BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2724
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2724 (Blumenfield)
As Amended August 17, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |73-0 |(June 2, 2010) |SENATE: |36-0 |(August 23, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: U. & C.
SUMMARY : Expands the California Solar Initiative (CSI) for any
state agency for incentive payments for facilities sized up to
five megawatts (MWs) with a cap of 26 MWs.
The Senate amendments :
1)Delete the provision for a state agency to participate in a
program that allows local government entities to generate
electricity at one location to offset usage at another
location.
2)Delete the monetary cap on state rebates to 1% of total
available rebates and instead limit CSI rebates to a total of
26 MWs.
3)Allow a state agency generating electricity from an electric
generation facility that operates under a tariff to take the
total annual amount of kilowatt-hours exported to the grid
into consideration when determining whether the state agency
has achieved the policy goals established by law.
4)Includes a two-year sunset for state agencies to be eligible
for the above-one MW CSI rebate.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill allowed state agencies to
offset its electricity generated at one location with
electricity consumed at another location. In addition, it
increased the size of the facility limitation from three MWs to
five MWs and limited the incentives for these facilities not to
exceed 1 % of the total rebate the state could receive.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, special fund costs to the California Public Utilities
AB 2724
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Commission 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]
COMMENTS : State government facilities are required to reduce
their grid based electricity purchases by 20% by 2017 and
greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 under
legislative and executive directives.
This bill proposes that state agencies be given a special
preference under the CSI and increase rebate eligibility up to
five MWs rather than the current cap of one MW. The author
reports that this scenario would relieve taxpayers from the
reduced electrical rates as a result of the project.
Analysis Prepared by : DaVina Flemings / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083
FN: 0006200