BILL NUMBER: AB 1552 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Committee on Utilities and Commerce (Fuentes (Chair),
Duvall (Vice Chair), Blakeslee, Buchanan, Carter, Fong, Furutani,
Huffman, Krekorian, Smyth, and Torrico)
MARCH 10, 2009
An act to amend Sections 395.5, 398.2, 398.3, 398.4, and 398.5 of
the Public Utilities Code, relating to energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1552, as introduced, Committee on Utilities and Commerce.
Electricity.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has
regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical
corporations. Existing law defines an "electric service provider" as
an entity that offers electrical service to customers within the
service territory of an electrical corporation, excluding electrical
corporations, local publicly owned electric utilities, and certain
cogenerators. Provisions of the existing Public Utilities Act
restructuring the electrical services industry require that electric
service providers register with the commission, and provide for the
authorization of direct transactions between electric service
providers and retail end-use customers. The act requires the
commission, pursuant to electrical restructuring, to authorize and
facilitate direct transactions between electricity suppliers and
retail end-use customers. However, other existing law suspends the
right of retail end-use customers other than community choice
aggregators, as defined, to acquire service from certain electricity
suppliers, after a period of time to be determined by the commission,
until the Department of Water Resources no longer supplies
electricity under that law. Notwithstanding this suspension, existing
law, until January 1, 2010, authorizes a nonprofit charitable
organization, to acquire electric commodity service through a direct
transaction with an electric service provider if electric commodity
service is donated free of charge without compensation.
This bill would extend until January 1, 2012, the authorization
for a nonprofit charitable organization, to acquire electric
commodity service through a direct transaction with an electric
service provider if electric commodity service is donated free of
charge without compensation.
(2) Existing law establishes a program under which retail
suppliers disclose accurate, reliable, and simple to understand
information on the generation attributes of the electricity they
propose to sell, including eligible renewables, as defined. Existing
law provides that a retail supplier that does not make any claims
that identify its electricity sources as different than net system
power, as defined, is authorized to disclose net system electricity
sources.
This bill would replace the term "retail supplier" with "retail
seller" and would replace the term "eligible renewables" with
"eligible renewable energy resources" and would incorporate
definitions for those terms that are applicable to the California
Renewables Portfolio Standard Program. The bill would make other
nonsubstantive changes.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 395.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
395.5. (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(1) "Nonprofit charitable organization" means any charitable
organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal
Revenue Code that has as its primary purpose serving the needs of the
poor or elderly.
(2) "Electric commodity" means electricity used by the customer or
a supply of electricity available for use by the customer, and does
not include services associated with the transmission and
distribution of electricity.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 80110 of the Water Code, a nonprofit
charitable organization may acquire electric commodity service
through a direct transaction with an electric service provider if
electric commodity service is donated free of charge without
compensation.
(c) A nonprofit charitable organization that acquires donated
electric commodity service through a direct transaction pursuant to
this section shall be responsible for paying all of the following:
(1) Those charges and surcharges that would be imposed upon a
retail end-use customer of a community aggregator pursuant to
subdivisions (d), (e), (f), and (g) of Section 366.2.
(2) The transmission and distribution charges of an electrical
corporation or a local publicly owned electric utility.
(3) A nonbypassable charge imposed pursuant to Article 7
(commencing with Section 381), Article 8 (commencing with Section
385), or Article 15 (commencing with Section 399).
(4) Costs imposed upon a load-serving entity pursuant to Section
380.
(d) Existing direct access rules and all service obligations
otherwise applicable to electric service providers shall govern
transactions under this section.
(e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2010 2012 , and as of that date is
repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before
January 1, 2010 2012 , deletes or
extends that date.
SEC. 2. Section 398.2 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
398.2. The definitions set forth in this section shall
govern the construction of this article. For purposes
of this article, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) "Eligible renewable energy resource" shall have the same
meaning as defined in Section 399.12.
(b) "Net system electricity" means the mix of electricity fuel
source types established by the Energy Commission representing the
sources of electricity consumed in California that are not disclosed
as specific purchases pursuant to Section 398.4.
(c) "Retail seller" has the same meaning as defined in Section
399.12, and as further authorized pursuant to Section 399.12.5.
(a)
(d) "System operator" means the Independent System
Operator with responsibility for the efficient use and reliable
operation of the transmission grid, as provided by Section 345, or a
local publicly owned electric utility that does not utilize the
Independent System Operator.
(b)
(e) "Specific purchases" means electricity transactions
which are traceable to specific generation sources by any auditable
contract trail or equivalent, such as a tradable commodity system,
that provides commercial verification that the electricity source
claimed has been sold once and only once to a retail consumer. Retail
suppliers sellers may rely on annual
data to meet this requirement, rather than hour-by-hour matching of
loads and resources.
(c) "Net system power" means the mix of electricity fuel source
types established by the California Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission representing the sources of electricity
consumed in California that are not disclosed as specific purchases
pursuant to Section 398.4.
SEC. 3. Section 398.3 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
398.3. (a) Beginning January 1, 1998, or as soon as practicable
thereafter, each generator that provides meter data to a system
operator shall report to the system operator electricity generated in
kilowatthours by hour by generator, the fuel type or fuel types and
fuel consumption by fuel type by month on an historical recorded
quarterly basis. Facilities using only one fuel type may satisfy this
requirement by reporting fuel type only. With regard to any facility
using more than one fuel type, reports shall reflect the fuel
consumed as a percentage of electricity generation.
(b) The California Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Energy Commission shall have
authorization to access the electricity generation data in
kilowatthours by hour for each facility that provides meter data to
the system operator, and the fuel type or fuel types.
(c) With regard to out-of-state generation, the
California Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Energy Commission shall have authorization to access the
electricity generation data in kilowatthours by hour at the point at
which out-of-state generation is metered, to the extent the
information has been submitted to a system operator.
(d) Trade secrets as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 3426.1
of the Civil Code contained in the information provided to the system
operators pursuant to this section shall be treated as confidential.
These data may be disclosed only by the system operators and only by
authorization of the generator except that the California
Energy Resources Conservation and Development Energy
Commission shall have authorization to access these data, shall
consider all these data to be trade secrets, and shall only release
these data in an aggregated form such that trade secrets cannot be
discerned.
SEC. 4. Section 398.4 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
398.4. (a) Every retail supplier seller
that makes an offering to sell electricity that is consumed in
California shall disclose its electricity sources. A retail
supplier seller that does not make any claims
that identify its electricity sources as different than net system
power may disclose net system power
electricity . Every retail supplier
seller that makes an offering to sell electricity that is
consumed in California and makes any claims that identify any of its
electricity sources as different than net system power
electricity shall disclose these sources as
specific purchases.
(b) The disclosures required by this section shall be made to
potential end-use consumers in all product-specific written
promotional materials that are distributed to consumers by either
printed or electronic means, except that advertisements and notices
in general circulation media shall not be subject to this
requirement.
(c) The disclosures required by this section shall be made at
least quarterly to end-use consumers of the offered electricity.
(d) The disclosures required by this section shall be made
separately for each offering made by the retail supplier
seller .
(e) On or before January 1, 1998, the California Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Energy
Commission shall specify guidelines for the format and means for
disclosure required by Section 398.3 and this section, based on the
requirements of this article and subject to public hearing.
(f) The costs of making the disclosures required by this section
shall be considered to be generation-related
generation related .
(g) The disclosures required by this section shall be expressed as
a percentage of annual sales derived from each of the following
categories, unless no specific purchases are disclosed, in which case
only the first category shall be disclosed:
(1) Net system power electricity .
(2) Specific purchases.
(h) (1) Each of the categories specified in subdivision (g) shall
be additionally identified as a percentage of annual sales that is
derived from each fuel type of the categories specified as follows:
(A) Coal.
(B) Large hydroelectric (greater than 30 megawatts).
(C) Natural gas.
(D) Nuclear.
(E) Other.
(F) Eligible renewables, which means renewable resource
technologies defined as electricity produced from other than a
conventional power source within the meaning of Section 2805,
provided that a power source utilizing more than 25 percent fossil
fuel may not be included, renewable energy resources,
which shall be additionally identified as a percentage of
annual sales that is derived from each fuel type of the subcategories
specified as follows:
(i) Biomass and waste.
(ii) Geothermal.
(iii) Small hydroelectric (less than or equal to 30 megawatts).
(iv) Solar.
(v) Wind.
(2) The category "Other" shall be used for fuel types other than
those listed above that represent less than 2 percent of net system
power electricity . The
California Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Energy Commission may specify additional categories or
change these categories, consistent with the requirements of this
article , California Renewables Portfolio Standard
Program (Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11)), and
subject to public hearing, if it determines that the changes will
facilitate the disclosure objectives of this section.
(i) All electricity sources disclosed as specific purchases shall
meet the requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 398.2.
(j) Specific purchases identified pursuant to this section shall
be from sources connected to the Western Electricity Coordinating
Council interconnected grid.
(k) Net system power electricity
shall be disclosed for the most recent calendar year available.
Disclosure of net system power electricity
shall be accompanied by this qualifying note: "The State of
California determines this net system power
electricity mix annually; your actual electricity purchases may
vary." The California Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Energy Commission may modify this
note, consistent with the requirements of this article and subject to
public hearing, if it determines that the changes will facilitate
the disclosure objectives of this section.
() For each offering made by a retail supplier
seller for which specific purchases are disclosed, the
retail supplier seller shall disclose
projected specific purchases for the current calendar year. Projected
specific purchases need not be disclosed by numerical percentage at
the subcategory level identified in subparagraph (F) of paragraph (1)
of subdivision (h). On or before April 15, 1999, and
annually thereafter, every Every retail
supplier seller that discloses specific
purchases shall also disclose annually to its customers,
separately for each offering made by the retail supplier
seller , its actual specific purchases for the
previous calendar year consistent with information provided to the
California Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Energy Commission pursuant to Section 398.5.
Disclosure of projected specific purchases and actual specific
purchases shall each be accompanied by statements identifying whether
the data are projected or actual, as developed by the
California Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Energy Commission, subject to public hearing.
(m) The provisions of this section shall not apply to generators
providing electric service onsite, under an over-the-fence
transaction as described in Section 218, or to an affiliate or
affiliates, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 372.
SEC. 5. Section 398.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
398.5. (a) Retail suppliers sellers
that disclose specific purchases pursuant to Section 398.4 shall
report on March 1, 1999, and annually thereafter, to the
California Energy Resources Conservation and Development
on or before March 1 of each year to the Energy
Commission, for each electricity offering, for the previous calendar
year each of the following:
(1) The kilowatthours purchased, by generator and fuel type during
the previous calendar year, consistent with the meter data,
including losses, reported to the system operator.
(2) For each electricity offering the kilowatthours sold at
retail.
(3) For each electricity offering the disclosures made to
consumers pursuant to Section 398.4.
(b) Information submitted to the California Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Energy
Commission pursuant to this section that is a trade secret as defined
in subdivision (d) of Section 3426.1 of the Civil Code shall not be
released except in an aggregated form such that trade secrets cannot
be discerned.
(c) On or before January 1, 1998, the California Energy
Resources Conservation and Development The Ener
gy Commission shall specify guidelines and standard
formats, based on the requirements of this article and subject to
public hearing, for the submittal of information pursuant to this
article.
(d) In developing the rules and procedures specified in this
section, the California Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Energy Commission shall seek to
minimize the reporting burden and cost of reporting that it imposes
on retail suppliers sellers .
(e) On or before October 15 , 1999, and annually
thereafter, the California Energy Resources Conservation and
Development of each year, the Energy Commission
shall issue a report comparing information available pursuant to
Section 398.3 with information submitted by retail suppliers
sellers pursuant to this section, and with
information disclosed to consumers pursuant to Section 398.4. This
report shall be forwarded to the California Public Utilities
Commission commission .
(f) Beginning April 15, 1999, and annually thereafter,
the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development
On or before April 15 of each year, the
Energy Commission shall issue a report calculating net system
power electricity . The
California Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Energy Commission will establish the generation mix for
net generation imports delivered at interface points and metered by
the system operators. The California Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission shall issue an initial report
calculating preliminary net system power for calendar year 1997 on
or before January 1, 1998. This report shall be updated on or before
October 15, 1998.
(g) The provisions of this section shall not apply to generators
providing electric service onsite, under an over-the-fence
transaction as described in Section 218, or to an affiliate or
affiliates, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 372.
(h) The California Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Energy Commission may verify the
veracity of environmental claims made by retail suppliers
sellers .