BILL NUMBER: AB 1186 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 24, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 6, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 6, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 22, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 25, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Skinner
( Principal coauthor: Senator
Pavley )
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to add Section 640 to the Public Utilities Code,
relating to energy Article 13 (commencing with Section
16429.40) to Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code, relating to greenhouse gases, and making an
appropriation therefor .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1186, as amended, Skinner. Investor-owned utilities:
school School energy efficiency.
efficiency: grants.
Existing law creates the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund as a
special fund in the State Treasury and requires any moneys collected
by the State Air Resources Board under the California Global Warming
Solutions Act of 2006 from the auction or sale of allowances pursuant
to a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited into the fund
and available for appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law
requires a state agency, prior to expending any moneys appropriated
to it by the Legislature from the fund, to prepare a record
consisting of a description of proposed expenditures and how they
will further the regulatory purposes of the California Global Warming
Solutions Act of 2006, how they will achieve specified greenhouse
gas emissions reductions, how the agency considered other objectives
of that act, and how the agency will document expenditure results.
This bill would enact the School Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Act. The bill would create the School Energy Efficiency
and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund as a special fund in the State
Treasury. The bill would require that 20% of specified revenues
deposited during the 2012-13 fiscal year in the Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund be transferred into the School Energy Efficiency and
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. This bill would continuously
appropriate the funds in the School Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Fund to the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission for the purposes of a grant program for
eligible K-12 schools for energy efficiency improvements that achieve
greenhouse gas reductions.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations
and gas corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix
just and reasonable rates and charges.
This bill would require the commission to hold a proceeding to
establish a program to award grants to public schools providing
instruction in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, for energy
efficiency improvements including, but not limited to, advanced
controls, lighting, upgrades to heating, ventilation, and
air-conditioning systems, as well as hot water and kitchen
appliances. The bill would require the commission to direct gas
corporations and electrical corporations to implement that program
within their respective service areas.
Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an
order of the commission is a crime.
Because the provisions of this bill would require action by the
commission to implement its requirements, a violation of the
commission's orders would impose a state-mandated local program by
creating a new crime.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no yes
. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program:
yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) Over 70 percent of the state's K-12 public school
classrooms are over 25 years old.
(b) Schools account for approximately 12 percent of all commercial
energy consumption, representing not only a significant cost to the
state's public schools, but also demonstrating that schools have a
sizeable greenhouse gas emissions footprint.
(c) Many school districts and local governments know there are
opportunities to reduce both the economic cost and carbon footprints
of schools by having more energy efficient
energy-efficient buildings, operations, and maintenance. These
financial savings could provide schools with the flexibility to pay
for other upgrades that enhance the learning environment.
(d) It is in the best interest of the state to quickly reduce
energy consumption from schools , especially through building
retrofits that achieve the deep levels of energy efficiency
improvement, such as those called for in the Long Term Energy
Efficiency Strategic Plan adopted by the Public Utilities Commission
.
SEC. 2. Section 640 is added to the Public
Utilities Code, to read:
640. (a) The commission shall hold a proceeding to establish a
program to award grants to public schools providing instruction in
kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, for energy efficiency
improvements including, but not limited to, advanced controls,
lighting, upgrades to heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning
systems, as well as hot water and kitchen appliances.
(b) The commission shall direct gas corporations and electrical
corporations to implement the program established pursuant to
subdivision (a) for public schools providing instruction in
kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, within the respective
service areas of those corporations.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this
act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.
SEC. 2. Article 13 (commencing with Section
16429.40) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 4 of
Title 2 of the Government Code , to read:
Article 13. School Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas
Reduction
16429.40. This article shall be known and may be cited as the
School Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act.
16429.41. As used in this article:
(a) "Commission" means the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission.
(b) "Eligible institution" means a public school providing
instruction in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
(c) "Fund" means the School Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund established pursuant to Section 16429.42.
(d) "Superintendent" means the Superintendent of Public
Instruction.
16429.42. (a) The School Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund is hereby created as a special fund in the State
Treasury. Notwithstanding Section 13340, moneys in the fund are
continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, to the
commission for the purposes of this article.
(b) Of the revenues deposited during the 2012-13 fiscal year in
the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created by Section 16428.8, which
are not used or allocated by the Director of Finance to make
commensurate reductions to General Fund expenditure authority
pursuant to Section 15.11 of the Budget Act of 2012, 20 percent of
that amount shall be transferred into the fund.
(c) Of the moneys deposited into the fund pursuant to subdivision
(b), the commission may expend up to 5 percent of those moneys for
administrative costs in implementing this article.
(d) The commission shall award the remainder of the moneys in the
fund as grants to eligible institutions for greenhouse gas reductions
achieved through energy efficiency improvements.
(e) The commission shall comply with Section 16428.9 in the award
of funds.
16429.43. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the
commission administer the fund and implement this article in
coordination with the Superintendent to provide grants to eligible
institutions for building retrofits that maximize energy savings and
greenhouse gas reductions.
(b) The commission shall award the moneys described in subdivision
(d) of Section 16429.42 as grants though the commission's Bright
Schools Program, subject to the following:
(1) The grants made pursuant to this article through the Bright
Schools Program shall be awarded only to eligible institutions, as
defined in Section 16429.41.
(2) The commission shall ensure that adequate energy audit,
measurement, and verification procedures are employed to ensure that
energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reductions occur as a
result of any grants made pursuant to this article.
(3) The commission shall use a net present value analysis or
life-cycle cost analysis when determining eligible measures for
energy savings and greenhouse gas reductions.
(c) (1) The commission shall adopt any regulations or guidelines
necessary to implement this article. Notwithstanding any other law,
regulations pursuant to this section may be adopted as emergency
regulations pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340)
of Part 1 of Division 3.
(2) For the purposes of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
11340) of Part 1 of Division 3, including Section 11349.6, the Office
of Administrative Law shall consider the adoption of the regulations
pursuant to this subdivision to be necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health and safety, and general
welfare.
(d) The commission, to the extent possible, shall utilize existing
resources and expertise in implementing this article.
(e) The commission, in consultation with the Superintendent, shall
establish a system to prioritize schools for grants through this
article. Prioritization shall take into consideration circumstances
that shall include, but not be limited to, the age of the school
facilities, the proportion of students receiving free and
reduced-price meals, whether the facilities have been recently
modernized, whether the facilities are operated as a year-round
school, the potential for demand reduction, and the school's score
from an energy rating system such as the United States Environmental
Protection Agency's Energy Star system.
(f) The commission shall determine, based on the annual energy
savings reported by the institutions pursuant to subdivision (h), the
total greenhouse gas reductions achieved pursuant to this article.
(g) This article does not affect the eligibility of schools
awarded grants to receive other incentives available from federal,
state, and local government, or from public utilities or other
sources, and to leverage the grant with those incentives.
(h) (1) Any eligible institution may submit an application to the
commission for a grant from the fund for greenhouse gas reductions
achieved through energy efficiency improvements.
(2) Each year, on a schedule established by the commission, each
eligible institution that receives a grant pursuant to this article
shall report the amount of energy saved to the commission. Each
eligible institution shall compute the cost of energy saved as a
result of implementing projects funded by the grant. The cost shall
be calculated in a manner established by the commission.