20 years.
Background: In 2013, the Legislature passed SB 43 (Wolk) Chapter 413,
Statutes of 2013, which created pilot program, titled the GTSR
Program, to allow electrical customers of investor-owned
utilities (IOUs) to purchase electricity from renewable energy
facilities up to a statewide limit of 600 megawatts (MV)
SB 793 (Wolk) Page 1 of
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proportionately distributed among the IOUs. The goal of the GTSR
program is to allow customers to access renewable energy
resources even if they are unable to have the benefits of onsite
generation.
The CPUC was to issue a decision by July 1, 2014 to approve or
disapprove each IOU's GTSR program. The CPUC issued this
decision on January 29, 2015 that allows customers to subscribe
to the GTSR one year at time.
The GTSR program sunsets in January 2019.
Proposed Law:
This bill would require an IOU participating in the GTSR
program to allow a participating customer to receive a
reasonably estimated bill credit and charge, as determined by
the CPUC, for a period of up to 20 years.
Staff
Comments: The workload that would be created by this bill to
estimate bill credit and charge under the GTSR program for 20
years could occur within an existing proceeding opened to
implement SB 43. However, the work necessary to actually perform
the calculation would necessitate additional staff according to
the CPUC at an ongoing annual cost of $130,000.
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