BILL ANALYSIS 1
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SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
DEBRA BOWEN, CHAIRWOMAN
AB 48XX - Wright Hearing
Date: August 29, 2001 A
As Amended: August 28, 2001 FISCAL B
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DESCRIPTION
Current law establishes a grant program to help homeowners and
businesses subsidize the cost of solar energy systems, the major
electrical components of which are required to be listed by a
certified testing agency, such as the Underwriters Laboratory
(UL).
This bill allows the California Energy Commission (CEC) to adopt
specifications for the major electrical components in the
absence of certification by a certified testing laboratory.
This bill authorizes local governments to develop a program to
encourage the construction of buildings that use solar thermal
and photovoltaic systems that are certified by nationally
recognized certification agencies or the CEC. The program shall
recognize owners and builders who participate in the program by
awarding a "Sunny Homes Seal."
This bill requires the California Employment Development
Department (EDD) to administer a solar training and oversight
program. EDD shall provide training and accreditation for new
educators and trainers in the solar energy discipline, including
the science of photovoltaics, the design, installation, and
permitting of solar systems, safety issues, system and component
certification, and state and federal incentive programs.
BACKGROUND
Among its many duties, EDD provides referral to various state
and federal job training services in One-Stop Career Centers
created by the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998.
Local WIA Boards receive federal funds to award training
projects to serve various training needs of economically
disadvantaged, youth, and displaced workers. The Governor has
the authority to award 15% of the federal funds to projects
through the state WIA Board.
EDD's Employment Training Panel (ETP) funds training projects
through a competitive grant process that meets the needs of
employers for skilled workers and the need of workers for good,
long-term jobs. Projects are funded by a .001% Unemployment
Insurance (UI) state tax on private and non-profit employers, in
addition to the employers' UI tax rate (which averages 2.9% of
the first $7,000 of earnings). ETP project training seeks to
improve the economic climate by training new workers and
retraining workers in danger of being laid off as a result of
technological advancements in the workplace, as well as due to
foreign and domestic competition.
While EDD has oversight responsibilities over training grant
recipients to ensure adherence to fiscal and programatic
training requirements, it doesn't establish, administer, or
conduct job training programs.
COMMENTS
1.Certification Issue . SB 1345 (Peace), Chapter 537, Statutes
of 2000, established a grant program for the installation of
solar energy systems. The bill barred a solar energy system
from obtaining a grant from that program if it was also
getting grants from other CEC programs, but an exception was
made for solar electric systems with a certified battery
storage component. Certification helps assure that the solar
energy system is safe, reliable, and functional, however no
major certification entity certifies battery storage systems,
making solar electric systems with battery storage components
ineligible for funding under the bill. This bill rectifies
that problem by allowing for the CEC to specify appropriate
standards in the absence of a certification process by a
certified testing agency. This language has been recommended
by the CEC.
2.Solar Training Program . The proposed solar training program
doesn't identify any existing or potential funding source for
initial start-up costs, training, or certification. More
importantly, while the bill requires EDD to create such a
program, EDD doesn't do direct, occupational-specific training
programs.
One option other than providing a revenue source for EDD to
conduct such a program would be to allow ETP to award solar
training contracts to private and non-profit institutions in
order to advance energy conservation, improve the economic
status of the solar industry by providing well-paid skilled
workers. However, by adding an additional program to the mix
of programs that can be funded out of a finite pot of money,
any solar training program that is funded will mean funding
for existing programs will have to be reduced.
The ETP has come under fire recently for awarding grants to
Sempra and Calpine to train people to work in their power
plants. The author and committee may wish to consider whether
the solar industry should be required to pay to train its own
employees or be able to apply for funds under the general ETP
training program, instead of setting up a new,
industry-specific training program as this bill seeks to do.
3.Sunny, Sunny, Sunny . . . The bill authorizes local
governments to develop a program to encourage the construction
of buildings that use solar thermal and photovoltaic systems
which meet minimum standards of quality by awarding builders
and building owners with a "Sunny Homes Seal." Both
residential and commercial buildings would be eligible to
receive this designation from the local governments.
4.Related Legislation . AB 29X (Kehoe), Chapter 8, Statutes of
2001, expanded net metering for solar electric applications to
more and larger customers and provided $30 million in grants
to subsidize the installation of solar electric applications.
SB 82XX (Murray), which is pending in the Senate
Appropriations Committee, requires solar energy applications
to be installed on all state buildings if practicable,
feasible, and cost-effective.
SB 17XX (Brulte), which is pending in the Assembly Revenue &
Taxation Committee, creates a new state tax credit for solar
energy installations.
AB 549 (Longville), which is pending in the Senate
Appropriations Committee, appropriates $500,000 to the CEC to
develop a plan to reduce wasteful peak load energy
consumption.
AB 1574 (Lowenthal), which is pending in the Senate
Appropriations Committee, permits the CEC to develop and
disseminate measures to enhance energy efficiency for
single-family residential dwellings that were built prior to
the development of the current energy efficiency standards.
ASSEMBLY VOTES
Assembly Floor (78-0)*
* Prior version of the bill.
POSITIONS
Sponsor:
Author
Support:
None on file
Oppose:
None on file
Randy Chinn
AB 48XX Analysis
Hearing Date: August 29, 2001