BILL NUMBER: AB 1186 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 25, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Skinner
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to amend Section 372 398.4 of
the Public Utilities Code, relating to electrical
restructuring electricity .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1186, as amended, Skinner. Electrical restructuring:
cogeneration. generation: source disclosures.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations.
Provisions of the Public Utilities Act restructuring the
electrical services industry state the policy of the state to
encourage and support the development of cogeneration as an
efficient, environmentally beneficial, competitive energy resource
that will enhance the reliability of local generation supply, and
promote local business growth. Existing law
establishes a program under which retail suppliers of electricity
disclose accurate, reliable, and simple to understand information on
the sources of energy that are used to provide electric services.
This bill would make nonsubstantive, technical changes to
the policy of the state relative to cogeneration
require that usage of natural gas be separately disclosed: (1) when
it is used for conventional powerplant and peaker plant generation,
and (2) when it is used for combined heat and power system generation
.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 398.4 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
398.4. (a) Every retail supplier that makes an offering to sell
electricity that is consumed in California shall disclose its
electricity sources for the previous calendar year.
(b) The disclosures required by this section shall be made to
potential end-use consumers in all product-specific written
promotional materials that are distributed to consumers by either
printed or electronic means, including the retail supplier's Internet
Web site, if one exists, except that advertisements and notices in
general circulation media shall not be subject to this requirement.
(c) The disclosures required by this section shall be made
annually to end-use consumers of the offered electricity. The annual
disclosure shall be made by the end of the first complete billing
cycle for the third quarter of the year, and shall be consistent with
information provided to the Energy Commission pursuant to Section
398.5.
(d) The disclosures required by this section shall be made
separately for each offering made by the retail supplier.
(e) On or before January 1, 1998, the Energy Commission shall
specify guidelines for the format and means for disclosure required
by Section 398.3 and this section, based on the requirements of this
article and subject to public hearing.
(f) The costs of making the disclosures required by this section
shall be considered to be generation related.
(g) The disclosures required by this section shall comply with the
following:
(1) A retail supplier's disclosure of its electricity sources
shall be expressed as a percentage of annual sales derived from each
of the following categories:
(A) Unspecified sources of electricity.
(B) Specific purchases.
(2) A retail supplier's disclosure of its electricity sources
shall also separately identify total California system electricity,
which is the sum of all in-state generation and net electricity
imports by fuel type.
(h) Each of the categories specified in subdivision (g) shall be
additionally identified as a percentage of annual sales that is
derived from the following fuels or sources of energy:
(1) Coal.
(2) Large hydroelectric (greater than 30 megawatts).
(3) (A) Natural gas used for
conventional powerplant and peaker plant `generation .
(B) Natural gas used for combined heat and power system
generation.
(4) Nuclear.
(5) Eligible renewable energy resources pursuant to the California
Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (Article 16 (commencing with
Section 399.11)), including any of the following:
(A) Biomass and biowaste.
(B) Geothermal.
(C) Eligible hydroelectric.
(D) Solar.
(E) Wind.
(6) Other categories as determined by the Energy Commission.
(i) All electricity sources disclosed as specific purchases shall
meet the requirements of subdivision (c) of Section 398.2.
(j) Specific purchases identified pursuant to this section shall
be from sources connected to the Western Electricity Coordinating
Council interconnected grid.
(k) Compliance with this section by a local publicly owned
electric utility shall constitute compliance with paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b) of Section 387.
(l) The provisions of this section shall not apply to generators
providing electric service onsite, under an over-the-fence
transaction as described in Section 218, or to an affiliate or
affiliates, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 372.
SECTION 1. Section 372 of the Public Utilities
Code is amended to read:
372. (a) It is the policy of the state to encourage and support
the development of cogeneration as an efficient, environmentally
beneficial, competitive energy resource that will enhance the
reliability of local generation supply, and promote local business
growth. Subject to the specific conditions provided in this section,
the commission shall determine the applicability to customers of
uneconomic costs as specified in Sections 367, 368, 375, and 376.
Consistent with this state policy, the commission shall provide that
these costs shall not apply to any of the following:
(1) To load served onsite or under an over-the-fence arrangement
by a nonmobile self-cogeneration or cogeneration facility that was
operational on or before December 20, 1995, or by increases in the
capacity of a facility to the extent that the increased capacity was
constructed by an entity holding an ownership interest in or
operating the facility and does not exceed 120 percent of the
installed capacity as of December 20, 1995, provided that prior to
June 30, 2000, the costs shall apply to over-the-fence arrangements
entered into after December 20, 1995, between unaffiliated parties.
For the purposes of this subdivision, "affiliated" means any person
or entity that directly, or indirectly through one or more
intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common
control with another specified entity. "Control" means either of the
following:
(A) The possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct
or to cause the direction of the management or policies of a person
or entity, whether through an ownership, beneficial, contractual, or
equitable interest.
(B) Direct or indirect ownership of at least 25 percent of an
entity, whether through an ownership, beneficial, or equitable
interest.
(2) To load served by onsite or under an over-the-fence
arrangement by a nonmobile self-cogeneration or cogeneration facility
for which the customer was committed to construction as of December
20, 1995, provided that the facility was substantially operational on
or before January 1, 1998, or by increases in the capacity of a
facility to the extent that the increased capacity was constructed by
an entity holding an ownership interest in or operating the facility
and does not exceed 120 percent of the installed capacity as of
January 1, 1998, provided that prior to June 30, 2000, the costs
shall apply to over-the-fence arrangements entered into after
December 20, 1995, between unaffiliated parties.
(3) To load served by existing, new, or portable emergency
generation equipment used to serve the customer's load requirements
during periods when utility service is unavailable, provided the
emergency generation is not operated in parallel with the integrated
electric grid, except on a momentary parallel basis.
(4) After June 30, 2000, to any load served onsite or under an
over-the-fence arrangement by any nonmobile self-cogeneration or
cogeneration facility.
(b) Further, consistent with state policy, with respect to
self-cogeneration or cogeneration deferral agreements, the commission
shall do the following:
(1) Provide that a utility shall execute a final self-cogeneration
or cogeneration deferral agreement with any customer that, on or
before December 20, 1995, had executed a letter of intent (or similar
documentation) to enter into the agreement with the utility,
provided that the final agreement shall be consistent with the terms
and conditions set forth in the letter of intent and the commission
shall review and approve the final agreement.
(2) Provide that a customer that holds a self-cogeneration or
cogeneration deferral agreement that was in place on or before
December 20, 1995, or that was executed pursuant to paragraph (1) in
the event the agreement expires, or is terminated, may do any of the
following:
(A) Continue through December 31, 2001, to receive utility service
at the rate and under terms and conditions applicable to the
customer under the deferral agreement that, as executed, includes an
allocation of uneconomic costs consistent with subdivision (e) of
Section 367.
(B) Engage in a direct transaction for the purchase of electricity
and pay uneconomic costs consistent with Sections 367, 368, 375, and
376.
(C) Construct a self-cogeneration or cogeneration facility of
approximately the same capacity as the facility previously deferred,
provided that the costs provided in Sections 367, 368, 375, and 376
shall apply consistent with subdivision (e) of Section 367, unless
otherwise authorized by the commission pursuant to subdivision (c).
(3) Subject to the firewall described in subdivision (e) of
Section 367, provide that the ratemaking treatment for
self-cogeneration or cogeneration deferral agreements executed prior
to December 20, 1995, or executed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
consistent with the ratemaking treatment for the contracts approved
before January 1995.
(c) The commission shall authorize, within 60 days of the receipt
of a joint application from the serving utility and one or more
interested parties, applicability conditions as follows:
(1) The costs identified in Sections 367, 368, 375, and 376 shall
not, prior to June 30, 2000, apply to load served onsite by a
nonmobile self-cogeneration or cogeneration facility that became
operational on or after December 20, 1995.
(2) The costs identified in Sections 367, 368, 375, and 376 shall
not, prior to June 30, 2000, apply to any load served under
over-the-fence arrangements entered into after December 20, 1995,
between unaffiliated entities.
(d) For the purposes of this subdivision, all onsite or
over-the-fence arrangements shall be consistent with Section 218 as
it existed on December 20, 1995.
(e) To facilitate the development of new microcogeneration
applications, electrical corporations may apply to the commission for
a financing order to finance the transition costs to be recovered
from customers employing the applications.
(f) To encourage the continued development, installation, and
interconnection of clean and efficient self-generation and
cogeneration resources, to improve system reliability for consumers
by retaining existing generation and encouraging new generation to
connect to the electric grid, and to increase self-sufficiency of
consumers of electricity through the deployment of self-generation
and cogeneration, both of the following shall occur:
(1) The commission and the Electricity Oversight Board shall
determine if any policy or action undertaken by the Independent
System Operator, directly or indirectly, unreasonably discourages the
connection of existing self-generation or cogeneration or new
self-generation or cogeneration to the grid.
(2) If the commission and the Electricity Oversight Board find
that any policy or action of the Independent System Operator
unreasonably discourages the connection of existing self-generation
or cogeneration or new self-generation or cogeneration to the grid,
the commission and the Electricity Oversight Board shall undertake
all necessary efforts to revise, mitigate, or eliminate that policy
or action of the Independent System Operator.