BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 758|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 758
Author: Skinner (D) and Bass (D), et al
Amended: 9/4/09 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 APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 11-2, 8/27/09
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza, Price,
Runner, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Denham, Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-29, 6/2/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Energy: energy audit
SOURCE : Global Green USA
DIGEST : This bill requires the California Energy
Commission (CEC), by March 1, 2010, to develop and
implement a comprehensive program to achieve greater energy
savings in existing residential and nonresidential
buildings that fall below the current Title 24 building
standards. This bill also requires the California Public
Utilities Commission (PUC) and publicly-owned utilities to
investigate and implement energy efficiency programs. The
bill requires the PUC to open a proceeding to investigate
the ability of electrical corporations to provide various
CONTINUED
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energy efficiency financing options to their customers for
the comprehensive energy efficiency program.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/4/09 modify funding
limitations included in the bill by the Senate
Appropriations Committee to also permit the CEC to use
other CEC funding sources to implement the program.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires the CEC to establish
criteria for a statewide home energy rating system (HERS)
for residential buildings and to develop an informational
booklet to educate and inform homeowners, rental property
owners, and other parties, about HERS.
Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the
CEC, to identify all potentially achievable cost-effective
electricity and natural gas efficiency savings and
establish efficiency targets for an electrical corporation
to achieve those targets.
Existing law permits the PUC to require energy conservation
programs for the customers of investor-owned utilities
(IOUs) and requires IOUs to perform home weatherization
services for low-income customers.
This bill requires the CEC to begin a regulatory proceeding
to develop and implement a program to achieve greater
efficiency savings in existing residential and commercial
buildings. The CEC is authorized to include energy
assessments, energy efficiency improvements, financing
options for efficiency projects, public education, and
other strategies. The CEC is required to coordinate its
activities with the PUC and a variety of other public and
private entities. The program developed by the CEC may
include both utility and non-utility administered energy
efficiency programs. The CEC is required to include
information developed through the proceeding in an existing
report to the Legislature.
The bill requires the PUC to open or modify an existing
regulatory proceeding to determine whether utilities under
its jurisdiction can provide financing options to their
customers to implement the program developed by the CEC.
The PUC is also required to report on the utilities'
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implementation of the program.
The bill requires municipal utilities to implement energy
efficiency programs and to include information on their
efforts in an existing report to the CEC.
The bill requires that the CEC shall only fund activities
undertaken from the Federal Trust Fund consistent with the
federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or
other sources of nonstate funds available for to the CEC.
Background
In 2005 the CEC released the report "Options for Energy
Efficiency in Existing Buildings" which included
recommended strategies to increase energy efficiency in
existing buildings. Approximately 75 percent of
California's homes and apartments, more than 8 million
homes, were built prior to the 1982 Building Standards.
This was the first version of the Standards to include
energy performance requirements, sometimes referred to as
the "Second Generation Standards." Prior to that time the
Department of Housing and Community Development had adopted
insulation only standards in 1975 and the CEC had adopted
whole-building prescriptive standards in 1977. On average,
these pre-1982 homes are smaller than new homes and have
less energy-using equipment (such as air conditioning), and
hence use less energy. Many have been upgraded since they
were initially constructed and have been made more
efficient through participation in utility efficiency
programs or because of applicable standards. Generally,
though, considerable potential for increasing the
efficiency of energy use in California's older homes
remains untapped. Older commercial buildings in
California, where half of the floor area was built prior to
the first energy standards, are similarly affected by
underinvestment in efficiency.
California's commercial building stock is much more diverse
than the residential stock. Approximately 46 percent of
commercial building space was built before the 1978
building standards. Large offices, retail and
non-refrigerated warehouses represent approximately half of
the total nonresidential space. These data indicate that
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over five million square feet of nonresidential buildings
may benefit from efficiency upgrades amounting to
significant further savings.
Based on the CEC analysis the potential cost effective
savings of energy efficiency from electricity and natural
gas represented from 15 to 18 percent of current statewide
consumption in 2005.
Comments
This bill is directed at bringing energy efficiency
improvements to existing residential and commercial
building stock in California. California has been a leader
in energy efficiency. Myriad programs have been developed
which include building standards for new construction,
consumer education, on-line audit tools, replacing
incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs,
motion sensor controls for exterior lighting,
weatherization and appliance efficiency standards.
Additionally, the IOUs have been directed to prepare a
single, comprehensive statewide long-term energy efficiency
plan under broad parameters. The energy efficiency
achievements achieved by these programs to date are not
trivial. While per capita energy consumption across the
United States has increased by more than 50 percent in the
last 35 years, California's consumption has remained flat.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
Energy Commission $900
$1,800$1,800Federal
regulatory activities
Implementation of additional Unknown
Federal
energy efficiency programs
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Public Utilities Commission $58 $115
$115Special *
proceeding
* Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement
Account.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/8/09)
Global Green USA (source)
American Lung Association of California
Breathe California
California Association of Realtors
California Business Properties Association
Dow Chemical
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Health Coalition
Planning and Conservation League
San Diego Coastkeeper
Sierra Club California
South Coast Air Quality Management District
The Utility Reform Network
Union of Concerned Scientists
US Green Building Council (Northern California and Los
Angeles)
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Blakeslee, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A. Perez, V.
Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana,
Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico,
Yamada, Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Fletcher, Fuller,
Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Huber,
Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block
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DLW:nl 9/8/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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