BILL NUMBER: AB 2649 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 12, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 6, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 21, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Mullin, V. Manuel Pérez, and Gorell
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Allen, Atkins, Maienschein, Skinner,
Ting, Wieckowski, and Williams)
(Coauthors: Senators Block, Correa, DeSaulnier, Fuller, Hill,
Roth, and Vidak)
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to add Article 9.5 (commencing with Section 389) to Chapter
2.3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, relating
to public utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2649, as amended, Mullin. Public utilities: federal facilities:
electrical charges.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations,
as defined. Existing law relative to restructuring of the electrical
services industry requires the commission to establish an effective
mechanism that ensures the recovery of certain uneconomic costs for
generation-related assets and obligations incurred by electrical
corporations in the transition to the restructured market
(competition transition charges) and other specified nonbypassable
charges. Existing law requires the commission to approve and
establish standby charges and to review and adjust the standby
charges to encourage the utilization of electricity generated from
other than conventional power sources.
This bill would require the commission, on or before April 1,
2015, to require an electrical corporation to calculate the standby
charges for military bases and facilities and privatized military
housing, as specified. The bill would require the commission to
require the electrical corporations to implement the above provision
through advice letters submitted before April 1, 2015. The bill would
require, for a facility with an independent generation
facility, that certain costs be applied based on the amount of
electricity purchased by the facility from an electrical corporation
or alternative supplier of electricity that delivers electricity
through the distribution system of an electrical corporation.
require that activities undertaken on facility
premises that reduce demand for an electrical corporation's supplied
electricity not be subject to specified charges that would increase
th e facilities' costs beyond those of other customers
within the rate class to which the facilities would be assigned if
those activities were not undertaken.
Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an
order or direction of the commission is a crime.
This bill would be part of the act and an order or other action of
the commission would be required to implement the bill. Because a
violation of this bill or an order or other action of the commission
implementing those provisions would be a crime, this bill would
thereby impose a state-mandated local program by creating new crimes
and by expanding the definition of existing crimes.
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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 9.5 (commencing with Section 389) is added to
Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
Article 9.5. Federal Facilities
389. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The United States Department of Defense provides national
defense and global security that benefits Californians and California'
s economy.
(b) The United States Department of Defense facilities located in
California provide more than seventy billion dollars
($70,000,000,000) in direct spending and 300,000 jobs in California.
(c) The United States Department of Defense is working to achieve
energy efficiency and renewable energy goals to meet both
presidential and departmental directives.
(d) The amount of electricity that the United States Department of
Defense facilities located in California seek to generate on their
own premises will serve their own electricity needs and will not
export electricity.
(e) Military bases approximate small cities in electrical load,
diversity of land uses, and size.
(f) Given the crucial contribution of our military, California
should assist military facilities in California in achieving their
energy independence goals.
(g) The military owns and maintains its electric distribution
system. Generation serving the military's own electricity load
without export should not require upgrades to this distribution
system. Even if upgrades are necessary, the military, not the
ratepayers, will bear these costs.
(h) At the request of the Governor and the electrical
corporations, military bases have historically demonstrated their
commitment and ability to provide demand reduction management at
times of grid emergencies.
(i) Development of additional energy facilities on military bases
and military family housing will create opportunities for jobs for
veterans at a time when many California service members are
reentering the workforce and can provide skilled workers. Established
programs, such as "Helmets to Hardhats," also provide valuable and
needed transition from the battlefield to the civilian community.
389.3. (a) For the purposes of this article, the following shall
apply:
(1) "Facilities" means either of the following:
(A) Military bases and facilities.
(B) Privatized military housing.
(2) "Independent generation facility" means an electrical
generation installation located on a facility that is interconnected
and operated in parallel with an electrical corporation's
distribution system, sized to offset part or all of the facility's
own electrical requirements, and that contains equipment to prevent
the export of electricity to the interconnected electrical
corporation's distribution system.
(3) "Military bases and facilities" mean those establishments
under the jurisdiction of the United States Army, United States Air
Force, United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, or the United
States Coast Guard.
(4) "Privatized military housing" means housing facilities managed
by a private entity for the purpose of providing housing to active
duty service members and their family members that are not
individually metered for purposes of calculating electricity charges
paid to an electrical corporation.
(5) "Standby demand" means the entire reserved capacity needed to
serve the electrical load of a facility that is regularly served by
the facility's independent generation facility when that generation
facility experiences a partial or complete outage.
(b) To the extent authorized by federal law, an operator of an
independent generation facility shall notify the electrical
corporation pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 119085 of the
Health and Safety Code.
(c) Notwithstanding the limitation on the maximum generation
capacity imposed pursuant to Section 2827, an electrical corporation
shall use the expedited interconnection process
specified in subdivision (e) or (j) of Section 2827 and
any commission order or rule implementing that provision for a
facility with an independent generation facility.
(d) For a facility with an independent generation facility, the
costs provided in Sections 330, 366.1, 367, 368, 375, 376, 379.6, and
381 shall be applied based on the amount of electricity purchased
from an electrical corporation or alternative supplier of electricity
that delivers electricity through the distribution system of an
electrical corporation.
(e)
(d) On or before April 1, 2015, and to the extent
authorized by federal law, the commission shall, for a facility, do
both of the following:
(1) (A) Require an electrical corporation to calculate the standby
charge for a facility that is currently subject to a standby charge
based on the facility's standby demand. The standby demand shall be
designated by the facility and remain at that level for a minimum of
12 months unless the electrical corporation determines that the
standby demand needs to be adjusted to meet the actual demand.
(B) Upon an electrical corporation's determination that the
facility's designated standby demand is too low and does not reflect
the actual level of needed reserved capacity, over any 15-minute
period or through onsite verification, the electrical corporation
shall increase the standby demand to reflect the actual needed
reserve capacity.
(C) Upon an electrical corporation's determination that the
facility's designated standby demand is too high, over any 15-minute
period or through onsite verification, the electrical corporation
shall decrease the standby demand to reflect the actual needed
reserve capacity.
(D) If the standby demand is adjusted by the electrical
corporation, another adjustment in the standby demand shall not be
made for 12 months from the adjustment.
adjustment unless there are permanent or material changes to an
independent generation on, or additional wide pendant
generation has been installed at, the facility.
(E) To the extent authorized by federal law, a facility shall
notify the electrical corporation of permanent or material changes in
the size, type, and operations of the facility for future
adjustments to the standby demand.
(2) Require electrical corporations to implement the provisions of
this subdivision through advice letters submitted prior to April 1,
2015.
(f)
(e) Any activities undertaken on a facility's premises
that reduce demand for an electrical corporation's supplied
electricity, such as energy efficiency, load reduction, or
independent generation are not subject to charges assessed on
electricity delivered from the electrical corporation's distribution
system or other charges of any kind that would increase the facility'
s costs beyond those of other customers in the rate class to which
the facility would otherwise be assigned if the independent
generation facility activity was not
installed undertaken at the facility.
389.5. Notwithstanding this article, facilities, at their sole
discretion, may develop eligible energy generation projects
authorized pursuant to Section 2827 or 2827.1 or through an
electrical corporation's Generation Facility Interconnection Rule 21,
as applicable and pursuant to applicable rules and
tariffs.
SEC. 2. 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.