BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1074
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
1074 (Hueso)
As Amended August 19, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 29-9
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Utilities |14-0 |Gatto, Patterson, | |
| | |Burke, Chávez, Dahle, | |
| | |Cristina Garcia, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Hadley, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Roger Hernández, | |
| | |Obernolte, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago, Ting, | |
| | |Williams | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Appropriations |15-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, | |
SB 1074
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| | |Chang, Eggman, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Jones, | |
| | |Obernolte, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago, Weber, Wood, | |
| | |McCarty | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Allocates $2.5 million, of the moneys appropriated to
the California Energy Commission (CEC) from the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) in the Federal
Trust Fund for the 2016-17 fiscal year and annually thereafter,
to be expended towards specified projects, including geothermal
brine treatment projects. Specifically, this bill:
1)Allocates $2.5 million, of the moneys appropriated to the CEC
in the 2016-17 fiscal year from the ARRA in the Federal Trust
Fund, to be expended towards specified projects.
2)Allocates $2.5 million annually for the 2017-18 fiscal year
and each fiscal year thereafter, until all moneys in the
Federal Trust Fund derived from the ARRA has been encumbered
or expend to be continuously appropriated to the CEC for
specified purposes.
3)Authorizes projects to recover lithium, metals, agricultural
products, and other beneficial minerals from highly
mineralized geothermal brines at geothermal facility in
existence on January 1, 2017, that is in a disadvantaged
community and provides local employment opportunities to
receive specified funds.
4)Requires the CEC to issue a competitive solicitation for
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specified projects no later than February 1, 2017.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill would have a one-time appropriation of $13
million. In addition, this bill would have a continuous annual
appropriation of $2.5 million until funds have been encumbered
or expended. Furthermore, this bill would have increased CEC
costs of approximately $150,000 to fund one staff position.
This position would conduct a competitive solicitation and
manage grants for the geothermal project. The bill does not
identify a funding source for these costs. The recently adopted
budget included CEC's Budget Change Proposal related to this
program. The adopted proposal requested $13 million in federal
fund expenditure authority for 2016-17, and ongoing federal fund
expenditure authority of $2.5 million for 2017-18 through
2026-27 to finance a competitive grant program to facilitate
more effective use of local government knowledge and conduct
energy efficiency improvements in existing buildings.
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "It is in the
state's interest to fund select projects for mineral
extraction from geothermal brines. Such activity can make
geothermal energy production more cost effective, and
near-zero carbon-free electricity, such as geothermal energy
production, is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions [?]
The geothermal brine produced by Salton Sea geothermal
resources is highly mineralized and corrosive. Extraction of
these minerals from the brine is one of the most significant
cost of geothermal development in the Salton Sea. The state
has the potential to help commercialize domestic mineral
mining from geothermal brine, which will produce lithium and
manganese dioxide necessary for electric battery
manufacturing, thereby transforming an economic cost into an
economic benefit."
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2)Background: In February 2009, the United States Congress
passed the ARRA which contained extensive funding for science,
engineering, research, and infrastructure development.
Through the ARRA, the CEC administered over $314 million in
energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. When the
ARRA ended in 2013, there remained over $30 million throughout
various programs. As part of its evaluation of the remaining
programs established through ARRA funds, the CEC determined
that certain programs were underperforming and is seeking to
reevaluate how the remaining funds should be utilized.
3)California's Geothermal Industry: Geothermal energy is a form
of renewable energy that is generated by drilling into
underground hot water reservoirs, such as geysers and hot
springs, releasing the hot water as steam to the surface in
order to produce electricity. Unlike solar and wind energy,
which are considered intermittent renewables because they are
dependent upon the weather to generate energy, geothermal
power plants are considered base load facilities because they
are able to operate 24 hours per day, seven days per week,
regardless of weather conditions.
In 2015, geothermal energy produced 11,994 gigawatt-hours
(GWh) of electricity in California. Combined with another 700
GWh of geothermal power imported from outside the state, and
geothermal energy accounted for 6.14% of the states' total
system power. In addition, there are 44 operating geothermal
power plants in California with an installed capacity of 2,716
megawatts, including the world's largest geothermal field, the
Geysers, contains 22 power plants that draw steam from more
than 350 wells. An estimate by the United States Geological
Survey suggests that California's geothermal resources could
provide 800 to 4,600 MWs, with an additional 3,000 to 25,000
MWs of geothermal resources yet to be discovered but likely to
exist.
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This bill allocates $2.5 million, of the moneys appropriated
to the CEC from the ARRA in the Federal Trust Fund for the
2016-17 fiscal year and annually thereafter, to be expended
towards specified projects, including geothermal brine
treatment projects.
Analysis Prepared by:
Edmond Cheung / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083 FN:
0004725