BILL ANALYSIS
SB 488
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Date of Hearing: August 19, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
SB 488 (Pavley) - As Amended: August 17, 2009
Policy Committee:
UtilitiesVote:13-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires public and private utilities that provide
individual residential electricity or gas customers with
information comparing their energy use with similar residences
to report to the state on the energy savings resulting from such
programs. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires investor-owned utilities (IOUs) with comparative
energy usage disclosure programs to report to the Public
Utilities Commission (PUC)-by March 15, 2010, or within 90
days of having collected one year's worth of data, and
annually thereafter until March 15, 2014-on the nature of the
program and the program's energy savings.
2)Requires the PUC to evaluate the information provided per (1),
determine the net energy savings being generated by such
programs, and report its findings to the CEC and the
Legislature.
3)Requires local publicly owned utilities (POUs) with such
programs to provide the same information and within the same
timeframes specified in (1), to the California Energy
Commission (CEC).
4)Requires the CEC to incorporate the information obtained per
(2) and (3) into its estimate of potentially achievable
cost-effective energy savings, as included in the CEC's
Integrated Energy Policy Report.
5)Makes all of the above inoperative on July 1, 2015.
SB 488
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FISCAL EFFECT
1)Minor annual costs (about $20,000) for the PUC to evaluate the
IOUs comparative energy usage programs. [Public Utilities
Reimbursement Account]
2)Minor absorbable costs for the CEC to incorporate information
from the IOUs and POUs into the Integrated Energy Policy
Report.
COMMENTS
1)Background . Numerous studies have shown that a significant
amount of residential energy efficiency savings can result
from behavioral changes as opposed to new technologies.
Research indicates that the desire to keep up with one's peers
can be highly effective in causing consumers to lower their
energy consumption. A 2004 study conducted in San Diego, which
measured consumers' responsiveness to various reasons to
implement energy efficiency measures, found that peer pressure
was more effective in changing consumer behavior than the
desire to mitigate negative environmental impacts or even the
desire to obtain financial savings.
Some utilities have experience with comparative energy use
programs. San Diego Gas and Electric and Southern California
Edison are in the early stages of implementing pilot programs.
In March 2008, Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)
began a pilot program with 35,000 residents. These customers
receive notices relating how their energy usage compares to
that of customers with similarly-sized homes. When compared to
50,000 homes that didn't receive the notices, SMUD found that
those who received the notices reduced their energy use by 2.4
percent in the month after the program started. (Households
with higher-than-average energy use receive specific tips for
reducing energy use, and information about available programs
to assist in this regard.)
2)Purpose . This bill would provide for compilation by the state
of the results of existing comparative energy usage programs,
presumably to determine the potential impact and efficacy of
expanding such programs statewide.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081