BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 306 (Gatto)
Hearing Date: 08/15/2011 Amended: 08/15/2011
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy Policy Vote: T&H 9-0, EU&C 10-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 306 requires the California Energy Commission
and CalTrans to conduct research regarding the use of a specific
technology to capture energy from the pressure that cars and
trucks put on highways and roads.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Energy Commission initial $300 - $500 General
*
research
CalTrans initial research $600 - $800 Special
**
Conducting pilot projects Costs likely in the
millionsVarious ***
* Renewable Resources Trust Fund.
** State Highway Account.
*** Renewable Resources Trust Fund and/or State Highway Account.
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Under current law, the California Energy Commission oversees an
energy-related research and development program. The purpose of
the program is to provide funding for research, development, and
demonstration projects that will benefit California electricity
ratepayers and that are not likely to be funded by the private
sector. The research program has an annual budget of about $70
million. In addition, the Energy Commission operates a program
to support the development of renewable energy sources, such as
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rooftop solar systems and other small renewable energy projects.
Both of these programs are supported by the Public Goods Charge,
a tax paid by electricity ratepayers in the state. The Public
Goods Charge will sunset at the end of 2011. At the end of the
2011-12 fiscal year, the Energy Commission is projected to have
about $10 million for additional research projects and about $2
million for additional renewable energy projects. The Energy
Commission also operates a research and development program
relating to energy use in the transportation sector. That
program has an annual budget of about $100 million per year.
AB 306 requires the Energy Commission to conduct a research
project to evaluate the potential to use a specific type of
technology (piezoelectric transducers) to generate electricity
from the pressure that cars and trucks put on roads and
highways. Theoretically, a piezoelectric system could be
embedded in the pavement of a highway, and the subsequent
pressure put on the system by cars and trucks could generate
electricity which could be captured and used to reduce other
sources of electricity. The bill requires the Energy Commission
to conduct initial research on the potential uses of this
technology and then to conduct one or more pilot projects to
test the technology on California roads or highways. If the
pilot project is to be conducted on a state highway, the
Department of Transportation (CalTrans) is required to
participate.
In order to conduct initial research on this technology, the
Energy Commission anticipates that it will incur costs between
$300,000 and $500,000. If CalTrans is involved in the pilot
project, the it indicates that it will incur costs between
$600,000 and $800,000 for initial research on potential effects
on of the technology on pavement durability. If the results of
that research are promising, the Energy Commission and possibly
CalTrans will then incur costs to develop and conduct pilot
projects. The costs to develop a pilot project are unknown.
CalTrans indicates that if the pilot were to be conducted on one
of its test roads, the cost would be over $1 million. On the
other hand, if the pilot is conducted on a working road or
highway, the costs could be considerably higher.
Staff notes the following: 1) In order to develop a pilot
project that provides useful information under real world
conditions, it may be necessary to conduct the pilot project on
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a working road or highway. In that case, CalTrans would have to
tear up one or more lanes of a potentially heavily used highway,
which is likely to create significant costs and potential
traffic congestion issues. 2) The fund source identified in the
bill has a very small projected fund balance at the end of the
budget year. 3) This bill bypasses the existing process for
identifying energy-related research projects and instead puts a
specific technology at the top of the list for funding.