BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2061
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 12, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                    AB 2061 (Carter) - As Amended:  April 6, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                               
          UtilitiesVote:13-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the development of electric transmission and  
          distribution efficiency measures by California utilities with  
          more than 100,000 customers.  Specifically, this bill:

          1)Requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), in  
            consultation with other specified entities, to develop  
            electric transmission and distribution efficiency measures, to  
            the extent feasible, for the investor-owned electric utilities  
            (IOUs).

          2)Requires publicly owned utilities (POUs) to develop electric  
            distribution efficiency measures, to the extent feasible.

          3)Authorizes the PUC to develop and impose a statewide target  
            for distribution efficiency. 

          4)Requires, by January 1, 2012, the PUC to develop a plan to  
            improve electric distribution efficiency within the service  
            territories of the IOUs and requires POUs to develop similar  
            plans, and specifies the criteria for these plans.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Preliminary analysis by the PUC indicates initial cost of  
          $500,000 for four positions associated with a rulemaking to  
          develop the efficiency measures and targets, and ongoing costs  
          of about $225,000 for two positions for implementation and  
          monitoring.

           COMMENTS  








                                                                  AB 2061
                                                                  Page  2


           Purpose  .  According to the author, several existing programs  
          encourage energy efficiency at the point of end-use, including a  
          $3.1 billion program for the IOUs over the period 2010-2012.   
          The author maintains that utilities have little regulatory  
          incentive to invest in efficiency improvements to the electrical  
          system.  The author indicates that the U.S. Department of Energy  
          estimates that 96% of all households receive excess voltage,  
          thus wasting energy.  The results of research and demonstration  
          projects indicate that cost-effective distribution efficiency  
          measures can produce energy savings of 1% to 3% of the total  
          electricity load, with the added benefits of reduced greenhouse  
          gas emissions and utility bills and improved reliability.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081