BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2761
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2761 (Committee on Utilities and Commerce)
As Amended August 4, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |75-0 |(May 8, 2014) |SENATE: |34-0 |(August 7, |
| | | | | |2014) |
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Original Committee Reference: U. & C.
SUMMARY : Requires the California Public Utilities Commission
(PUC) to submit annual reports related to renewable energy to
the policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by May 1,
instead of the current February 1 deadline. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Applies to the submission of the report mandated by Public
Utilities Code Section 910, related to the fiscal impact of
renewable energy programs on electrical corporations.
2)Applies to the submission of the report mandated by Public
Utilities Code Section 911, related to the costs of all
electricity procurement contracts for eligible renewable
energy resources, including unbundled renewable energy
credits, and all costs for utility-owned generation approved
by the commission.
The Senate amendments :
1)Extend the deadline for the PUC to submit the Public Utilities
Code Section 910 report to the Legislature from the previously
proposed April 1 date to May 1.
2)Make nonsubstantive clarifying revisions to the Public
Utilities Code Section 910 reporting requirement.
3)Extend the deadline for the PUC to release to the Legislature
its annual report mandated by the Public Utilities Code
Section 911 (related to the costs of electricity procurement
contracts for eligible renewable energy resources, including
unbundled renewable energy credits, and all costs for
utility-owned generation approved by the commission) to May 1,
instead of the current February 1 deadline.
AB 2761
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FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)The Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). California's RPS is
one of the most ambitious renewable energy standards in the
nation. The RPS was established in 2002 under SB 1078 (Sher),
Chapter 516, Statutes of 2002, accelerated in 2006 under SB
107 (Simitian), Chapter 464, Statutes of 2006, and expanded in
2011 under SB 2 X1 (Simitian), Chapter 1, Statutes of 2011-12
First Extraordinary Session. Currently, the RPS requires
investor-owned utilities (IOUs), electric service providers,
and community choice aggregators to increase their procurement
of eligible renewable energy resources to 33% of total
procurement by 2020. SB 2 X1 mandated new RPS procurement
requirements within multi-year compliance periods to reach the
33% goal.
2)The Public Utilities Code Section 910 RPS report. By February
1 of each year, the PUC must submit a written report to the
policy and fiscal committees on RPS procurement to the
Legislature, including the following:
a) Direct and indirect costs and costs avoided (savings)
with the RPS and distributed generation programs.
b) All PUC decisions related to recovery in rates of costs.
c) Changes in retail sales.
d) Qualitative and quantitative information on the IOU's
diversity goals in relation to its workforce directly
involved in the RPS implementation.
3)The Public Utilities Code Section 911 RPS report. By February
1 of each year, the PUC must release to the Legislature a
report containing the costs of all electricity procurement
contracts for eligible renewable energy resources, including
unbundled renewable energy credits, and all costs for
utility-owned generation approved by the commission.
4)Need for submission date changes. Each year's Public
Utilities Code Section 910 report must contain the previous
year's data, which are not complete or verifiable until April
AB 2761
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18 of the subsequent year (the end of the first quarter).
This is when electrical corporations file Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission Form 1, containing their annual
wholesale procurement expenditures, retail sales, and
additional information.
By extending the required date of submission, it will better
position the PUC to use actual rather than forecasted data in
its Public Utilities Code Section 910 report to the
Legislature. The ultimate result could conceivably be a more
comprehensive and useful report.
For consistency, an extension to the Public Utilities Code
Section 911 report submission deadline is proposed to match
that of the Public Utilities Code Section 910 report.
Analysis Prepared by : Brandon Gaytan / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083
FN: 0004372