Amended in Senate August 5, 2014

Amended in Senate June 25, 2014

Amended in Assembly May 15, 2014

Amended in Assembly May 6, 2014

Amended in Assembly April 21, 2014

Amended in Assembly March 28, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2137

Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk

February 20, 2014

An act to add Section 12098.9 to the Government Code, and to add Section 323.5 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to energy efficiency.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2137, as amended, Quirk. Energy efficiency programs: information available for small businesses.

Existing law creates the Office of Small Business Advocate within the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Existing law establishes the duties and functions of the advocate, which include advisory participation in the consideration of all legislation and administrative regulations that affect small businesses. Existing law also requires the office to post specified information on its Internet Web site, including information about emergency preparedness, responses, and recovery strategies for small businesses and information regarding programs administered through the statewide network of small business financial development corporations.

This bill would require the office to begin delete develop and maintain end delete begin insert include a link to the Energy Upgrade California Internet Web site end insert on begin insert the homepage of end insert its Internet Web begin delete site a section dedicated to all of the demandside energy management programs that are available to small businesses within the state. end delete begin insert site. end insert

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations, as defined. The Public Utilities Act requires the Public Utilities Commission to review and accept, modify, or reject a procurement plan for each electrical corporation in accordance with specified elements, incentive mechanisms, and objectives. The act requires that an electrical corporation’s proposed procurement plan include certain elements, including a showing that the electrical corporation will first meet its unmet needs through all available energy efficiency and demand reduction resources that are cost effective, reliable, and feasible. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, to identify all potentially achievable cost-effective electricity efficiency savings and to establish efficiency targets for electrical corporations to achieve pursuant to their procurement plan. The Public Utilities Act additionally requires the Public Utilities Commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, to identify all potentially achievable cost-effective natural gas efficiency savings and to establish efficiency targets for gas corporations to achieve and requires that a gas corporation first meet its unmet resource needs through all available gas efficiency and demand reduction resources that are cost effective, reliable, and feasible. Under their existing authorities, the Public Utilities Commission and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, in collaborating with various entities, have developed the Energy Upgrade California program to promote and finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects for homes and businesses, reduce energy use, and help train contractors and building professionals.

This bill would require the Public Utilities Commission to ensure that the Internet Web site for the Energy Upgrade California program be revised to include information related to begin delete demandside end delete begin insert demand-side end insert management programs for small business customers.

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.  

The Legislature finds and declares all the
following:

(a) Helping small businesses better manage their energy use
can help California reduce energy consumption and thereby help
in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases throughout the state.

(b) Small businesses are the backbone of California’s economic
prosperity.

(c) Maximizing the demandside energy management programs
the state, electrical corporations, gas corporations, and local
publicly owned electric and gas utilities offer can help small
businesses become more productive and assist in reducing electrical
demand during peak demand periods.

(d) To better serve the public, and to benefit the state, the state
shall promote and facilitate the fullest possible participation of
small businesses to benefit from demandside energy management
programs run by the state, as well as any programs of an electrical
corporation, gas corporation, or local publicly owned electric or
gas utility.

SEC. 2.  

Section 12098.9 is added to the Government Code, to
read:

begin delete

12098.9.  

(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms
have the following meanings:

(1) “Demandside energy management programs” mean all
energy efficiency, demandside response, clean distributed
generation, energy conservation, energy savings, or weatherization
programs of the state or a local government, electrical corporations,
gas corporations, or a local publicly owned electric or gas utility.

(2) “Electrical corporation,” “gas corporation,” and “local
publicly owned electric utility” have the same meanings as
respectively defined in Sections 218, 222, and 224.3 of the Public
Utilities Code. “Local publicly owned gas utility” includes the gas
departments of the City of Long Beach and the City of Palo Alto.

(3) “Small business” has the same meaning as defined in Section
14837.

(b) 

end delete

begin insert

begin insert 12098.9. end insert   

end insert

In order to educate small business owners of the
availability of various programs promoting the efficient use of
energy, the office shall begin delete develop and maintain on its Internet Web
site a section dedicated to all of the demandside energy
management programs that are available to small businesses within
the state. The office shall consult with the Public Utilities
Commission, the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission, and local publicly owned electric and
gas utilities in developing the information to include on end delete begin insert include a
link to the Energy Upgrade California Internet Web site on the
homepage of end insert its Internet Web site.

SEC. 3.  

Section 323.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:

323.5.  

(a) For the purposes of this section, begin delete “demandside energy
management programs” and “small business” have the same
meanings as set forth in Section 12098.9 of the Government Code. end delete
begin insert the following terms have the following meanings: end insert

begin insert

(1) “Demand-side energy management programs” mean all
energy efficiency, demand-side response, clean distributed
generation, energy conservation, energy savings, or weatherization
programs of the state or a local government, electrical
corporations, gas corporations, or a local publicly owned electric
or gas utility.

end insert begin insert

(2) “Small business” has the same meaning as defined in Section
14837 of the Government Code.

end insert

(b) The commission shall ensure that the Internet Web site for
the Energy Upgrade California program be revised to include
information related to begin delete demandside end delete begin insert demand-side end insert energy
management programs for small business customers.