BILL NUMBER: SB 383 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 31, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wolk
FEBRUARY 15, 2011
An act to amend Section 2826.5 of 2830 of,
and to repeal Section 2826.5 of, the Public Utilities Code,
relating to private energy producers energy
.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 383, as amended, Wolk. Private Local
government renewable energy self-generation program: private
energy producers: PVUSA solar facility.
Under
(1) Under existing law, the
Public Utilities Commission has regulatory jurisdiction over public
utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined.
Existing law permits a private energy producer, as defined, to
generate electricity not generated from conventional sources, as
defined, solely for its own use or the use of its tenants, or
generating electricity to or for any electrical corporation, state
agency, city, county, district, or an association thereof, but not
the public, without becoming a public utility subject to the general
jurisdiction of the commission. Existing law
authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every
public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and
reasonable. The local government renewable energy self-generation
program authorizes a local government, as defined, to receive a bill
credit, as defined, to be applied to a designated benefiting account
for electricity exported to the electrical grid by an eligible
renewable generat ing facility, as defined, and requires
the commission to adopt a rate tariff for the benefiting account. The
program requires the local government or campus and the electrical
corporation to mutually agree upon a benefiting account
.
This bill would authorize the local government or campus to
designate the benefiting account.
The existing program requires that the benefiting account receives
service under a time-of-use rate schedule and requires that a bill
credit is to be calculated based upon the time-of-use electricity
generation component of the electricity usage charge of the
generating account, multiplied by the quantities of electricity
generated by an eligible renewable generating facility that are
exported to the grid during the corresponding time period.
This bill would delete the requirement that the benefiting account
receive service under a time-of-use rate schedule and require that
the bill credit be calculated based upon the bundled electricity rate
charged the benefiting account, with differing calculations
depending upon whether the benefiting account receives service
pursuant to a time-of-use rate schedule, a single bundled rate, or
fixed rates with different rates charged for different tiers of
usage. The bill would authorize a benefiting account that is a net
surplus customer-generator, as defined, to affirmatively elect to
receive net surplus electricity compensation, as defined.
The existing program limits the generating capacity of an eligible
renewable generating facility to no more than one megawatt and
requires that the facility be owned by, operated by, or be located on
property under the control of the local government or campus.
This bill would limit the generating capacity of an eligible
renewable generating facility to no more than 20 megawatts. The bill
would delete the requirement that the eligible renewable generating
facility be owned by, operated by, or be located on, property under
the control of the local government or campus.
The existing program provides that an electrical corporation is
not obligated to provide a bill credit to a benefiting account that
is not designated prior to the point in time that the combined
statewide cumulative rated generating capacity of all eligible
renewable generating facilities within the service territories of the
state's 3 largest electrical corporations reaches 250 megawatts.
This bill would delete this 250 megawatts limitation upon the
obligation of an electrical corporation to provide a bill credit.
Existing
(2) Existing law authorizes the
City of Davis to receive a bill credit, as defined, to a benefiting
account, as defined, for electricity supplied to the electrical grid
by a photovoltaic facility located within and partially owned by the
city (PVUSA solar facility) and requires the commission adopt a rate
tariff for the benefiting account. Existing law authorizes the peak
electricity generating capacity for the facility to be expanded, not
to exceed one megawatt.
This bill would repeal these provisions relating to the City of
Davis.
This bill would authorize the peak electricity generating capacity
of the PVUSA solar facility to be expanded, not to exceed 20
megawatts and would eliminate the requirement that the facility be
owned, at least in part, by the City of Davis. The bill would
additionally revise the requirements to be a benefiting account,
would revise how benefiting accounts are billed, would revise how
benefiting accounts are credited with electrical generation from the
PVUSA solar facility, and would authorize a benefiting account that
is a net surplus customer-generator, as defined, to affirmatively
elect to receive net surplus electricity compensation, as defined.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 2826.5 of the Public
Utilities Code is repealed.
2826.5. (a) As used in this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Benefiting account" means an electricity account, or more
than one account, mutually agreed upon by Pacific Gas and Electric
Company and the City of Davis.
(2) "Bill credit" means credits calculated based upon the
electricity generation component of the rate schedule applicable to a
benefiting account, as applied to the net metered quantities of
electricity.
(3) "PVUSA" means the photovoltaic electricity generation facility
selected by the City of Davis, located at 24662 County Road, Davis,
California, with a rated peak electricity generation capacity of 600
kilowatts, and as it may be expanded, not to exceed one megawatt of
peak generation capacity.
(4) "Net metered" means the electricity output from the PVUSA.
(5) "Environmental attributes" associated with the PVUSA include,
but are not limited to, the credits, benefits, emissions reductions,
environmental air quality credits, and emissions reduction credits,
offsets, and allowances, however entitled resulting from the
avoidance of the emission of any gas, chemical, or other substance
attributable to the PVUSA.
(b) The City of Davis may elect to designate a benefiting account,
or more than one account, to receive bill credit for the electricity
generated by the PVUSA, if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) A benefiting account receives service under a time-of-use rate
schedule.
(2) The electricity output of the PVUSA is metered for time of use
to allow allocation of each bill credit to correspond to the
time-of-use period of a benefiting account.
(3) All costs associated with the metering requirements of
paragraphs (1) and (2) are the responsibility of the City of Davis.
(4) All electricity delivered to the electrical grid by the PVUSA
is the property of Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
(5) PVUSA does not sell electricity delivered to the electrical
grid to a third party.
(6) The right, title, and interest in the environmental attributes
associated with the electricity delivered to the electrical grid by
the PVUSA are the property of Nuon Renewable Ventures USA, LLC.
(c) A benefiting account shall be billed on a monthly basis, as
follows:
(1) For all electricity usage, the rate schedule applicable to the
benefiting account, including any surcharge, exit fee, or other cost
recovery mechanism, as determined by the commission, to reimburse
the Department of Water Resources for purchases of electricity,
pursuant to Division 27 (commencing with Section 80000) of the Water
Code.
(2) The rate schedule for the benefiting account shall also
provide credit for the generation component of the time-of-use rates
for the electricity generated by the PVUSA that is delivered to the
electrical grid. The generation component credited to the benefiting
account may not include the surcharge, exit fee, or other cost
recovery mechanism, as determined by the commission, to reimburse the
Department of Water Resources for purchases of electricity, pursuant
to Division 27 (commencing with Section 80000) of the Water Code.
(3) If in any billing cycle, the charge pursuant to paragraph (1)
for electricity usage exceeds the billing credit pursuant to
paragraph (2), the City of Davis shall be charged for the difference.
(4) If in any billing cycle, the billing credit pursuant to
paragraph (2), exceeds the charge for electricity usage pursuant to
paragraph (1), the difference shall be carried forward as a credit to
the next billing cycle.
(5) After the electricity usage charge pursuant to paragraph (1)
and the credit pursuant to paragraph (2) are determined for the last
billing cycle of a calendar year, any remaining credit resulting from
the application of this section shall be reset to zero.
(d) Not more frequently that once per year, and upon providing
Pacific Gas and Electric Company with a minimum of 60 days notice,
the City of Davis may elect to change a benefiting account. Any
credit resulting from the application of this section earned prior to
the change in a benefiting account that has not been used as of the
date of the change in the benefit account, shall be applied, and may
only be applied, to a benefiting account as changed.
(e) Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall file an advice letter
with the Public Utilities Commission, that complies with this
section, not later than 10 days after the effective date of this
section, proposing a rate tariff for a benefiting account. The
commission, within 30 days of the date of filing, shall approve the
proposed tariff, or specify conforming changes to be made by Pacific
Gas and Electric Company to be filed in a new advice letter.
(f) The City of Davis may terminate its election pursuant to
subdivision (b), upon providing Pacific Gas and Electric Company with
a minimum of 60 days notice. Should the City of Davis sell its
interest in the PVUSA, or sell the electricity generated by the
PVUSA, in a manner other than required by this section, upon the date
of either event, and the earliest date if both events occur, no
further bill credit pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) may
be earned. Only credit earned prior to that date shall be made to a
benefiting account.
(g) The Legislature finds and declares that credit for a
benefiting account for the electricity output from the PVUSA are in
the public interest in order to value the production of this unique,
wholly renewable resource electricity generation facility located in,
and owned in part by, the City of Davis. Because of the unique
circumstances applicable only to the PVUSA a statute of general
applicability cannot be enacted within the meaning of subdivision (b)
of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution.
Therefore, this special statute is necessary.
SEC. 2. Section 2830 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
2830. (a) As used in this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Benefiting account" means an electricity account, or more
than one account, designated by a local government or campus to
receive a bill credit pursuant to this section. To be eligible to be
designated as a "benefiting account," the account shall be for
service to premises located within the geographical boundaries
of a local government or, for a campus, within the geographical
boundary of the city, county, or city and county in which the campus
is located , that is mutually agreed upon by the local
government or campus and an electrical corporation .
(2) "Bill credit" means an amount of money credited to a
benefiting account that is calculated based upon the
time-of-use electricity generation component of the electricity usage
charge of the generating account, multiplied by the quantities of
electricity generated by an eligible renewable generating facility
that are exported to the grid during the corresponding time period.
Electricity bundled electricity rate charged the
benefiting account by the electrical corporation.
(A) If the benefiting account receives service pursuant to a
time-of-use rate, the amount of the bill credit is to be calculated
by measuring the amount of electricity exported to the electrical
grid by an eligible renewable generating facility multiplied by the
corresponding time-of-use electricity rate of the benefiting account.
(B) If the benefiting account receives service pursuant to a fixed
single rate, the credit shall be calculated by measuring the amount
of electricity exported to the electrical grid by an eligible
renewable generating facility multiplied by that rate.
(C) If the benefiting account receives service pursuant to fixed
rates, with different rates charged for different tiers of usage, the
bill credit will be at the first tier or baseline usage rate for
electricity exported to the electrical grid by an eligible renewable
generating facility, up to the baseline quantity of electricity for
that benefiting account. The bill credit for electricity exported to
the grid by an eligible renewable generating facility that is above
the baseline amount shall be calculated based upon the next lowest
tiered rate, up to that tier of usage, and then upon the next lowest
tiered rate, up to that tier of usage, until the bill credit reaches
100 percent of the bill to the benefiting account.
(D) Electricity is exported to
the grid if it is generated by an eligible renewable generating
facility, is not utilized onsite by the local government or
campus , and the electricity flows through the meter site and
on to the electrical corporation's distribution or transmission
infrastructure.
(3) "Campus" means an individual community college campus,
individual California State University campus, or individual
University of California campus.
(4) "Eligible renewable generating facility" means a generation
facility that meets all of the following requirements:
(A) Has a generating capacity of no more than one
megawatt 20 megawatts .
(B) Is an eligible renewable energy resource, as defined in
Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Part 1.
(C) Is located within the geographical boundary of the local
government or, for a campus, within the geographical boundary of the
city or city and county, if the campus is located in an incorporated
area, or county, if the campus is located in an unincorporated area.
(D) Is owned by, operated by, or on property under the control of,
the local government or campus.
(E)
(D) Is sized to offset all or part of the electrical
load of the benefiting account , or more than one account
. For these purposes, premises that are leased by a local
government or campus are under the control of the local government or
campus.
(5) "Generating account" means the time-of-use electric service
account of the local government or campus where the eligible
renewable generating facility is located.
(6) "Local government" means a city, county, whether general law
or chartered, city and county, special district, school district,
political subdivision, or other local public agency, but shall not
mean a joint powers authority, the state or any agency or department
of the state, other than an individual campus of the University of
California or the California State University.
(b) Subject to the limitation in subdivision (h), a local
government may elect to receive electric service pursuant to this
section, if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The local government designates one or more benefiting
accounts to receive a bill credit.
(2) A benefiting account receives service under a time-of-use rate
schedule.
(3)
(2) The benefiting account is the responsibility of,
and serves property that is owned, operated, or on property under the
control of the same local government that owns, operates,
or controls the eligible renewable generating facility
the local government or campus .
(4)
(3) The electrical output of the eligible renewable
generating facility is metered for time of use to allow calculation
of the bill credit based upon when the electricity is exported to the
grid.
(5)
(4) All costs associated with the metering requirements
of paragraphs (2) and (4) (3) are the
responsibility of the local government.
(6)
(5) All costs associated with interconnection are the
responsibility of the local government holder
of the benefiting account . For purposes of this paragraph,
"interconnection" has the same meaning as defined in Section 2803,
except that it applies to the interconnection of an eligible
renewable generating facility rather than the energy source of a
private energy producer.
(7)
(6) The local government owner
of the eligible renewable generating facility does not sell
electricity exported to the electrical grid to a third party.
(8)
(7) All electricity exported to the grid by the
local government that is generated by the eligible
renewable generating facility becomes the property of the electrical
corporation to which the facility is interconnected, but shall not
be counted toward the electrical corporation's total retail sales for
purposes of Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter
2.3 of Part 1. Ownership of the renewable energy credits, as defined
in Section 399.12, shall be the same as the ownership of the
renewable energy credits associated with electricity that is net
metered pursuant to Section 2827.
(c) (1) Not more frequently than once every other month, and upon
providing the electrical corporation with notice pursuant to
paragraph (2) with a minimum of 30 days' notice, the local government
or campus may elect to change, add, or remove a benefiting account.
Any credit resulting from the application of this section earned
prior to the change in a benefiting account that has not been used as
of the date of the change in the benefiting account shall be
applied, and may only be applied, to a benefiting account as changed.
(2) Upon a change, addition, or removal of a designated benefiting
account, the local government or campus shall determine the
percentage of the electricity generated by the eligible renewable
generating facility and delivered to the grid that shall be credited
to each benefiting account and provide notice to the electrical
corporation of the percentage that is to be credited to each
benefiting account.
(c)
(d) (1) A benefiting account shall be billed for all
electricity usage, and for each bill component, at the rate schedule
applicable to the benefiting account, including any
cost-responsibility surcharge or other cost recovery mechanism, as
determined by the commission, to reimburse the Department of Water
Resources for purchases of electricity, pursuant to Division 27
(commencing with Section 80000) of the Water Code.
(2) The bill shall then subtract the bill credit
applicable to the benefiting account credit the
designated benefiting account by the amount of the bill credit
. The generation component credited to the benefiting account may
not include the cost-responsibility surcharge or other cost recovery
mechanism, as determined by the commission, to reimburse the
Department of Water Resources for purchases of electricity, pursuant
to Division 27 (commencing with Section 80000) of the Water Code. The
electrical corporation shall ensure that the local government
receives the full bill credit.
(3) If, during the billing cycle, the generation
component of the electricity usage charges exceeds the bill
credit, the benefiting account shall be billed for the difference.
(4) If, during the billing cycle, the bill credit applied pursuant
to paragraph (2) exceeds the generation component of the
electricity usage charges, the difference shall be carried
forward as a financial credit to the next billing cycle.
(5) After the electricity usage charge pursuant to paragraph (1)
and the credit pursuant to paragraph (2) are determined for the last
billing cycle of a 12-month period, any remaining bill
credit resulting from the application of this section shall be reset
to zero , and the owner of the eligible renewable generating
facility may elect to receive compensation pursuant to Section
399.20, for any electricity exported to the electrical grid that is
not credited to a benefiting account .
(6) The electrical corporation shall inform the local government
or campus regarding the amount each benefiting account was credited
pursuant to this subdivision for electricity generated by the
eligible renewable generating facility and exported to the grid.
(7) The local government or campus may prepare a bill for the
holder of the benefiting account that is credited pursuant to this
subdivision, for electricity generated by the eligible renewable
generating facility and exported to the grid.
(d)
(e) The commission shall ensure that the transfer of a
bill credit to a benefiting account does not result in a shifting of
costs to bundled service subscribers. The costs associated with the
transfer of a bill credit shall include all billing-related expenses.
(e) Not more frequently than once per year, and upon providing the
electrical corporation with a minimum of 60 days' notice, the local
government may elect to change a benefiting account. Any credit
resulting from the application of this section earned prior to the
change in a benefiting account that has not been used as of the date
of the change in the benefiting account, shall be applied, and may
only be applied, to a benefiting account as changed.
(f) A local government or campus shall provide the
electrical corporation to which the eligible renewable generating
facility will be interconnected with not less than 60 days' notice
prior to the eligible renewable generating facility becoming
operational. The electrical corporation shall file an advice
letter with the commission, that complies with this section, not
later than 30 days after receipt of the notice, proposing a rate
tariff for a benefiting account. The commission, within 30 days of
the date of filing, shall approve the proposed tariff, or specify
conforming changes to be made by the electrical corporation to be
filed in a new advice letter.
(g) The local government or campus may terminate its
election pursuant to subdivision (b), upon providing the electrical
corporation with a minimum of 60 days' notice. Should the
local government sell its interest in the eligible renewable
generating facility, or sell the electricity generated by the
eligible renewable generating facility, in a manner other than
required by this section, upon the date of either even, and the
earliest date if both events occur electricity
generated by the eligible renewable generating facility be sold to a
third party , no further bill credit pursuant to
paragraph (3) of subdivision (b)
(d) may be earned. Only credit earned prior to that date shall
be made to a benefiting account.
(h) An electrical corporation is not obligated to provide a bill
credit to a benefiting account that is not designated by a local
government prior to the point in time that the combined statewide
cumulative rated generating capacity of all eligible renewable
generating facilities within the service territories of the state's
three largest electrical corporations reaches 250 megawatts. Only
those eligible renewable generating facilities that are providing
bill credits to benefiting accounts pursuant to this section shall
count toward reaching this 250-megawatt limitation. Each electrical
corporation shall only be required to offer service or contracts
under this section until that electrical corporation reaches its
proportionate share of the 250-megawatt limitation based on the ratio
of its peak demand to the total statewide peak demand of all
electrical corporations. All matter omitted in this version
of the bill appears in the bill as introduced in the Senate,
February 15, 2011. (JR11)