BILL NUMBER: SB 919 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hertzberg
JANUARY 27, 2016
An act to add Section 711 to the Public Utilities Code, relating
to water supply.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 919, as introduced, Hertzberg. Water supply: creation or
augmentation of local water supplies.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has
regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical
corporations, as defined. The existing California Renewables
Portfolio Standard Program requires a retail seller of electricity,
as defined, and local publicly owned electric utilities to purchase
specified minimum quantities of electricity products from eligible
renewable energy resources, as defined, for specified compliance
periods, sufficient to ensure that the level of procurement of
electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources reaches
a specified percentage of retail sales by a specified date.
This bill would require the commission, before July 1, 2017, in
consultation with the Independent System Operator, to adopt and
implement policies or tariffs to address the oversupply of renewable
energy resources, including, but not limited to, a tariff for use by
facilities that create or augment local water supplies, like
desalination, brackish water desalting, water recycling, or water
reuse facilities, based on certain economic factors.
Because a violation of an order or a direction of the commission
is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) California's drought has affected every region of the state.
Scientists predict our changing climate will increase the frequency,
length, and severity of droughts in the future. As a result, the
state must prioritize local water security.
(2) Traditionally, California has relied on interregional water
transfers and tapping groundwater sources.
(3) California's water systems were developed in an era of
plentiful water, delivering fresh water hundreds of miles away at
little cost. Those systems allowed regions to develop without
sufficient local supplies.
(4) During droughts, however, groundwater supplies are pumped
faster than they can be replenished, and 2014 saw the lowest final
calendar year allocation in the 54-year history of the state water
project, just 5 percent allocated of that which was requested.
(5) This drought, coupled with forecasts of a changing climate
featuring even more severe droughts, has forced Californians to
prioritize local water security.
(6) There are several underutilized water resources that can be
managed locally, including desalination, brackish water desalting,
water recycling, and water reuse. One of the barriers to
cost-effective desalination, brackish water desalting, water
recycling, and water reuse is the cost of electricity because moving
and treating water are energy intensive.
(7) Recent forecasts of California's electrical grid show
substantial challenges to integrating a high fraction of electricity
from renewable resources, including curtailment of resources due to
oversupply. Such excess electricity could be directed through
regulatory signals, demand response, and appropriate tariffs to
facilities that create or augment local water supplies in an effort
to meet the needs for local water security and integration of
generation from renewable energy resources.
(8) There is a clear public interest in maximizing the development
and expansion of facilities that create or augment local water
supplies. Given that water and energy are inextricably linked, it is
also imperative that those facilities receive all available
cost-effective energy efficiency, demand response, and regulatory
assistance.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to expedite funding made
available pursuant to the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure
Improvement Act of 2014 (Division 26.7 (commencing with Section
79700) of the Water Code) for projects that encourage the deployment
of facilities that create or augment local water supplies, including,
but not limited to, desalination, brackish water desalting, water
recycling, or water reuse facilities.
SEC. 2. Section 711 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
711. Before July 1, 2017, the commission, in consultation with
the Independent System Operator, shall adopt and implement policies
or tariffs to address the oversupply of renewable energy resources,
including, but not limited to, a tariff for use by facilities that
create or augment local water supplies, including, but not limited
to, desalination, brackish water desalting, water recycling, or water
reuse facilities, based on economic factors, such as time-of-use or
demand response, to reduce the cost of electricity to those
facilities.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.