BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1455
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 21, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE
Steven Bradford, Chair
SB 1455 (Kehoe) - As Amended: June 1, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 35-0
SUBJECT : Plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles: Internet Web
site.
SUMMARY : Requires the California Energy Commission (CEC), in
consultation with the California Public Utilities Commission
(PUC) to develop and maintain an Internet Web site containing
specific links to public utilities' web sites that contain
information specific to plug-in hybrid (PHEV) or fully electric
vehicles (EVs). Specifically, this bill :
1)By July 1, 2011, requires the CEC, in consultation with the
PUC, to develop and maintain an Internet Web site containing
specific links to electrical corporation and local publicly
owned electric utility Internet Web sites or other sites that
contain information specific to PHEVs or EVs.
2)Requires the CEC to include the following information:
a) Whether a vehicle will require a utility service upgrade
at the consumer's residence;
b) Basic charging circuit requirements;
c) Utility rate options; and,
d) Load management techniques.
EXISTING LAW requires the PUC to evaluate policies to develop
infrastructure sufficient to overcome any barriers to the
widespread deployment and use of PHEVs and EVs, and adopt rules
by July 1, 2011.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS : The author states that with the transportation
sector making up 40% of the state's greenhouse gas emissions, it
is in the best interest of the state to ensure that PHEVs and
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EVs be part of the solution to achieve transportation sector
greenhouse gas emission reductions. It is therefore important
for the state to help consumers find useful information that
will help them make informed decisions about the relationship
between their home, the energy grid and purchasing a PHEV or EV.
Providing important and useful links from energy utilities and
other internet web sites will help educate consumers.
Plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles : A typical PHEV combines
an internal combustion engine and a battery storage system. A
few PHEV demonstration vehicles are on California's roads today.
Most are "conversions" or traditional hybrids that have been
converted to PHEVs.
A PHEV can be designed to operate in different ways. For
example, it could be designed to operate using just battery
power for distances such as 20 miles. This all-electric or
zero-emission mode is appealing in California's congested smoggy
inner cities. It can be an electric vehicle for everyday short
trips and a gasoline car for longer trips on the weekend. A
PHEV can also be designed to operate in a way that optimizes the
vehicle's performance, fuel economy, or other attributes. In
this "blended mode" a PHEV has less all-electric range but can
get fuel economy of up to 100 mpg.
Electric vehicles include, but are not limited to, PHEVs,
battery electric vehicles, electric golf carts and neighborhood
electric vehicles (NEVs). Electric vehicles are known to have
faster acceleration, but shorter distance range than
conventional petroleum-fueled engines. They produce no exhaust,
but require rather long charging times. Smaller neighborhood
electric vehicles use a plug that will plug into any 110 volt
outlet. However, full-function EVs use 220-240 electrical
outlet with charging time varying, depending on how "empty" the
battery is, how much energy the battery holds, and other
factors. In general, it takes approximately six to eight hours
to recharge vehicles that are "empty." Full-function EVs will
also require installation of specific charging equipment.
Current or near-term major manufacturers of electric vehicles
include, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mercedes, Mitsubishi,
Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota. Other EV manufacturers include
Tesla Motors, Think Global, Phoenix Motorcars, and others.
Policy background : AB 1493 (Pavley) Chapter 200, Statutes of
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2002, required the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to
develop and adopt, no later than January 1, 2005, regulations
that achieve the maximum feasible and cost-effective reduction
of greenhouse gases emitted by motor vehicles. In response to
AB 1493, ARB promulgated regulations that require 11 percent of
the vehicles produced and delivered for sale in California must
be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by model year 2010-11. (Some
PHEVs do not qualify as ZEVs if they still use an internal
combustion engine.) That number will grow incrementally until
2018 when a minimum of 16 percent of the vehicles produced and
delivered for sale in California must be ZEVs. Manufacturers
may comply with the requirements through multiple alternative
compliance options that include the production of low-emission
vehicles.
In its 2005 Integrated Energy Policy Report, the California
Energy Commission (CEC) recommended that the state establish a
public/private "working group to examine the markets for
development and commercialization of [PHEVs]" and "develop
partnerships with equipment manufacturers to demonstrate
[PHEVs], assess consumer demand for these options, and support
early incentives to reduce initial consumer costs." AB 1077
(Lieber) intended to implement the recommendation; however, it
failed passage in the Senate.
On January 18, 2007, Executive Order S-1-07 created the Low
Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and called for a reduction of at
least 10 percent in the carbon intensity of California's
transportation fuels by 2020. It instructed the California
Environmental Protection Agency to coordinate activities between
the University of California, the CEC and other state agencies
to develop and propose a draft compliance schedule to meet the
2020 target. It also directed the ARB to consider initiating a
regulatory proceeding to establish and implement the LCFS. In
response, ARB identified the LCFS as an early action item with a
regulation to be adopted and implemented by 2010.
Joint hearing : On May 24, 2010, the Assembly Transportation
Committee and this committee held a joint hearing to explore the
requirement that manufacturers produce and deliver electric
vehicles for sale in California as a greenhouse gas reduction
method. Some of the questions and concerns raised included: (1)
are we shifting greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation
sector to the electricity generation sector, (2) how will the
needed infrastructure to re-power EVs be developed and by whom,
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(3) how will rates be set to encourage the efficient use of the
electricity infrastructure when recharging EVs, and (4) how can
California address a market for retail electricity at remote
public or private re-charging stations.
The CEC testified that California has 413 charging stations with
1,300 public access electric charge points. Many of the
existing charging stations need to be upgraded to charge the new
PHEVs, however, the CEC did not address how these would be
funded. The CEC reported that it has already issued about $15.3
million in grants for charging stations.
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District testified that the EV
owner pays for an additional meter that must be installed at the
residence with a dedicated EV charging outlet. SMUD's EV
charging rate is approximately half the regular residential
rate, or about $0.04 per kWh for off-peak charging to recharge
an electric vehicle.
Southern California Edison stated that that PHEVs are available
with different options for charging, some of which may require a
home electrical panel upgrade in addition to a dedicated 240
volt circuit. If the customer wants to be able to install
faster-charging Level Two capability, the customer may need an
upgrade to the home electrical panel at the customer's cost.
Is this information currently available : Neither the CEC nor
PUC have easily accessible information on their Internet web
sites that would include the information required by this bill.
PG&E includes information about establishing special electricity
service (E-9 service), the E-9 rate, and installation of a
time-of-use meter. In addition, it includes an Electric Vehicle
Supply Equipment Installation Manual that provides customers and
contractors with information to properly install all required
electric vehicle charging equipment at a customer's site. The
manual includes references to specific California electrical
code information, equipment regulations and requirements,
permitting issues, load management and electric vehicle charging
rate information.
Southern California Edison (SCE) is the easiest and most useful
site, and includes a very easy-to-locate page titled, "Get
Plug-in Ready" that provides all the information a customer
needs to decide whether to purchase an electric vehicle, and the
necessary information for the installation of a meter, rates,
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and other relevant information. San Diego Gas and Electric and
the Sacramento Municipal Utility District also provide an
easy-to-locate site with all of the pertinent information
required by this bill. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
only states what the customer needs to know in three bullet
points, ((1) Understand the different vehicle and charging
options. (2) Find out what it will take to install a charger at
your home. (3) Research available financial and rate
incentives), however, it doesn't provide any of the information
and doesn't offer a link to a site that would contain the
necessary information.
PUC Rulemaking : Last year, the PUC opened a rulemaking
(R-09-08-009) to consider infrastructure, rates, and policies to
support EVs. The rulemaking also addressed the requirements of
SB 626 (Kehoe) Chapter 355, Statutes of 2009, which requires the
PUC, in consultation with the CEC, the ARB, electrical
corporations, and the motor vehicle industry, to evaluate
policies to develop infrastructure sufficient to overcome any
barriers to the widespread deployment and use of PHEVs. SB 626
requires the PUC to adopt rules by July 1, 2011.
On May 21, 2010, Commissioner Ryan issued a proposed decision on
Phase I of the rulemaking. The commissioner ruled that the
ownership or operation of a facility that sells electricity at
retail to the public for use only as a motor vehicle fuel and
the selling of electricity at retail from that facility to the
public for use only as a motor vehicle fuel does not make the
corporation or person a public utility within the meaning of the
Public Utilities Code. This decision implies that the
commissioner considers retail electricity for use as a vehicle
fuel as a competitive industry. This consideration may exempt
the investor-owned utilities from being required to invest in
public recharging facilities meters. If the utilities are
required to invest in the charging infrastructure, the PUC often
allows the utilities to allocate costs across its customer base,
regardless of which customers would use the infrastructure.
However, the commission did not render a decision on the
utilities' cost-recovery methods in this phase of the
rulemaking.
Phase II of the rulemaking will consider the appropriate utility
role in the provision of electric vehicle charging services to
the public; the appropriate utility role with respect to
charging equipment on the customer's side of the meter; and cost
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allocation, including a consideration of the circumstances in
which the costs of any distribution system upgrades should be
borne by an individual customer or be recoverable from all
customers, in addition to other related issues. The PUC may or
may not address the information required by this bill. If the
Phase II decision requires the utilities to include the
information required by this bill in their Internet web sites,
the PUC would only require the information from the utilities it
regulates, the investor-owned utilities.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)
Plug In America
Southern California Edison (SCE) (if amended)
Union of Concerned Scientists
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Gina Adams / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083