BILL NUMBER: AB 1954	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Skinner and V. Manuel Perez

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2010

   An act to amend Sections 399.2.5 and 399.12 of the Public
Utilities Code, relating to electricity.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1954, as introduced, Skinner. Electrical transmission:
renewable energy resources.
   Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has
regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical
corporations, as defined. Existing law, the Public Utilities Act,
prohibits any electrical corporation from beginning the construction
of, among other things, a line, plant, or system, or of any extension
thereof, without having first obtained from the CPUC a certificate
that the present or future public convenience and necessity require
or will require that construction (certificate of public convenience
and necessity). Existing law requires the CPUC, in acting upon an
application by an electrical corporation for a certificate of public
convenience and necessity, to deem new transmission facilities
necessary to the provision of electric service if the CPUC finds that
new transmission facilities are necessary to facilitate achievement
of the renewable power goals established under the renewables
portfolio standard. That law additionally requires the CPUC, upon
finding that new transmission facilities are necessary to facilitate
achievement of the renewable power goals established under the
renewables portfolio standard, to take all feasible actions to ensure
that the transmission rates established by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission are fully reflected in any retail rates
established by the commission.
   This bill would require the CPUC, in acting upon an application by
an electrical corporation for a certificate of public convenience
and necessity, to deem new transmission facilities necessary to the
provision of electric service if the CPUC finds that new transmission
facilities are reasonably necessary or appropriate to facilitate
achievement of the renewables portfolio standard. The bill would
require the CPUC to provide assurance of the eligibility for recovery
in retail rates of any increase in transmission costs incurred by an
electrical corporation resulting from the construction of
transmission facilities in certain circumstances and to allow
recovery in retail rates of any increase in transmission costs if not
approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission if the CPUC
determines the costs were prudently incurred pursuant to a specified
law.
   This bill would revise and recast certain of the definitions
applicable to the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program.
   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 399.2.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
   399.2.5.  (a) Notwithstanding  any other provision in
 Sections 1001 to 1013, inclusive, an application of an
electrical corporation for a certificate authorizing the construction
of new transmission facilities  shall be deemed to be
  is  necessary to the provision of electric
service for purposes of any determination made under
 Section 1003 if the commission finds that the new facility
is  reasonably  necessary  or appropriate  to
facilitate achievement of the  renewable power goals
  renewables portfolio standard  established in
Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11).
   (b) With respect to a transmission facility described in
subdivision (a), the commission shall take all feasible actions to
ensure that the transmission rates established by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission are fully reflected in any retail rates
established by the commission. These actions shall include  ,
but are not limited to   all of the following  :
   (1) Making findings, where supported by an evidentiary record,
that those transmission facilities provide benefit to the
transmission network and are  reasonably  necessary  or
appropriate  to facilitate the achievement of the renewables
portfolio standard established in Article 16 (commencing with Section
399.11).
   (2) Directing the utility to which the generator will be
interconnected, where the direction is not preempted by federal law,
to seek the recovery through general transmission rates of the costs
associated with the transmission facilities.
   (3) Asserting the positions described in paragraphs (1) and (2) to
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in appropriate proceedings.

   (4)  Allowing   Providing assurance, prior to
a determination of rate recovery by the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) of those costs that are subject to FERC
jurisdiction, of the eligibility for  recovery in retail rates
of any increase in transmission costs incurred by an electrical
corporation resulting from the construction of the transmission
facilities  that are not approved for recovery in
transmission rates by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission after
the commission determines that the costs were prudently incurred in
accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 454   . 
 This assurance shall be conditioned upon the commission's
subsequent determination that the requirements of paragraph (5) have
been met  . 
   (5) Allowing recovery in retail rates of any increase in
transmission costs if the FERC does not approve recovery of those
costs in the rates that are subject to FERC jurisdiction after the
commission determines that the costs were prudently incurred in
accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 454.  
   (c) (1) The commission shall approve an advice letter seeking
assurance of cost recovery pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision
(b), if either of the following is true:  
   (A) The new transmission line or facility will primarily deliver
electricity generated within a competitive renewable energy zone
identified in the public collaborative stakeholder planning process
known as the Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative (RETI). 

   (B) The new transmission line or facility is needed to deliver
electricity to load that is to be generated by generation facilities
for which the electrical corporation has received interconnection
requests if not less that 50 percent of the capacity is for delivery
of electricity generated by eligible renewable energy resources and
all of the interconnection requests are for generation facilities
that are designed to comply with the greenhouse gases emission
performance standard established by the commission pursuant to
Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 8340) of Division 4.1.  
   (2) Approval of an advice letter pursuant to paragraph (1) is not
binding upon the commission in making its determination whether or
not to approve an application for a certificate of public convenience
and necessity pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 1001).

  SEC. 2.  Section 399.12 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
   399.12.  For purposes of this article, the following terms have
the following meanings:
   (a) "Conduit hydroelectric facility" means a facility for the
generation of electricity that uses only the hydroelectric potential
of an existing pipe, ditch, flume, siphon, tunnel, canal, or other
manmade conduit that is operated to distribute water for a beneficial
use.
   (b) "Delivered" and "delivery" have the same meaning as provided
in subdivision (a) of Section 25741 of the Public Resources Code.
   (c) "Eligible renewable energy resource" means an 
electric   electrical  generating facility that
meets the definition of  an  "in-state renewable electricity
generation facility" in Section 25741 of the Public Resources Code,
subject to the following limitations:
   (1) (A) An existing small hydroelectric generation facility of 30
megawatts or less shall be eligible only if a retail seller or local
publicly owned electric utility owned or procured the electricity
from the facility as of December 31, 2005. A new hydroelectric
facility is not an eligible renewable energy resource if it will
cause an adverse impact on instream beneficial uses or cause a change
in the volume or timing of streamflow.
   (B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a conduit hydroelectric
facility of 30 megawatts or less that commenced operation before
January 1, 2006, is an eligible renewable energy resource. A conduit
hydroelectric facility of 30 megawatts or less that commences
operation after December 31, 2005, is an eligible renewable energy
resource so long as it does not cause an adverse impact on instream
beneficial uses or cause a change in the volume or timing of
streamflow.
   (2) A facility engaged in the combustion of municipal solid waste
shall not be considered an eligible renewable resource unless it is
located in Stanislaus County and was operational prior to September
26, 1996.
   (d) "Procure" means  that   to acquire
through ownership or contract. For purposes of meeting the renewables
portfolio standard procurement   requirements,  a
retail seller or local publicly owned electric utility 
receives   may procure either  delivered
electricity generated by an eligible renewable energy resource that
it owns or for which it has entered into an electricity purchase
agreement. Nothing in this article is intended to imply that the
purchase of electricity from third parties in a wholesale transaction
is the preferred method of fulfilling a retail seller's obligation
to comply with this article or the obligation of a local publicly
owned electric utility to meet its renewables portfolio standard
implemented pursuant to Section 387. 
   (e) "Renewables portfolio standard" means the specified percentage
of electricity generated by eligible renewable energy resources that
a retail seller is required to procure pursuant to this article or
the obligation of a local publicly owned electric utility to meet its
renewables portfolio standard implemented pursuant to Section 387.
 
   (f) 
    (e)  (1) "Renewable energy credit" means a certificate
of proof  associated with the generation of electricity from an
eligible renewable energy resource  , issued through the
accounting system established by the Energy Commission pursuant to
Section 399.13, that one unit of electricity was generated and
delivered by an eligible renewable energy resource.
   (2) "Renewable energy credit" includes all renewable and
environmental attributes associated with the production of
electricity from the eligible renewable energy resource, except for
an emissions reduction credit issued pursuant to Section 40709 of the
Health and Safety Code and any credits or payments associated with
the reduction of solid waste and treatment benefits created by the
utilization of biomass or biogas fuels.
   (3) No electricity generated by an eligible renewable energy
resource attributable to the use of nonrenewable fuels, beyond a de
minimis quantity, as determined by the Energy Commission  for
each renewable energy technology, to optimize reliable integration
and efficiency of electrical production from eligible renewable
energy resources  , shall result in the creation of a renewable
energy credit. 
   (f) "Renewables portfolio standard" means the specified percentage
of electricity generated by eligible renewable energy resources that
a retail seller is required to procure pursuant to this article or
the obligation of a local publicly owned electric utility to meet its
renewables portfolio standard implemented pursuant to Section 387.

   (g) "Retail seller" means an entity engaged in the retail sale of
electricity to end-use customers located within the state, including
any of the following:
   (1) An electrical corporation, as defined in Section 218.
   (2) A community choice aggregator. The commission shall institute
a rulemaking to determine the manner in which a community choice
aggregator will participate in the renewables portfolio standard
program subject to the same terms and conditions applicable to an
electrical corporation.
   (3) An electric service provider, as defined in Section 218.3, for
all sales of electricity to customers beginning January 1, 2006. The
commission shall institute a rulemaking to determine the manner in
which electric service providers will participate in the renewables
portfolio standard program. The electric service provider shall be
subject to the same terms and conditions applicable to an electrical
corporation pursuant to this article. Nothing in this paragraph shall
impair a contract entered into between an electric service provider
and a retail customer prior to the suspension of direct access by the
commission pursuant to Section 80110 of the Water Code.
   (4) "Retail seller" does not include any of the following:
   (A) A corporation or person employing cogeneration technology or
producing electricity consistent with subdivision (b) of Section 218.

   (B) The Department of Water Resources acting in its capacity
pursuant to Division 27 (commencing with Section 80000) of the Water
Code.
   (C) A local publicly owned electric utility.