Amended in Senate March 7, 2016

Senate Bill No. 919

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 amended, 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, begin delete to adopt and implement policies or tariffs end delete to address the oversupply of renewable energy begin delete resources, including, but not limited to, end delete begin insert resources through end insert a tariff begin insert or other economic incentive end insert for begin delete use by facilities end delete begin insert electricity purchased by customers operating “facilities end insert that create or augment local water begin delete supplies, like desalination, brackish water desalting, water recycling, or water reuse facilities, based on certain economic factors. end delete begin insert supplies,” as defined, to reduce the cost of electricity to those facilities. end insert

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.  

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert Before July 1, 2017, the commission, in consultation
with the Independent System Operator, shall begin delete adopt and implement
policies or tariffs to end delete address the oversupply of renewable energy
begin delete resources, including, but not limited to, end delete begin insert resources through end insert a tariff
begin insert or other economic incentive end insert for begin delete use by end delete begin insert the electricity purchased
by customers operating end insert facilities that create or augment local water
supplies, begin delete including, but not limited to, desalination, brackish water
desalting, water recycling, or water reuse facilities, based on
economic factors, end delete such as time-of-use or demand response, begin insert to
apply at the option of the customer, end insert to reduce the cost of electricity
to those facilities.

begin insert

(b) For purposes of this section, “facilities that create or
augment local water supplies” include desalination, brackish
water desalting, water recycling, water reuse, and groundwater
recharge facilities.

end insert

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.