BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 531
Author: Saldana (D)
Amended: 6/11/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U. & C. COMMITTEE : 11-0, 7/7/09
AYES: Padilla, Benoit, Calderon, Corbett, Cox, Kehoe,
Lowenthal, Simitian, Strickland, Wiggins, Wright
SENATE APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-1, 6/1/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Energy consumption data: disclosure
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires that an owner or operator of
a nonresidential building disclose the Untied States
Environmental Protection Agencys benchmarking data and
ratings for the most recent 12-month period to a
prospective buyer, lessee of the entire building, or lender
that finances the entire building based on a compliance
schedule to be established by the California energy
Commission rather than after January 1, 2010 as required by
existing law.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires an owner or operator of
a commercial building to disclose energy consumption data
to a prospective buyer, lessee or lender based on the
CONTINUED
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United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
Energy Star Portfolio Manger, benchmarking data and
rankings commencing January 1, 2010. Electric and gas
utilities are required to maintain and disclose the
necessary data for the rankings.
This bill requires the California Energy Commission (CEC)
to develop a schedule for disclosure of the data to instead
replace the January 1, 2010 trigger.
Background
Benchmarking compares the energy consumption per square
foot of floor space for comparable classes of buildings or
Standard Industrial Code designations. It is a tool for
understanding the relative energy efficiency of buildings.
The Schwarzenegger Administration has been encouraging
benchmarking of all commercial and public buildings through
his Green Building Initiative and Executive Order S-20-04.
The CEC believes that benchmarking will allow building
owners to compare their building's energy performance
against similar buildings and to see the performance of
their own building over time. Benchmarking was considered
in a public meeting of the CEC where it received supportive
comments. They believe benchmarking is cost effective.
Commercial buildings consume 36 percent of the state's
electricity, the most of any sector.
The author's office reports that the federal website
intended to facilitate the benchmarking data disclosure
required under existing law will not, in and of itself, be
sufficient to meet the benchmarking mandate of existing law
by the mandated implementation date of January 1, 2010.
The CEC, under its general energy efficiency authority, is
working with the IOUs to bridge the gap between data in the
federal website and needs specific to California.
Consequently, flexibility is needed which this bill will
provide by directing the CEC to develop a schedule for
implementation rather than the specific implementation date
of January 1, 2010.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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SUPPORT : (Verified 7/20/09)
California Association of Realtors
California Business Properties Association
California Chamber of Commerce
Pacific Gas & Electric
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway,
Cook, Coto, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Duvall,
Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore,
Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber,
Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava,
Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NOES: Tom Berryhill
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block, Davis
DLW:do 7/22/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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