BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2724
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Date of Hearing: May 19, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2724 (Blumenfield) - As Amended: April 27, 2010
Policy Committee:
UtilitiesVote:10-0
Natural Resources 8-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill expands a program-that allows a local government
entity and public college and university campuses to receive a
credit on their electric bill for power generated by a renewable
energy facility owned by those entities that generates more
energy than is needed to serve the electrical load at the site
where the facility is located-to include state Executive Branch
agencies, and makes these state agencies eligible for monetary
incentives under the California Solar Initiative (CSI).
Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes all Executive Branch facilities statewide eligible, i.e.
those in the territories of the investor-owned utilities
(IOUs) as well as those in the territory of any publicly-owned
utility (POU).
2)Removes IOU and a POU obligations to provide a bill credit to
additional state agency customers when the renewable-generated
energy capacity of eligible state facilities within the
territories of the IOUs reaches 500 megawatts (MW).
3)Establishes that the maximum size of the solar-generating
state agency facility eligible for monetary incentive awards
through the CSI is 5 MW, rather than 1 MW for all other
facilities.
4)Establishes that in implementing the CSI, the PUC shall not
allocate more than 0.5% of the total incentives to the portion
of eligible state renewable generating facilities that are
larger than 1 MW in capacity.
AB 2724
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5)Establishes that in order for a state agency to qualify for
the state program, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), a
POU, or the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), as
applicable, must approve interconnection of the facility the
distribution or transmission system.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Special fund costs to the PUC of about $170,000 in the first
year for 1.5 regulatory analyst positions to initiate the
required changes to the bill credit program and the CSI, and
$115,000 ongoing for one position to implement and to monitor
the impacts of the program. [Public Utilities Reimbursement
Account]
2)Potential cost reduction in state agency renewable energy
projects, and energy savings, from participation in the bill
credit and CSI programs.
COMMENTS
Background and Purpose : AB 2466 (Laird)/Chapter 540 of 2008,
allowed a local governmental entity to locate a renewable
electricity generating facility in one location and have the
utility credit the output of that facility against electricity
the local government consumes at another location. It required
the system to be sized to offset all or part of the electrical
load of the benefiting account.
AB 2466 allows governmental entities that had many different
electricity meters (and thus many accounts with a utility) to
produce renewable power at a location where they may have little
demand (like a parking lot or reservoir) and then use the
electricity to benefit another municipal building that may not
be a suitable location on which to place renewable generation.
AB 2466 applies to cities and counties, school districts,
special districts. AB 1031 (Blumenfield)/Chapter 380 of 2009,
expanded eligibility to college campuses. AB 2724, sponsored by
the Department of General Services, expands eligibility to state
government agencies.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
AB 2724
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