BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 626
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: kehoe
VERSION: 2/27/09
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: April 28, 2009
SUBJECT:
Plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles: fueling infrastructure
DESCRIPTION:
This bill requires the California Public Utilities Commission
(PUC), in consultation with specified parties, to evaluate and
implement policies to provide fueling infrastructure for plug-in
hybrid and electric vehicles.
ANALYSIS:
In 2006, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed AB 32
(N??ez and Pavley), Chapter 488, to establish a statewide
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limit such that by 2020
California reduces its GHG emissions to the level they were in
1990.
Existing law authorizes the California Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission (CEC) to monitor
transportation fuel supplies and prices in California, including
publishing a biennial integrated energy policy report that
examines issues of supply, demand, and supply reliability for
transportation fuel.
Existing law charges the California Air Resource Board (ARB)
with primary responsibility for the control of mobile source air
pollution, including the adoption of rules for the reduction of
harmful vehicle emissions and the specification of vehicular
fuel composition.
Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the CEC,
SB 626 (KEHOE) Page 2
ARB, the air quality management districts and air pollution
control districts, regulated electrical and natural gas
corporations, and the motor vehicle industry to evaluate and
implement policies that promote the use of electric power and
natural gas to fuel low-emission vehicles. The PUC shall report
every two years beginning January 30, 1993, on the policy it and
other agencies implement.
This bill requires the PUC, in consultation with the CEC, ARB,
electrical corporations, and the motor vehicle industry, to
evaluate and implement policies to develop infrastructure
sufficient to overcome any barriers to the widespread deployment
and use of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles. Specifically,
the bill requires the PUC, by January 1, 2011, to adopt rules to
address:
Electricity-delivery infrastructure needed to accommodate
the widespread use of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles,
including the development of public charging infrastructure
and incentives necessary to promote the development of this
infrastructure.
The impact of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles on
power grid stability.
Whether incentives are needed to promote the use of these
vehicles, including among low-income Californians.
The technical advances needed and the state role in
providing these advances to ensure the widespread use of
plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles.
Existing legal impediments to the widespread use of these
vehicles and recommended changes to those legal impediments.
The role the state should take to ensure that technologies
employed in plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles are
harmonized across utility service areas.
The impact of widespread use of plug-in hybrid and
electric vehicles on achieving the state's AB 32 goals and
renewables portfolio standards, including what steps should
be taken to address shifting emissions reductions from the
transportation sector to the electrical industry.
COMMENTS:
SB 626 (KEHOE) Page 3
1.Purpose . While various programs of the CEC and the ARB examine
lower carbon fuels and the infrastructure required to deploy
these fuels, the author asserts that the state also needs to
examine how electric vehicle infrastructure will be integrated
into the state power grid. Proponents note that the impact of
plug-in vehicles on California's electric utility systems and
infrastructure could be significant, unless utilities are able
to shift the time that consumers charge them to off-peak
periods. They assert that utilities need to evaluate potential
impacts of large numbers of plug-in vehicles on their systems
and to develop strategies to address this electrical load.
This bill directs the PUC to begin that process.
2.Plug-in hybrid vehicles . Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
(PHEVs) are powered both by an engine that runs on a fuel,
such as gasoline, and an electric motor that runs on a
battery, which is rechargeable by plugging it into an
electrical outlet. With the exception of a small number of
demonstration vehicles, the only plug-in hybrids available
today are conversions of the commercially available standard
hybrids, such as the Toyota Prius. Plug-in conversions are
reported to get around 100 miles to the gallon.
3.The PUC and utility ratepayer interests . In 1990, SB 2103
(Rosenthal), Chapter 791, required the PUC, in consultation
with various parties, to develop and implement policies that
promote the use of electric power and natural gas to fuel
low-emission vehicles and to report periodically to the
Legislature on those policies. The PUC issued only one report
under this requirement as a later enacted statute, AB 3239
(Conroy), Chapter 1000, Statutes of 2004, sponsored by the
petroleum industry and ratepayer advocates, defined the
interests of utility ratepayers to mean "direct benefits that
are specific to ratepayers in the form of safer, more
reliable, and less costly gas or electrical service." This
precluded the PUC from pursuing policies aimed at fueling
vehicles, including those required by SB 2103. A 2005
amendment to the definition of utility ratepayer interest
added the increased use of alternative fuels, so the PUC could
now fulfill the requirements of this bill or of existing law.
4.Committee of second referral . The Rules Committee referred
this bill to the Energy, Utilities, and Communications
Committee and to the Transportation and Housing Committee.
This bill passed that committee on April 21, 2009 by a 11 to 0
SB 626 (KEHOE) Page 4
vote.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
April 22, 2009)
SUPPORT: California Electric Transportation Coalition
PowerGenix
Toyota
OPPOSED: None received.