BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1947
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1947 (Fong)
As Amended May 28, 2010
Majority vote
UTILITIES & COMMERCE 8-6
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|Ayes:|Bradford, Carter, Fong, | | |
| |Fuentes, Furutani, Ma, | | |
| |Skinner, Swanson | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Knight, Tom Berryhill, | | |
| |Fletcher, Fuller, | | |
| |Huffman, Villines | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Permits a publicly owned utility (POU) to implement a
solar program that allows customers to offset part or all of
their electricity demand, with a solar energy system not located
on the premises of the consumer.
EXISTING LAW establishes the California Solar Initiative (CSI),
which sets a goal for investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and POUs
to install 3,000 megawatts of photovoltaic (PV) solar energy in
California within 10 years and establishes criteria, including
that the solar energy system be located on the same premises of
the end-use consumer where the consumer's own electricity demand
is located, and is intended to offset part or all of that
customer's demand.
FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed nonfiscal by Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : This bill is intended to assist a POU with achieving
its CSI goals. In the IOU territories, because of deregulation
and the energy crisis, rates are high enough to provide
individual customers incentive to invest in solar PV panels to
offset their own load. This takes a substantial up-front
investment for an average single-family home and the payback
period is usually about five years or less. Because the
Sacramento Municipal Utility District and other POUs' retail
prices can be substantially less, it takes longer for the
investment to pay off and customers are less likely to invest in
solar PV for financial reasons if they have to install it on
AB 1947
Page 2
their own premises.
Analysis Prepared by : Gina Adams / U. & C. / 319-2083
FN: 0004469