BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 628 (Gorell) - Energy management plans for harbor and port
districts.
Amended: July 10, 2013 Policy Vote: EU&C 9-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 12, 2013 Consultant:
Marie Liu
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 628 would provide a framework for a harbor and
port district (district) develop an energy management plan, in
collaboration with an electrical or gas corporation, in order to
reduce air emissions and promote economic development of the
district.
Fiscal Impact: >
Unknown
Background: Existing law requires the California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC) to authorize investor-owned
utilities (IOUs) to engage in economic development programs.
The Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (I-Bank)
supports economic development through its authority to issue
bonds, make loans, and provide credit enhancements. I-Bank
issues tax-exempt private activity industrial development
conduit bonds, where a manufacturer that meets minimum credit
standards applies to the I-Bank to issue bonds on its behalf,
among other forms of financial assistance. I-Bank much receive
an allocation under the state's cap to issue tax-exempt private
activity bonds, set in federal law, as well as comply with
federal law's limit on eligible uses. The I-Bank is within the
Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (Go Biz)
The California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation
Financing Authority (CAEATFA) provides financing through conduit
or revenue bonds, loan guarantees, loan loss reserves, and a
sales and use tax exemption for facilities that use alternative
energy sources and technologies and advanced manufacturing.
AB 628 (Gorell)
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CAEATFA's board is composed of the Treasurer, Controller,
Director of Finance, Chairperson of the Energy Commission, and
President of the CPUC. CAEATFA is bound by state and federal law
regarding tax-exempt private activity bonds, similar to the
I-Bank.
The California Maritime Infrastructure Bank and Authority
(CMIBA) is a joint powers agency that was formed for the purpose
of establishing an infrastructure fund for pooled financing of
port or harbor infrastructure. The CMIBA can make loans,
purchase bonds, enhance the credit of an agency for the purpose
of financing port or harbor infrastructure.
Proposed Law: This bill would provide a framework for a district
to collaborate with a utility to develop an energy management
plan to assist with air emission reductions and economic
development. At a minimum, the energy management plan would be
required to include elements including an assessment of current
energy consumption, an electric or natural gas load forecast,
consideration of the potential role of distributed generation,
an assessment of technologies that reduce energy consumption,
and proposed actions to achieve 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, 10-year,
and 15-year objectivities for implementing the plan. The plan
must also include proposed methods to fund the activities
included in the plan, including funding from CAEATFA, the
I-Bank, and the CMIBA.
The CPUC would be required to encourage utilities to participate
with local agencies in developing and implementing energy
management plans for energy management areas. The CPUC would
also be authorized to offer technical assistance in the
preparation of the energy management plan.
This bill would explicitly make a project to promote economic
development in harbor and port districts, which implements an
energy management plan, eligible for funding from the I-Bank.
Related Legislation: AB 1079 (Bradford) would provide a very
similar framework for an energy management plan prepared for an
energy management area. AB 1079 will also be heard by the Senate
Appropriations Committee on August 12, 2013.
Staff Comments: This bill explicitly makes eligible projects
consistent with the energy management plan eligible for funding
AB 628 (Gorell)
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from the I-Bank. However, the I-Bank is already authorized to
issue bonds for financing economic development projects.
Under this bill, the energy management plan must include a
proposal on how the projects under the plan will be funded and
requires the plan to include funding from the I-Bank, CAEATFA,
and the CMIBA for financial support. The author did not intend
to require that the plan include applications for funding from
these state agencies and proposes an amendment to strike
reference to the I-Bank, CAEATFA, and the CMIBA. These
amendments remove any cost pressures resulting from increased
applications to these programs. Staff notes that projects
consistent with the energy management plans are already eligible
for I-Bank, CAEATFA, and CMIBA under existing law.
To the extent that energy management plans are developed by
districts, the plans might result in additional information that
would need to be considered by the CPUC in future proceedings on
issues such as energy-efficiency, demand response, or
distributed generation portfolio. This additional data for the
CPUC's consideration may result in up to 0.5 of a Public
Utilities Regulatory Analyst III at an annual cost of
approximately $50,000 from the Public Utilities Commission
Utilities Reimbursement Account.
Proposed Author Amendments:
1. Delete Section 2 - page 3, line 13 through 21
inclusively
2. On page 5, beginning on line 26, amend section
25990(c)(8) as follows:
(8) Proposed methods to fund the activities included in the
plan, which may include including funding through utility
ratepayer-funded programs and financing through the California
Infrastructure and Economic Developmental Bank established
pursuant Division 1 (commencing with Section 63000) of Title 6.7
of the Government Code, the California Alternative Energy and
Advanced Transportation Financing Authority Act (Division 16
(commencing with Section 26000)), or the California Maritime
Infrastructure Bank and Authority funded pursuant to Part 1
(commencing with Section 1690) of Division 6 of the Harbors and
Navigation Code, bond measures offered by a port , or other
appropriate sources . .
3. On page 6, on lines 20-22, delete "district and shall
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consider applying to the California Infrastructure and
Economic Development Bank for financial support of these
projects." and insert "district."