BILL NUMBER: AB 2573 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Leno
FEBRUARY 23, 2006
An act to amend Section 2828 of the Public Utilities Code,
relating to electricity.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2573, as introduced, Leno Electricity: Hetch Hetchy Water and
Power solar generation.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has
regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical
corporations. Existing law authorizes the City and County of San
Francisco to elect to designate specific photovoltaic generation
facilities meeting specified conditions as Hetch Hetchy Water and
Power (HHWP) solar generation facilities, and upon election and the
filing and acceptance of an advice letter with the commission
establishing rates, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is
required on a monthly basis, to credit the City and County of San
Francisco for the certain electricity generated and delivered to the
electric grid in accordance with specified rate criteria. Existing
law provides that the HHWP photovoltaic electricity generation
facilities may not exceed 5 megawatts of peak generation capacity in
total. Existing law provides that no single photovoltaic generation
project may exceed one megawatt of peak generation capacity. Existing
law provides that where, after a true-up process is completed, the
total electricity delivered to the site by PG&E is less than the
total electricity delivered to the grid by the HHWP photovoltaic
facility at the site, the City and County of San Francisco is a net
energy producer at that site and receives no credit or offset for the
excess electricity exported to the grid from the site.
This bill would provide that the HHWP photovoltaic electricity
generation facilities may not, exclusive of qualifying remote new
load, as defined, exceed 25 megawatts of peak generation capacity in
total. The bill would authorize the City and County of San Francisco
to use HHWP solar generation to supply electricity to qualifying
remote new load by designating those facilities to be served by HHWP
solar generation. The bill would delete the provision that no single
photovoltaic generation project may exceed one megawatt of peak
generation capacity. The bill would require that in calculating the
charge and credits for electricity usage, that PG&E treat any
electricity exported to the grid by HHWP solar generation as behind
the meter generation that offsets the electrical usage of qualifying
remote new load.
Existing law provides that if the City and County of San Francisco
engages in retail sales to customers within the service territory of
PG&E, the above described provisions relative to HHWP solar
generation become inoperative.
This bill would delete this provision.
(2) The bill would declare that, due to the special circumstances
applicable only to HHWP solar generation facilities, a general
statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of
Article IV of the California Constitution, and the enactment of a
special statute is therefore necessary.
(3) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act, a
filed tariff, or an order of the commission is a crime.
Because the provisions of this bill would require the filing of a
new tariff, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by
creating a new crime.
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. Section 2828 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
2828. (a) As used in this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Environmental attributes" associated with the Hetch Hetchy
Water and Power solar generation include, but are not limited to, the
credits, benefits, emissions reductions, environmental air quality
credits, and emissions reduction credits, offsets, and allowances,
however entitled, resulting from the avoidance of the emission of any
gas, chemical, or other substance attributable to the Hetch Hetchy
Water and Power photovoltaic electricity generation facility owned by
the City and County of San Francisco.
(2) "HHWP solar generation" means the electricity generated by
Hetch Hetchy Water and Power photovoltaic electricity generation
facilities owned by the City and County of San Francisco, designated
by the City and County of San Francisco pursuant to subdivision (b)
and , exclusive of qualifying remote new load, does not to
exceed five twenty-five megawatts of
peak generation capacity in total . There is no wattage limit on
qualifying remote new load .
(3) "Interconnection Agreement" means the 1987 agreement between
Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the City and County of San
Francisco, as filed with and accepted by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC), and as amended from time to time with
FERC approval, which provides for rates for transmission,
distribution, and sales of supplemental electricity to the City and
County of San Francisco. Nothing in this section shall waive or
modify the rights of parties under the Interconnection Agreement or
the jurisdiction of the FERC over rates set forth in the
Interconnection Agreement.
(4) "Appropriate TOU tariff" means the Time-of-Use tariff that
would be applicable to the City and County of San Francisco account
at the photovoltaic project site if the facility at the site were a
Pacific Gas and Electric Company bundled customer, as determined by
Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
(5) "Qualifying remote new load" means electricity demand of the
City and County of San Francisco for public purposes pursuant to the
Raker Act (Public Law 63-41, 38 Stat. 412), at a site that is
separate from, and not adjacent to, the site where the photovoltaic
project is located, and serviced through a meter or multiple meters
other than those serving the site where the photovoltaic project is
located. The separate or remote site may be designated by the City
and County of San Francisco, both inside and outside of the City and
County of San Francisco, at a facility that begins operations after
January 1, 2006.
(b) The City and County of San Francisco may elect to designate
specific photovoltaic electricity generation facilities as HHWP solar
generation, if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) No single photovoltaic generation project exceeds one megawatt
of peak generation capacity.
(2)
(1) The photovoltaic project utilizes a meter, or
multiple meters, capable of separately measuring electricity flow in
both directions. All meters shall provide "time-of-use" measurement
information. If the existing meter at the site of the photovoltaic
project is not capable of providing time-of-use information or is not
capable of separately measuring total flow of energy in both
directions, the City and County of San Francisco is responsible for
all expenses involved in purchasing and installing a meter or meters
that are both capable of providing time-of-use information and able
to separately measure total electricity flow in both directions.
(3)
(2) The amount of all electricity delivered to the
electric grid by the designated HHWP solar generation is the property
of Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
(4)
(3) The City and County of San Francisco does not sell
electricity delivered to the electric grid from the designated HHWP
solar generation to a third party.
(5)
(4) Ownership and use of the environmental attributes
associated with the electricity delivered to the electric grid by
HHWP solar generation shall be determined by the commission in
accordance with Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of
Chapter 2.3 of Part 1.
(c) For each site of a photovoltaic project that comprises the
HHWP solar generation, Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall
identify the appropriate TOU tariff for that site. Any electricity
exported to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company grid at that site
that is not offset by qualifying remote new load served by the
City and County of San Francisco pursuant to subdivision (h)
shall, for each time-of-use period, result in a monetary credit to be
applied monthly as a credit or offset against the invoice created
pursuant to the Interconnection Agreement and shall be valued at the
generation component of the appropriate TOU tariff. The commission
shall determine if it is appropriate to increase the credit to
reflect any additional value derived from the location or the
environmental attributes of, the designated HHWP solar generation.
(d) Monthly charges and credit amounts are interim and subject to
an accounting true-up, consistent with commission policies and
practices. The true-up shall be performed annually or upon the
termination, for any reason, of the Interconnection Agreement. The
true-up shall accomplish the following:
(1) If the total electricity delivered to the site by Pacific Gas
and Electric Company since the previous true-up equals or exceeds the
total electricity exported to the grid by the Hetch Hetchy
photovoltaic electricity generation facility at the site, the City
and County of San Francisco is a net electricity consumer at that
site. For any site where the City and County of San Francisco is a
net electricity consumer, a credit or offset shall be applied to
reduce the obligations of the City and County of San Francisco to an
invoice prepared pursuant to the Interconnection Agreement. If there
is no invoiced obligation to be reduced, there is no applicable
credit.
(2) If the total electricity delivered to the site by Pacific Gas
and Electric Company since the previous true-up is less than the
total electricity exported to the grid by the Hetch Hetchy
photovoltaic electricity generation facility at the site, the City
and County of San Francisco is a net electricity producer at that
site. For any site where the City and County of San Francisco is a
net electricity producer, the City and County of San Francisco shall
receive no credit or offset for the electricity exported to the grid
in excess of the electricity delivered to the site from the grid. For
any site where the City and County of San Francisco is a net
electricity producer, the City and County of San Francisco shall
receive a credit or offset up to the amount of electricity delivered
to the site from the grid. The credit or offset shall be applied to
reduce the obligations of the City and County of San Francisco to an
invoice prepared pursuant to the Interconnection Agreement. If there
is no invoiced obligation to be reduced, there is no applicable
credit or offset. Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall use the
last-in, first-out method to determine what electricity delivered to
the grid from the site will not earn a credit or offset.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if the
City and County of San Francisco engages in retail sales to customers
within the service territory of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, as
a result of becoming a community choice aggregator, as a result of
municipalization, or otherwise, all other provisions of this section
shall become inoperative.
(f)
(e) Pursuant to this section, the offset to charges
under the Interconnection Agreement is the medium to convey credits
earned under this section. Nothing in this section shall be construed
to affect in any way the rights and obligations of the City and
County of San Francisco and Pacific Gas and Electric Company under
the Interconnection Agreement. If the Interconnection Agreement
terminates, the City and County of San Francisco and Pacific Gas and
Electric Company shall develop an alternative mechanism to conve
y credits earned under this section, in a manner that
accomplishes the same result as that accomplished pursuant to the
Interconnection Agreement.
(g)
(f) Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall file an
advice letter with the commission, that complies with this section,
not later than 10 days after the City and County of San Francisco
first designates the specific generation facilities that will
comprise HHWP solar generation. The commission, within 30 days of the
date of filing of the advice letter, shall approve the advice letter
or specify conforming changes to be made by Pacific Gas and Electric
Company to be filed in an amended advice letter within 30 days.
(h)
(g) The City and County of San Francisco may terminate
its election pursuant to subdivisions (b), (c), and (d), upon
providing Pacific Gas and Electric Company with a minimum of 60 days'
written notice.
(h) The City and County of San Francisco may use HHWP solar
generation to supply electricity to qualifying remote new load by
designating those facilities to be served by HHWP solar generation.
In determining the monthly charges and credit amounts pursuant to
subdivisions (c) and (d), Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall
treat any electricity exported to the grid by HHWP solar generation
as behind the meter generation that offsets the electrical usage of
qualifying remote new load.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that, because of the
unique circumstances applicable only to Hetch Hetchy Water and Power
solar generation of electricity, a statute of general applicability
cannot be enacted within the meaning of subdivision (b) of Section 16
of Article IV of the California Constitution. Therefore, this
special statute is necessary.
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.