BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2581
Page A
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2581 (Bradford)
As Amended April 21, 2014
Majority vote
UTILITIES & COMMERCE 13-0
APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Bradford, Patterson, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Buchanan, Ch�vez, Dahle, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Fong, Beth Gaines, | |Calderon, Campos, |
| |Garcia, Roger Hern�ndez, | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| |Jones, Mullin, Rendon, | |Holden, Jones, Linder, |
| |Skinner | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Makes various changes in statutes related to the
California Energy Commission's (CEC) adoption and use of
appliance and building standards. Specifically, this bill :
1) Adds voluntary agreements to the list of actions CEC may
take to promote water and energy efficient appliances.
2) Requires CEC to rely upon the most current data
available, and when feasible, data that is no older than
one year, prior to commencing an appliance standard
rulemaking.
3) Authorizes CEC to repeal a standard that is duplicative
or inconsistent with federal law.
4)Requires CEC to perform preliminary software tests using
examples of common residential and non-residential buildings
before approving a public domain computer program to estimate
energy consumption. Requires CEC to make the results publicly
available.
5)Requires CEC to ensure its computer program that estimates
energy consumption is publicly available at least six months
before the effective date of adopted or updated standards.
AB 2581
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6)Requires CEC to routinely adjust the software to improve
modeling accuracy for use within single-family residential
dwellings and multi-family residential dwellings.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Increased costs to CEC in the $750,000 range for contracts and
staffing associated with new requirements relating to
appliance standards.
2)Increased costs to CEC in the $700,000 range for contracts and
staffing associated with new requirements relating to building
standards.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose: According to the author, the tools approved by CEC to
estimate energy usage are not accurate and consistently
overestimate energy usage. This bill requires CEC to
routinely adjust public domain software that estimates energy
usage and disclose any potential differences between the model
and actual energy use patterns.
The author also asserts that when standards are adopted or
updated, CEC software is not always fully tested and ready to
go. This bill requires testing and approval to be completed
six months before standards go into effect. Finally, this
bill assures the most current data is used when enacting
energy efficiency standards for appliances.
2)An energy efficiency retrofits to existing housing: Energy
Upgrade California.<1> Energy Upgrade California is a
statewide initiative designed to help California meet the
climate action and energy efficiency goals. By offering
financial incentives to homeowners who complete certain
energy-saving home improvements, the program guides
Californians to conserve energy, reduce demand on the
electrical grid, and make informed energy management choices.
Energy Upgrade California is an alliance of the California
Public Utilities Commission (PUC), CEC, utilities, regional
energy networks, local governments, businesses, and
---------------------------
<1> Energy Upgrade California. http://energyupgradeca.org/en/
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nonprofits.
Many organizations (PUC and California Alternative Energy
Transportation and Financing Authority, Property Assessed
Clean Energy Financing programs) offer financing for these
energy upgrades.
The improvements are based on tools that estimate energy usage
and savings.
3)Energy assessments and ratings. An energy assessment examines
energy saving opportunities in a particular building, in order
to define potential upgrades. Ratings are used to compare the
energy efficiency of one building to others based on standard
assumptions of occupant behavior. Both anecdotal evidence and
controlled studies have raised concerns about the accuracy of
energy assessments.<2> A recent report found that modeling
software consistently overestimated the energy use of each
home:<3>
a) Mean modeled total annual use was 40% greater than billed
use.
b) Mean modeled annual kilowatts use was 56-68% greater than
billed use.
c) Mean modeled annual gas use was 39-43% greater than
billed use.
The same study found that estimates prepared by the different
assessment tools yielded results that were significantly
different from each other and overestimated energy use.
The CEC agrees that "simulation results should be calibrated
to actual energy usage to help homeowners understand how their
investment will likely affect their energy use if their
occupant behavior remains the same after improvements are
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<2> National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Assessing and
Improving the Accuracy of Energy Analysis for Residential
Buildings http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy11osti/50865.pdf
<3> 2010-2012 PG&E and SCE Whole House Retrofit Program Process
Evaluation Study.
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installed."<4>
4)Appliance standards. California is a leader in energy
efficiency regulations, setting standards for various
appliances years before the United States Department of
Energy.<5> Since 1976, California law has required that
certain appliances meet efficiency standards; therefore each
appliance must be tested and certified to the state before it
can be sold.<6>
Various studies have found that the CEC has based analyses
related to appliance standards on outdated data. One report
argues that the CEC's 2011 analysis of battery chargers and
self-contained lighting controls was based on outdated data
which overstated product savings and understated the
incremental costs of compliance.<7> Another claimed that
analyses regarding consumer electronics (such as TVs, compact
audio products, DVD players, and more) utilized "outdated
power draw values to develop an energy-consumption baseline
that, in many cases, does not appear to reflect the
performance of typical new devices."<8>
5)Building Standard Compliance Tools. When building energy
efficiency standards are adopted or updated, CEC compliance
tools are not always fully tested and ready to go. This bill
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<4> California Energy Commission. Comprehensive Energy
Efficiency Program For Existing Buildings Scoping Report, August
2012.
http://www.energy.ca.gov/2012publications/CEC-400-2012-015/CEC-40
0-2012-015.pdf
<5>
http://www.energy.ca.gov/appliances/documents/CAEnergyEfficiencyS
tandards.pdf
<6>
http://www.energy.ca.gov/2012publications/CEC-400-2012-FS/CEC-400
-2012-FS-003-En.pdf
<7> Wazzan and Eash. 2011. A Critique of the Regulations on
Battery Charging Systems Proposed by the California Energy
Commission.
https://www.ce.org/CorporateSite/media/Government-Media/Green/201
1-CECreportBatteryChargers.pdf
<8> TIAX. Assessment of Analyses Performed for the California
Energy Efficiency Regulations for Consumer Electronics Products.
http://www.ce.org/CorporateSite/media/Government-Media/Green/2006
-CECreportPower.pdf
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requires testing and approval to be completed six months
before standards go into effect.
Analysis Prepared by : Brandon Gaytan / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083
FN: 0003707