BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 48XX
Author: Wright (D)
Amended: 9/5/01 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 9-0, 8/29/01
AYES: Bowen, Morrow, Alarcon, Battin, Dunn, Murray,
Poochigian, Sher, Vincent
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 9/10/01
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/31/01 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Energy conservation
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill enacts the Solar Training, Education
and Certification Act of 2001.
ANALYSIS : 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.
CONTINUED
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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 Employment Development Department
(EDD), in coordination with the Contractors' State License
Board and the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, to
administer s solar training program, with specified program
elements, to ensure that solar energy products and service
providers have and maintain the necessary skills, training,
and certification.
The bill provides that the solar training program shall be
funded by available job training funds in existence on the
effective date of the bill.
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 percent 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 percent Unemployment Insurance (UI) state tax on
private and non-profit employers, in addition to the
employers' UI tax rate (which averages 2.9 percent 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.
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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
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.
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
and 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
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Costs to EDD are probably at least $500,000 annually. The
provisions of the bill related to CEC result in no
increased costs. Because the provisions of the bill
related to local governments are permissive, any increased
costs would be nonreimbursable.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR
AYES: Aanestad, Alquist, Aroner, Ashburn, Bates, Bogh,
Briggs, Calderon, Bill Campbell, John Campbell,
Canciamilla, Cardenas, Cardoza, Cedillo, Chan, Chavez,
Chu, Cogdill, Cohn, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Daucher, Diaz,
Dickerson, Dutra, Firebaugh, Florez, Frommer, Goldberg,
Havice, Hollingsworth, Horton, Jackson, Keeley, Kehoe,
Kelley, Koretz, La Suer, Leach, Leonard, Liu, Longville,
Lowenthal, Maddox, Maldonado, Matthews, Migden, Mountjoy,
Nakano, Nation, Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, Robert Pacheco,
Rod Pacheco, Papan, Pavley, Pescetti, Reyes, Richman,
Runner, Salinas, Shelley, Simitian, Steinberg,
Strickland, Strom-Martin, Thomson, Vargas, Washington,
Wayne, Wesson, Wiggins, Wright, Wyland, Wyman, Zettel,
Hertzberg
NC:kb 9/12/01 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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