BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1124
Author: Skinner (D)
Amended: 6/12/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES & COMMUNIC. COMM. : 12-0, 6/19/12
AYES: Padilla, Fuller, Berryhill, Corbett, De Le�n,
DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Kehoe, Pavley, Rubio, Simitian,
Wright
NO VOTE RECORDED: Strickland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not relevant
SUBJECT : Landlord and tenant
SOURCE : California Housing Partnership Corporation
DIGEST : This bill provides that the law establishing
multifamily habitability requirements shall not be
interpreted to prohibit a tenant or owner of rental
properties from qualifying for heating and hot water system
repair or replacement under a utility energy efficiency
program.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires California's electric
utilities to first meet their energy needs through all
available, feasible, and cost-effective energy efficiency
measures before renewable and conventional generation.
Existing decisions of the California Public Utilities
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Commission (PUC) require investor-owned utilities (IOUs) to
administer energy efficiency programs in multi-year
portfolios designed to meet pre-established energy savings
goals and funded by ratepayer charges, currently at about
$1 billion per year.
Existing law and PUC decisions establish the Energy Savings
Assistance Program (ESAP) to provide eligible low-income
households free weatherization and energy efficiency
services administered in multi-year portfolios by the IOUs
as approved by the PUC and funded by ratepayer charges,
currently at about $320 million per year.
Existing law requires the PUC to ensure that by December
31, 2020, all eligible low-income customers are given the
opportunity to participate in ESAP, including customers
occupying apartments or similar multiunit residential
structures.
Existing law requires multifamily rental housing to
maintain specified characteristics, including adequate
heating and hot water systems, in order to meet health and
safety habitability standards.
Background
Low Income Energy Efficiency Becomes ESAP . The California
Alternate Rate for Energy (CARE) program provides a minimum
20 percent energy rate discount to eligible low-income
households earning at or below 200 percent of the federal
poverty level. Customers who meet the CARE requirements
also are eligible for the ESAP, formerly known as Low
Income Energy Efficiency program, which provides no-cost
weatherization and other services such as attic insulation,
energy efficient refrigerators, energy efficient furnaces,
weatherstripping, caulking, low-flow showerheads, water
heater blankets, and door and building envelope repairs
that reduce air infiltration.
The ESAP is administered in multi-year portfolios by the
IOUs as approved by the PUC and funded by ratepayer
charges, currently at about $320 million per year. A
proposed decision to approve the ESAP program elements for
the next three-year cycle is pending before the PUC.
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PUC Cites Habitability Requirements. In several prior ESAP
decisions the PUC has denied eligibility for furnace and
hot water repair and replacement in rental buildings.
Advocates claim that these large central systems present
the primary opportunity for significant energy savings in
multifamily buildings. But the PUC ruled in 2007 and 2008
that these systems are the responsibility of the landlord,
citing the Civil Code habitability requirements
(D.07-12-051 and D.08-11-031). The PUC states that the
staggering costs of upgrading these central systems could
derail the PUC from meeting its statutory mandate to
provide energy efficiency measures to all low-income
customers and could result in "over-subsidizing landlords."
The ESAP proposed decision currently pending before the PUC
also concludes that these systems are the responsibility of
landlords and that their repair and replacement should not
be funded by ratepayers.
Social Justice and Energy Efficiency. Affordable housing
advocates, including the sponsor of this bill, claim that
energy efficiency in multifamily housing is an issue of
social justice and equity as well as energy policy. They
claim that low-income households, especially those residing
in multifamily buildings, represent the greatest need for
energy efficiency improvements, but have a very low
participation rate in existing programs. According to the
author, more than one-third of low-income households that
are eligible for ESAP live in multifamily buildings but get
only minimal energy savings from weatherstripping and
limited measures suited to individual rental units. Thus,
these advocates claim that existing programs are leaving
behind the poorest of the poor, who live in the oldest,
least efficient buildings and pay the highest percentage of
household income on energy costs.
Other Energy Efficiency Programs for Multifamily Housing .
In addition to ESAP, the larger energy efficiency programs
the IOUs administer include some programs for multifamily
housing. For example, San Diego Gas and Electric Company
and Southern California Gas Company offer multifamily
rebate programs for common area systems including central
water heaters and boilers. More multifamily programs,
including whole building pilot programs, are pending
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approval by the PUC.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/20/12)
California Housing Partnership Corporation (source)
Adobe Communities
BRIDGE Housing Corporation
Burbank Housing
California Housing Consortium
Century Housing
Coalition for Economic Survival
East Bay Housing Organizations
Emerald Cities
Enterprise Community Partners
Global Green
Mercy Housing
Mid-Peninsula Housing
Napa Valley Community Housing
National Consumer Law Center
National Housing Law Project
Non-profit Housing Association of Northern California
Resources for Community Development
Sacramento - Yolo Mutual Housing Association
San Diego Housing Federation
Sheet Metal Workers Local 104
Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation
US Green Building Council
Ward Economic Development Corporation
RM:n 6/20/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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