BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2614
Author: John A. Perez (D), et al
Amended: 8/17/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 10-0, 6/29/10
AYES: Padilla, Dutton, Corbett, Florez, Kehoe, Lowenthal,
DeSaulnier, Simitian, Strickland, Wright
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 11-0, 8/12/10
AYES: Kehoe, Ashburn, Alquist, Corbett, Emmerson, Leno,
Price, Walters, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 6/2/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Energy: home retrofit: federal program
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the California Energy
Commission to undertake several activities upon enactment
of pending federal legislation regarding energy efficiency,
as specified. This bill sunsets on January 1, 2012.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law
1. Requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to
CONTINUED
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develop and implement a comprehensive program to achieve
greater energy savings in existing residential and
nonresidential building stock, including energy
assessments, cost-effective energy efficiency
improvements, financing options, public outreach, and
education efforts.
2. Requires the CEC to establish criteria for adopting a
statewide home energy rating program for residential
dwellings, and requires CEC to adopt the program in
consultation with representatives of the Department of
Real Estate, the Department of Housing and Community
Development, the California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC), investor-owned and municipal utilities, cities
and counties, real estate licensees, home builders,
mortgage lenders, home appraisers, and inspectors, home
energy rating organizations, contractors who provide
home energy services, consumer groups, and environmental
groups.
This bill directs the CEC, upon enactment of the federal
Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 (Home Star), in
consultation with the United States Department of Energy
(DOE) to develop programs required to complement Home Star
by establishing a quality assurance program, thus ensuring
a qualified pool of home energy inspectors are available to
perform energy audits, and that the requisite audits are
performed, and various financing options are developed.
This bill sunset on January 1, 2012.
Background
On May 5, 2010, the Home Star passed the U.S. House of
Representatives and has since been referred to the Senate
Finance Committee. The goal of Home Star is to increase
energy efficiency at the residential level and to increase
green jobs in construction and manufacturing. It would
authorize $6.6 billion in federal funding to provide
rebates to homeowners who retrofit their homes to achieve
energy savings. The proposed legislation is designed to
create jobs in construction and manufacturing by providing
incentives for residential energy efficiency improvements.
Specifically, Home Star is projected to create almost
200,000 jobs and enable 3 million home energy retrofits.
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Home Star proposes two levels of rebates: (1) a Silver
Star retrofit program with rebates of up to $1,500 per home
for energy saving retrofit work such as air-sealing and
insulation measures, duct sealing or replacement, window or
door replacement, heating or cooling system replacement,
and water heater replacement, and (2) a Gold Star retrofit
program with rebates of up to $8,000 per home for retrofit
work that achieves 'whole home' energy savings.
Home Star calls for matching funds from the consumer at the
point of installation (i.e. the rebates cannot exceed 50
percent of the project cost). To qualify for this program,
an energy audit must be performed. In addition, after the
first year, consumers would be eligible to receive tax
credits for whole home retrofits that meet specified home
energy ratings. The tax credit would allow homeowners to
be eligible to receive up to $8,000 in rebates or 50
percent of the total retrofit cost, and be available until
the end of 2013.
States that receive funding under the Home Star must submit
to the U.S. Secretary of Energy a plan to implement quality
assurance programs that cover the energy efficiency
retrofit work. In addition, the U.S. Secretary of Energy
is to establish a Home Star Energy Efficiency Loan Program,
which is designed to make funds available to states for
energy saving measures under the Silver Star or Gold Star
programs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/17/10)
ServiceMaster
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office states that the
purpose of this bill is to have California ready to
implement the Home Star program immediately upon enactment
so that the state can maximize and fully leverage the
federal resources that may become available. The programs
will help jumpstart the economy by putting service people
to work and employees of manufacturers back on the job, get
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more energy efficiency accomplished, lower the utility bill
of the average residential dweller and leave more money in
that person's pocket to be used driving the economy
elsewhere through its purchase power.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, John
A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Tom Berryhill, Lieu, Norby, Audra
Strickland, Vacancy
DLW:do 8/17/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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