BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2581|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2581
Author: Bradford (D)
Amended: 8/19/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, UTIL. & COMMUNIC. COMM. : 7-3, 6/23/14
AYES: Padilla, Fuller, Cannella, De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Hill,
Knight
NOES: Corbett, Pavley, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 5/29/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Energy: appliance standards: public domain
computer program: home-energy rating
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill makes various changes to the requirements
regarding appliance standards, modeling of building energy
efficiencies, and modeling of predicted energy efficiency
savings.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
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1.Requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to adopt
regulatory standards for minimum levels of operating
efficiency for energy and water intensive appliances. The
regulations cannot result in any added total costs for
consumers over the designed life of the regulated appliances.
2.Authorizes the CEC to prescribe other cost-effective measures
to promote use of energy and water efficient appliances,
including energy consumption labeling not preempted by federal
labeling law.
3.Requires any appliance manufacturer doing business in
California to submit information to the CEC so it can study
the effects of efficiency regulations on sales of appliances,
and makes this manufacturer information confidential and not a
public record.
4.Prohibits the CEC from increasing or decreasing any minimum
efficiency appliance standard for five years after its
adoption unless another cost-effective measure for that
appliance is adopted.
5.Requires the CEC to certify compliance options for new
products, materials, and calculation methods in order to meet
the energy efficiency standards.
6.Requires the CEC to continuously carry out studies, technical
assessments, research projects, and data collection directed
to reducing wasteful, inefficient, unnecessary, or uneconomic
uses of energy, including improved appliance efficiency.
7.Requires the CEC to develop a public domain computer program
to estimate energy consumed by residential and nonresidential
buildings.
This bill has three main parts:
1.Appliance Standards
A. Requires that the CEC consider the most current data
available and consider data no older than one year prior to
the commencement of a rulemaking proceeding when adopting
or amending an appliance standard. Requires the CEC
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explain in the final statement of reasons how it considered
this data.
B. Allows a manufacturer to use electronic labeling, as
appropriate, to satisfy any labeling requirement prescribed
by the CEC.
C. Allows the CEC to consider voluntary agreements in its
planning and when developing regulations.
D. Requires the CEC to consider adopting a process to
repeal or suspend enforcement, of an efficiency standard
that is duplicative or inconsistent with federal or state
law.
1.Public Domain Computer Program (program)
A. Requires that the program be available at least six
months prior to the effective date of adopted or updated
building energy efficiency standards. Prior to the CEC's
approval of the program, the CEC will be required to
perform preliminary tests using common examples of
residential and nonresidential buildings to ensure
usability. The results of the preliminary tests will be
required to be publically available.
1.Home Energy Rating Program for residential buildings
A. Requires that the CEC routinely adjust any energy
assessment tools used by the CEC for existing single-family
residential dwellings and multifamily residential dwellings
with up to four units. The CEC will also be required to
notify customers of the assumptions used in creating the
energy assessment tools.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
One-time costs of $150,000 then ongoing costs of $75,000 from
the Energy Resources Programs Account (General) to allow
electronic labeling.
Ongoing costs of approximately $1 million for staff and
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contracts from the Energy Resources Programs Account (General)
to continuously improve modeling accuracy of energy assessment
tools.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/25/14)
California Building Industry Association
California Cable & Telecommunications Association
Consumer Electronics Association
Information Technology Industry Council
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
TechAmerica
TechNet
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/25/14)
California Energy Efficiency Industry Council
Environment California
Global Green USA
Sierra Club California
US Green Building Council, California
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 5/29/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A.
P�rez, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
JG:e 8/25/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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