Amended in Assembly August 22, 2014

Amended in Assembly June 9, 2014

Amended in Senate April 8, 2013

Amended in Senate March 13, 2013

Senate Bill No. 115

Introduced by Senator Hill

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(Coauthor: Senator Block)

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(Coauthor: Assembly Member Mullin)

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January 16, 2013

An act to amend Section begin delete 25711.5 of the Public Resources Code, relating to energy. end delete begin insert 1759 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to the Public Utilities Commission. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 115, as amended, Hill. begin delete Electric Program Investment Charge Fund. end delete begin insert Public Utilities Commission: Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act: judicial review. end insert

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The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities Commission, with jurisdiction over all public utilities. The California Constitution grants the commission certain general powers over all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature, and authorizes the Legislature, unlimited by the other provisions of the Constitution, to confer additional authority and jurisdiction upon the commission that is cognate and germane to the regulation of public utilities, and to establish the manner and scope of review of commission action in a court of record. Existing law provides that only the Supreme Court and the court of appeal have jurisdiction to review, reverse, correct, or annul any order or decision of the commission or to suspend or delay the execution or operation thereof, or to enjoin, restrain, or interfere with the commission in the performance of its official duties.

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This bill would authorize an action to enforce the requirements of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act to be brought against the commission in the superior court.

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Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. The Reliable Electric Service Investments Act required the commission to require the state’s 3 largest electrical corporations, until January 1, 2012, to identify a separate electrical rate component, commonly referred to as the public goods charge, to collect specified amounts to fund energy efficiency, renewable energy, and research, development, and demonstration programs that enhance system reliability and provide in-state benefits. Existing decisions of the commission institute an Electric Program Investment Charge, referred to as EPIC, to fund research, development, and demonstration programs.

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Existing law creates in the State Treasury the Electric Program Investment Charge Fund to be administered by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and requires moneys received by the Public Utilities Commission for those programs the Public Utilities Commission has determined should be administered by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to be forwarded by the Public Utilities Commission to the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission at least quarterly for deposit in the fund. Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, in administering moneys in the fund for research, development, and demonstration programs, to develop and administer the EPIC program for the purpose of awarding funds to projects that will benefit ratepayers and lead to technological advancement and breakthroughs to overcome the barriers that prevent the achievement of the state’s statutory energy goals and that result in a portfolio of projects that is strategically focused and sufficiently narrow to make advancement on the most significant technological challenges, including: (1) energy storage, (2) renewable energy resources and their integration into the grid, (3) energy efficiency, (4) integration of electric vehicles into the electrical grid, and (5) accurately forecasting the availability of renewable energy resources for integration into the electrical grid. Existing law provides that the chapter creating the fund does not authorize the levy of a charge or any increase in the amount collected pursuant to any existing charge, nor add to or detract from, any existing authority of the Public Utilities Commission to levy or increase charges.

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This bill would require the portfolio of projects funded through the EPIC program to additionally include projects pertaining to safety of the electrical grid.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete yes end delete begin insert no end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

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(a) On June 3, 2014, California’s Fourth District Court of
Appeal, in Disenhouse v. Peevey (2014) 226 Cal.App.4th 1096,
held that an interested person desiring to enforce the Bagley-Keene
Open Meeting Act against the Public Utilities Commission must
do so by filing a petition for writ of mandamus in the Supreme
Court or the Court of Appeal and may not do so by filing an action
for injunctive relief in the superior court.

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(b) The intent of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act is that
actions of state agencies be taken openly and that their deliberation
be conducted openly.

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(c) The people’s right to remain informed so that they may retain
control over the instruments of government that they have created
is not less of a right for some agencies than for other agencies,
nor shall the people’s ability to enforce the Bagley-Keene Open
Meeting Act be more hampered for some agencies than for other
agencies.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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begin insert Section 1759 of the end insert begin insert Public Utilities Code end insert begin insert is amended
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1759.  

(a) No court of this state, except the Supreme Court and
the court of appeal, to the extent specified in this article, shall have
jurisdiction to review, reverse, correct, or annul any order or
decision of the commission or to suspend or delay the execution
or operation thereof, or to enjoin, restrain, or interfere with the
commission in the performance of its official duties, as provided
by law and the rules of court.

(b) The writ of mandamus shall lie from the Supreme Court and
from the court of appeal to the commission in all proper cases as
prescribed in Section 1085 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

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(c) This section does not apply to an action brought against the
commission to enforce the requirements of the Bagley-Keene Open
Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of
Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code), which action may be brought in the superior court.

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SECTION 1.  

Section 25711.5 of the Public Resources Code
is amended to read:

25711.5.  

In administering moneys in the fund for research,
development, and demonstration programs under this chapter, the
commission shall develop and implement the Electric Program
Investment Charge (EPIC) program to do all of the following:

(a) Award funds for projects that will benefit electricity
ratepayers and lead to technological advancement and
breakthroughs to overcome the barriers that prevent the
achievement of the state’s statutory energy goals and that result
in a portfolio of projects that is strategically focused and
sufficiently narrow to make advancement on the most significant
technological challenges that shall include, but not be limited to,
safety of the electrical grid, energy storage, renewable energy and
its integration into the electrical grid, energy efficiency, integration
of electric vehicles into the electrical grid, and accurately
forecasting the availability of renewable energy for integration
into the grid.

(b) In consultation with the Treasurer, establish terms that shall
be imposed as a condition to receipt of funding for the state to
accrue any intellectual property interest or royalties that may derive
from projects funded by the EPIC program. The commission, when
determining if imposition of the proposed terms is appropriate,
shall balance the potential benefit to the state from those terms
and the effect those terms may have on the state achieving its
statutory energy goals. The commission shall require each reward
recipient, as a condition of receiving moneys pursuant to this
chapter, to agree to any terms the commission determines are
appropriate for the state to accrue any intellectual property interest
or royalties that may derive from projects funded by the EPIC
program.

(c) Require each applicant to report how the proposed project
may lead to technological advancement and potential breakthroughs
to overcome barriers to achieving the state’s statutory energy goals.

(d) Establish a process for tracking the progress and outcomes
of each funded project, including an accounting of the amount of
funds spent by program administrators and individual grant
recipients on administrative and overhead costs and whether the
project resulted in any technological advancement or breakthrough
to overcome barriers to achieving the state’s statutory energy goals.

(e) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code,
prepare and submit to the Legislature no later than April 30 of
each year an annual report in compliance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code that shall include all of the following:

(1) A brief description of each project for which funding was
awarded in the immediately prior calendar year, including the
name of the recipient and the amount of the award, a description
of how the project is thought to lead to technological advancement
or breakthroughs to overcome barriers to achieving the state’s
statutory energy goals, and a description of why the project was
selected.

(2) A brief description of each project funded by the EPIC
program that was completed in the immediately prior calendar
year, including the name of the recipient, the amount of the award,
and the outcomes of the funded project.

(3) A brief description of each project funded by the EPIC
program for which an award was made in the previous years but
that is not completed, including the name of the recipient and the
amount of the award, and a description of how the project will
lead to technological advancement or breakthroughs to overcome
barriers to achieving the state’s statutory energy goals.

(4) Identification of the award recipients that are
California-based entities, small businesses, or businesses owned
by women, minorities, or disabled veterans.

(5) Identification of which awards were made through a
competitive bid, interagency agreement, or sole source method,
and the action of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee pursuant
to paragraph (2) of subdivision (g) for each award made through
an interagency agreement or sole source method.

(6) Identification of the total amount of administrative and
overhead costs incurred for each project.

(f) Establish requirements to minimize program administration
and overhead costs, including costs incurred by program
administrators and individual grant recipients. Each program
administrator and grant recipient, including a public entity, shall
be required to justify actual administration and overhead costs
incurred, even if the total costs incurred do not exceed a cap on
those costs that the commission may adopt.

(g) (1) The commission shall use a sealed competitive bid as
the preferred method to solicit project applications and award funds
pursuant to the EPIC program.

(2) (A) The commission may use a sole source or interagency
agreement method if the project cannot be described with sufficient
specificity so that bids can be evaluated against specifications and
criteria set forth in a solicitation for bid and if both of the following
conditions are met:

(i) The commission, at least 60 days prior to making an award
pursuant to this subdivision, notifies the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee and the relevant policy committees in both houses of
the Legislature, in writing, of its intent to take the proposed action.

(ii) The Joint Legislative Budget Committee either approves or
does not disapprove the proposed action within 60 days from the
date of notification required by clause (i).

(B) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact this paragraph to
ensure legislative oversight for awards made on a sole source basis,
or through an interagency agreement.

(3) Notwithstanding any other law, standard terms and
conditions that generally apply to contracts between the
commission and any entities, including state entities, do not
automatically preclude the award of moneys from the fund through
the sealed competitive bid method.

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