BILL NUMBER: SB 383 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 27, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 11, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 25, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 31, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wolk
FEBRUARY 15, 2011
An act relating to energy. An act to amend
Sections 216 and 218 of, to repeal Section 2826.5 of, and to repeal
and add Chapter 7.5 (commencing with Section 2830) of Part 2 of
Division 1 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 383, as amended, Wolk. Renewable energy.
Community-Based Renewable Energy Self-Generation Program
.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has
regulatory jurisdiction over public utilities, including electrical
corporations, as defined. 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. Under existing law,
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
generating facility, as defined, and requires the commission to adopt
a rate tariff for the benefiting account.
This bill would repeal these provisions and enact the
Community-Based Renewable Energy Self-Generation Program. The program
would authorize a retail customer of an electric utility to purchase
a subscription, as defined, in a community facility, as defined, for
the purpose of receiving a bill credit, as defined, to offset all or
a portion of the customer's electricity usage, consistent with
specified requirements.
Because the provisions of the bill require action by the
commission to implement its requirements, a violation of these
provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding
the definition of a crime.
The bill would provide that any corporation or person engaged
directly or indirectly in developing, producing, delivering,
participating in, or selling interests in, a community facility is
not a public utility or electrical corporation solely by reason of
engaging in any of those activities.
(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
electricity generation facility located within, and partially owned
by, the city (PVUSA solar facility) and requires the commission to
adopt a rate tariff for the benefiting account.
This bill would repeal these provisions relating to the City of
Davis.
(3) 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.
Existing law expresses the intent of the Legislature, in
establishing the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program,
that the amount of electricity generated per year from eligible
renewable energy resources be increased to an amount that equals at
least 20% of the total electricity sold to retail customers in
California per year by December 31, 2010.
This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to stimulate the development of eligible renewable energy
resources, as defined for purposes of the program, by allowing local
governments, businesses, residents, and schools to invest in
cost-effective, clean, and renewable energy and to create local jobs.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no
yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 216 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
216. (a) "Public utility" includes every common carrier, toll
bridge corporation, pipeline corporation, gas corporation, electrical
corporation, telephone corporation, telegraph corporation, water
corporation, sewer system corporation, and heat corporation, where
the service is performed for, or the commodity is delivered to, the
public or any portion thereof.
(b) Whenever any common carrier, toll bridge corporation, pipeline
corporation, gas corporation, electrical corporation, telephone
corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewer system
corporation, or heat corporation performs a service for, or delivers
a commodity to, the public or any portion thereof for which any
compensation or payment whatsoever is received, that common carrier,
toll bridge corporation, pipeline corporation, gas corporation,
electrical corporation, telephone corporation, telegraph corporation,
water corporation, sewer system corporation, or heat corporation, is
a public utility subject to the jurisdiction, control, and
regulation of the commission and the provisions of this part.
(c) When any person or corporation performs any service for, or
delivers any commodity to, any person, private corporation,
municipality, or other political subdivision of the state, that in
turn either directly or indirectly, mediately or immediately,
performs that service for, or delivers that commodity to, the public
or any portion thereof, that person or corporation is a public
utility subject to the jurisdiction, control, and regulation of the
commission and the provisions of this part.
(d) Ownership or operation of a facility that employs cogeneration
technology or produces power from other than a conventional power
source or the ownership or operation of a facility which employs
landfill gas technology does not make a corporation or person a
public utility within the meaning of this section solely because of
the ownership or operation of that facility.
(e) Any corporation or person engaged directly or indirectly in
developing, producing, transmitting, distributing, delivering, or
selling any form of heat derived from geothermal or solar resources
or from cogeneration technology to any privately owned or publicly
owned public utility, or to the public or any portion thereof, is not
a public utility within the meaning of this section solely by reason
of engaging in any of those activities.
(f) The ownership or operation of a facility that sells compressed
natural gas at retail to the public for use only as a motor vehicle
fuel, and the selling of compressed natural gas at retail from that
facility to the public for use only as a motor vehicle fuel, does not
make the corporation or person a public utility within the meaning
of this section solely because of that ownership, operation, or sale.
(g) Ownership or operation of a facility that is an exempt
wholesale generator, as defined in the Public Utility Holding Company
Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 16451(6)), does not make a corporation
or person a public utility within the meaning of this section, solely
due to the ownership or operation of that facility.
(h) The ownership, control, operation, or management of an
electric plant used for direct transactions or participation directly
or indirectly in direct transactions, as permitted by subdivision
(b) of Section 365, sales into a market established and operated by
the Independent System Operator or any other wholesale electricity
market, or the use or sale as permitted under subdivisions (b) to
(d), inclusive, of Section 218, shall not make a corporation or
person a public utility within the meaning of this section solely
because of that ownership, participation, or sale.
(i) A corporation or person engaged directly or indirectly in
developing, producing, delivering, participating in, or selling
interests in, a community facility pursuant to Chapter 7.5
(commencing with Section 2830) of Part 2, is not a public utility
within the meaning of this section solely by reason of engaging in
any of those activities.
SEC. 2. Section 218 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
218. (a) "Electrical corporation" includes every corporation or
person owning, controlling, operating, or managing any electric plant
for compensation within this state, except where electricity is
generated on or distributed by the producer through private property
solely for its own use or the use of its tenants and not for sale or
transmission to others.
(b) "Electrical corporation" does not include a corporation or
person employing cogeneration technology or producing power from
other than a conventional power source for the generation of
electricity solely for any one or more of the following purposes:
(1) Its own use or the use of its tenants.
(2) The use of or sale to not more than two other corporations or
persons solely for use on the real property on which the electricity
is generated or on real property immediately adjacent thereto, unless
there is an intervening public street constituting the boundary
between the real property on which the electricity is generated and
the immediately adjacent property and one or more of the following
applies:
(A) The real property on which the electricity is generated and
the immediately adjacent real property is not under common ownership
or control, or that common ownership or control was gained solely for
purposes of sale of the electricity so generated and not for other
business purposes.
(B) The useful thermal output of the facility generating the
electricity is not used on the immediately adjacent property for
petroleum production or refining.
(C) The electricity furnished to the immediately adjacent property
is not utilized by a subsidiary or affiliate of the corporation or
person generating the electricity.
(3) Sale or transmission to an electrical corporation or state or
local public agency, but not for sale or transmission to others,
unless the corporation or person is otherwise an electrical
corporation.
(c) "Electrical corporation" does not include a corporation or
person employing landfill gas technology for the generation of
electricity for any one or more of the following purposes:
(1) Its own use or the use of not more than two of its tenants
located on the real property on which the electricity is generated.
(2) The use of or sale to not more than two other corporations or
persons solely for use on the real property on which the electricity
is generated.
(3) Sale or transmission to an electrical corporation or state or
local public agency.
(d) "Electrical corporation" does not include a corporation or
person employing digester gas technology for the generation of
electricity for any one or more of the following purposes:
(1) Its own use or the use of not more than two of its tenants
located on the real property on which the electricity is generated.
(2) The use of or sale to not more than two other corporations or
persons solely for use on the real property on which the electricity
is generated.
(3) Sale or transmission to an electrical corporation or state or
local public agency, if the sale or transmission of the electricity
service to a retail customer is provided through the transmission
system of the existing local publicly owned electric utility or
electrical corporation of that retail customer.
(e) "Electrical corporation" does not include an independent solar
energy producer, as defined in Article 3 (commencing with Section
2868) of Chapter 9 of Part 2.
(f) The amendments made to this section at the 1987 portion of the
1987-88 Regular Session of the Legislature do not apply to any
corporation or person employing cogeneration technology or producing
power from other than a conventional power source for the generation
of electricity that physically produced electricity prior to January
1, 1989, and furnished that electricity to immediately adjacent real
property for use thereon prior to January 1, 1989.
(g) A corporation or person engaged directly or indirectly in
developing, producing, delivering, participating in, or selling
interests in, a community facility pursuant to Chapter 7.5
(commencing with Section 2830) of Part 2, is not an electrical
corporation within the meaning of this section solely by reason of
engaging in any of those activities.
SEC. 3. 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. 4. Chapter 7.5 (commencing with Section 2830)
of Part 2 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code
is repealed.
SEC. 5. Chapter 7.5 (commencing with Section 2830)
is added to Part 2 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities
Code , to read:
CHAPTER 7.5. COMMUNITY-BASED RENEWABLE ENERGY SELF-GENERATION
PROGRAM
2830. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Despite the fact that all California utility customers fund
current self-generation programs, residential and commercial renters,
small businesses, public entities, and low-and moderate-income
Californians usually do not have the ability to participate fully in
current self-generation programs. The purpose of this chapter is to
provide all Californians with the opportunity to self-generate clean,
renewable power through the Community-Based Renewable Energy
Self-Generation Program. It is in the public interest to promote
broader participation in renewable self-generation by California
residents, public agencies, and businesses by the development of
community renewable energy facilities in which participants are
entitled to generate and receive renewable power through an
over-the-fence transaction.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that public schools have
the authority to invest in renewable power as provided in this
chapter. Energy usage is one of the most significant cost pressures
facing public schools at a time when schools have been forced to cut
essential programs, increase classroom sizes, and send pink slips to
teachers throughout the state. Schools may use the savings for
restoring funds for salaries, student achievement, facility
maintenance, and other budgetary needs. The energy projects that will
go forward under this chapter would create new green construction
jobs, stimulate the economy, generate funding, and provide more clean
renewable power to customers.
(c) Community-based renewable power will contribute to the
achievement of the 33 percent renewables portfolio standard in a
cost-effective manner and will assist in meeting the state's zero net
energy buildings goals. This chapter provides job creation,
environmental protection, and school funding for those who choose to
make the investment in community-based renewable energy
self-generation facilities.
2831. As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Benefiting account" means one or more accounts designated to
receive a bill credit pursuant to Section 2832.
(b) "Bill credit" means an amount of money credited to one or more
benefiting accounts based on the percentage share of the community
facility that is assigned to the account.
(c) "Community facility" means a renewable energy facility that
meets all of the following requirements:
(1) Has a generating capacity of no more than 20 megawatts.
(2) Is an eligible renewable energy resource, as defined in
Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Part 1.
(3) The electrical output of the facility is measured by a
production meter capable of recording production in real time.
(4) Sells subscriptions to the electrical output of the facility.
(5) Is located in California.
(d) "Electrical utility" means an electrical corporation, as
defined in Section 218.
(e) "Local government" means a city, county, city and county,
special district, school district, political subdivision, or other
local governmental entity.
(f) "Subscriber" means a retail customer of an electric utility
who owns a subscription and who has designated one or more benefiting
accounts to which the subscription shall be attributed, including a
local government, the California Community Colleges, the California
State University, and the University of California.
(g) "Subscriber organization" means any for-profit or nonprofit
organization or business, created and operating pursuant to law,
whose purpose is to beneficially own or operate a community facility
for the subscribers to the community facility.
(h) "Subscription" means an interest in a community facility.
2832. (a) (1) A retail customer of an electrical utility may
purchase a subscription in a community facility for the purpose of
receiving a bill credit to offset all or a portion of the customer's
electricity usage. The subscriber shall designate one or more
benefiting accounts to which the subscription shall be attributed.
(2) To be eligible to be designated as a benefiting account, the
account shall be for service to premises located within the
geographical boundaries of the service territory of the electrical
utility containing the community facility, or within the geographical
boundaries of a contiguous service territory, if the electrical
utility and the utility for that service territory have entered into
an agreement enabling the connection of the benefiting account to the
community facility.
(3) The benefiting account shall be metered on a time-of-use
tariff.
(b) (1) For community facilities that are interconnected at the
transmission level, the bill credit shall be calculated based upon
the time-of-use electricity generation component of the electricity
usage charge of the benefiting account, multiplied by the quantity of
electricity generated by the community facility that is assigned to
the benefiting account pursuant to this section.
(2) For community facilities that are interconnected at the
distribution level, the bill credit shall be calculated based upon
the time-of-use electricity generation and transmission component of
the electricity usage charge of the benefiting account, multiplied by
the quantity of electricity generated by the community facility that
is assigned to the benefiting account pursuant to this section.
(c) (1) Each subscription shall be sized to represent at least one
kilowatt of the community facility's generating capacity.
(2) A subscriber shall not purchase more than 2 megawatts of
capacity in any single community facility. This subdivision does not
apply to a local government.
(3) A subscriber organization may beneficially own or operate a
community facility for the subscribers to the community facility. A
community facility may be built, owned, or operated by a third party
under contract with a subscriber organization.
(4) Prior to a sale of a subscription, the subscriber organization
shall provide a disclosure to the customer that, at a minimum,
includes all of the following:
(A) A good faith estimate of the annual kilowatthours to be
delivered by the community facility based on the size of the
subscription.
(B) A plain language explanation of the terms under which the bill
credits will be calculated.
(C) A plain language explanation of the contract provisions
regulating the disposition or transfer of the subscription.
(5) The commission shall not regulate the prices paid for the
shares of a community facility.
(d) Local governments may aggregate their loads for the purpose of
participating in a community facility pursuant to this section.
(e) (1) A subscriber organization shall provide to the electrical
utility information on the identity of the benefiting accounts that
will receive a bill credit pursuant to this section not less then 30
days prior to the commencement of the operations of the community
facility.
(2) For a local government that elects to aggregate its loads for
the purpose of purchasing a subscription, if the local government has
more than one benefiting account the owner or operator of the
facility shall designate the specific accounts and percentage
allocations to which the bill credit shall apply.
(3) A subscriber organization shall be responsible for all costs
of metering and shall retain production data for a period of 36
months. The subscriber organization shall provide real-time meter
data to the electrical utility and shall make the data available to
the subscribers upon request.
(f) (1) Not more frequently than once per month, and upon
providing the electrical utility with a minimum of 30 days, notice,
the subscriber organization may change, add, or remove a benefiting
account. If the owner of a benefiting account transfers service to a
new benefiting account, the electrical utility shall transfer any
credit remaining from the previous account to the new account.
(2) A subscriber organization shall be responsible for providing
the electrical utility, on a monthly basis, the percentage shares to
be used to determine the bill credit to each benefiting account.
(g) (1) An electrical utility shall bill a benefiting account 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. Community
facilities shall not be subject to any other departing load charge.
(2) An electrical utility shall subtract the bill credit
applicable to the benefiting account. The generation component
credited to the benefiting account shall 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
utility shall ensure that the subscriber receives the full bill
credit to which it is entitled.
(3) If during the billing cycle the electricity usage charge
exceeds the bill credit, the benefiting account shall be billed for
the difference.
(4) If during the billing cycle the bill credit exceeds 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 and the credit are
determined for the last billing cycle of a 12-month period, the
electrical utility shall apply the net surplus electricity attributed
to the benefiting account as a bill credit for kilowatthours
subsequently supplied by the electrical utility to the subscribers,
if the electricity generated by the community facility during the
12-month period exceeds the electricity supplied by the electrical
utility during that same period.
(h) A subscriber organization shall provide not less than 120
days, notice to the electrical utility prior to the date the
community facility becomes operational.
(i) If a subscriber sells or cancels its interest in, or contract
with the owner or operator of, the community facility, or sells the
electricity generated by the community facility in a manner that is
not authorized by this section, upon the date of that event, no
further bill credit may be earned pursuant to this section, and only
credit earned prior to that date may be assigned by the subscriber
organization to a new benefiting account.
(j) The electrical utility shall own the renewable energy credits
generated by a community facility. The electricity generated by
community facilities shall be taken into account in determining
whether the electrical utility has met its renewables portfolio
requirements under Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of
Part 1.
(k) This section does not require an electrical utility to
purchase electricity from a community facility.
(l) An electrical utility shall ensure that requests for
establishment of bill credits and changes to benefiting accounts are
processed in a time period not to exceed 30 days from the date it
receives the request.
(m) (1) A community facility may elect to provide energy only or
energy and capacity. An electrical utility shall ensure that a
request for a distribution level interconnection agreement from a
community facility is processed in a time period not to exceed 90
working days from the date the electrical utility receives a
completed application for interconnection.
(2) All costs associated with interconnection are the
responsibility of the owner or operator of the community facility.
The community facility shall apply for transmission level
interconnections through the Independent System Operator's generation
interconnection process.
(n) An electrical utility shall cooperate fully with community
facilities to implement this section.
(o) An electrical utility shall comply with the requirements
applicable to commercial speech described in Public Utilities
Commission Decision 10-05-050 as applied to the development, sale of
subscriptions, and operation of community facilities. Community
facilities may file a complaint with the commission for violation of
this subdivision.
SEC. 6. 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.
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation to stimulate the development of eligible
renewable energy resources, as defined in Article 16 (commencing with
Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public
Utilities Code, by allowing local governments, businesses,
residents, and schools to invest in cost-effective, clean, and
renewable energy and to create local jobs.