BILL NUMBER: SBX1 47 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Battin
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Keeley)
FEBRUARY 22, 2001
An act to add and repeal Article 10.5 (commencing with Section
391.1) of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, relating
to public utilities, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 47, as introduced, Battin. Public utilities: interim short-run
avoided cost methodology.
(1) Existing law provides for a short-run avoided cost methodology
for pricing electricity generated by a nonutility small power
production or cogeneration facility, as defined.
This bill, regarding a contract between the Pacific Gas and
Electric Company, the Southern California Edison Company, or the San
Diego Gas and Electric Company, all California public utility
corporations, and qualifying small power production or cogeneration
facilities (QF), as defined, would specify the energy pricing
methodology, to be used under purchase power agreements for QFs. The
bill would require the commission to provide standard-form
amendments for power purchase agreements to implement the provisions
of this act. The bill would require the commission to include in
those amendments for full cost recovery for the entire duration of
the amendments.
This bill would require the Treasurer to approve natural gas
prices for specified gas purchase options for gas-fired QFs. The
bill would require the Treasurer to find the gas price to be in the
best interest of the state. The bill would require the Treasurer at
least 3 times per year to submit a report to the Governor and to
appropriate committees of the Legislature on the performance of each
public utility regarding the gas purchase options.
(2) Existing law establishes the Central Valley Agricultural
Biomass-To-Energy Incentive Grant Program.
This bill would provide additional funding for the program, upon
appropriation, and would extend the program until June 30, 2006.
(3) Because existing law makes it a crime to violate an order of
the Public Utilities Commission, this bill would expand the
definition of an existing crime by requiring the commission to issue
new orders, and thereby would impose a state-mandated local program.
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.
(4) The provisions of the bill would become in operation on July
1, 2006, and would be repealed as of January 1, 2007.
(5) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 10.5 (commencing with Section 391.1) is added
to Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, to read:
Article 10.5. Interim Short-Run Avoided Cost Energy
Methodology
391.1. For the purposes of this article, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(a) "Burnertip price of gas" means the border price of gas plus
the interstate and intrastate gas transportation costs.
(b) "Contract" means a power purchasing agreement.
(c) "Gas-fired QF" means a qualifying cogeneration facility whose
primary fuel is natural gas.
(d) "GP" is "Gas Price" which means:
(1) For Southern California Edison Company, the burnertip price of
natural gas.
(2) For Pacific Gas & Electric Company, the border price of
natural gas.
(3) For San Diego Gas and Electric Company, the border price of
natural gas.
(e) "GPn" means the border gas price as reflected in the
applicable indices for the period being considered.
(f) "Non-gas-fueled QF" means a qualifying small power production
facility or a qualifying cogeneration facility whose primary fuel is
other than natural gas.
(g) "Power purchase agreement" means an agreement entered into
pursuant to the PURPA between an electrical corporation and a QF that
provides for the sale and delivery of electricity from the QF to the
electrical corporation.
(h) "QF" means a qualifying small power production facility or a
qualifying cogeneration facility within the meaning of Sections 201
and 210 of Title II of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of
1978 (16 U.S.C. Secs. 796(17), (18) and 824a-3), and the regulations
adopted for those sections under that act by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (18 C.F.R. 292.101-292.602).
(i) "Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978" means federal
Public Law 95-617.
(j) "PURPA" means the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of
1978 and the regulations adopted under that act by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission.
(k) "SRAC" means the short-run avoided cost of energy.
(l) "SRAC methodology" means the short-run avoided cost energy
methodology described in subdivision (b) of Section 390 that is used
to determine energy prices paid to a QF. The methodology implements
PURPA.
(m) "Switching QF" means a QF that has elected to have energy
payments based on the hourly day-ahead constrained market clearing
price paid by the independent Power Exchange under subdivision (c) of
Section 390, as authorized by the commission in its Decision
99-11-025.
391.2. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The enactment of Chapter 4 of the Statutes of the 2001-02
First Extraordinary Session provides that the state will purchase all
of the electricity, and ancillary services provided by the
Independent System Operator, needed by consumers in excess of
investor-owned generation, inter-utility contracts, and purchases
from QFs. This article defines how the SRAC for QFs should be
computed, given the enactment of Chapter 4 of the Statutes of the
2001-02 First Extraordinary Session.
(b) Subdivision (b) of Section 390 and Decision 96-12-028 of the
commission provide that the short-run avoided cost of energy within
the meaning of PURPA, paid by an electrical corporation to a QF, be
determined monthly based on an average of monthly indices of the
price of natural gas at the California border.
(c) The determination of the SRAC based on the monthly gas price
indices produces significant payment volatility and price instability
for electrical corporations and the QFs.
(d) Restatement of the SRAC for non-gas-fueled QFs from the
current monthly determination into a fixed value for a term of years
will benefit customers, electrical corporations, and the QFs, by
reducing payment volatility and increasing price stability.
(e) Restatement of the SRAC for gas-fired QFs from the current
reliance on monthly natural gas indices to the use of longer-term
natural gas prices will benefit customers, electrical corporations,
and QFs by reducing payment volatility and increasing price
stability.
(f) California's biomass-to-energy industry provides clean
renewable energy by converting millions of tons of waste wood and
related organic materials derived from agricultural, urban, and
forestry-related sources into electricity every year. However, this
energy is provided at substantial expense. It is in the public
interest to provide incentives to the biomass-to-energy industry to
offset the cost of biomass fuel and retain the environmental and
other benefits provided therefrom.
(g) The financial security and creditworthiness of California's
electrical corporations, and the assurance of their ability to make
timely payments to QFs, is essential to the full effectiveness of
this article.
391.3. (a) This section applies to QFs that operate under
Sections 391.4 to 391.8, inclusive.
(b) Except in connection with the implementation of power purchase
agreement provisions related to SRAC payments and to other matters
expressly addressed in this article, nothing in this article shall be
interpreted to amend or modify any provision of a power purchase
agreement, including, but not limited to, contract capacity
provisions, nonstandard energy pricing terms, and fixed energy prices
under Interim Standard Offer 4, or any other power purchase
agreement. This subdivision does not prohibit mutual agreements to
changes in a power purchase agreement by the parties to the
agreement.
(c) Time-of-delivery and seasonal energy allocation factors in
effect on January 1, 2001, and specified in a power purchase
agreement shall be applied to the SRAC payment determined pursuant to
the applicable provision of this article following the methodology
in the purchase power agreement for applying those allocation factors
to the SRAC energy payment. The allocation factors may not be
modified, except upon mutual agreement of the parties to a power
purchase agreement.
(d) Energy line loss factors at both the transmission and
distribution level shall be set at 1.0, unless a different number is
otherwise specifically set forth in a power purchase agreement or
unless the parties to a power purchase agreement agree otherwise.
(e) The commission shall provide standard-form amendments to
implement the provisions of this article. All power purchase
agreements subject to this article shall be modified to include the
applicable standard-form amendments. The commission shall provide in
those amendments for full cost recovery for the entire duration of
the amendments.
(f) The provision of subdivision (c) of Section 390 that permits a
nonutility power generator subject to Section 390 to elect to
receive energy payments based upon the clearing price from the
Independent Power Exchange shall not be operative for the period of
January 1, 2001, and June 30, 2006, inclusive, except for a
nonutility power generator that elected under subdivision (c) of
Section 390 prior to January 1, 2001.
(g) (1) The implementation of this article is necessary so that
QFs and electrical corporations can make long-term commitments that
involve substantial risks. Further, there needs to be assurances
that these commitments will be honored, including full cost recovery
by the electrical corporations. The commission shall promptly
approve, without modification, the agreements entered into by
electrical corporations and QFs to implement this article. The
commission's decision shall be final and the commission may not
change the decision.
(2) At the time of approving an agreement necessary to implement
this article, the commission shall make an irrevocable determination
of per se reasonableness of the agreement, including full cost
recovery by the electrical corporation of the resulting costs.
(h) Energy payments to QFs, except switching QFs, for energy
delivered beginning November 1, 2000, to February 1, 2001, shall be
in accordance with the SRAC methodology and the avoided cost postings
of the electrical corporations made in accordance with that
methodology.
391.4. (a) Except as provided in Sections 391.5 and 391.6,
subdivision (d) of Section 391.7, and subdivisions (b), (c), and (d)
of this section, for the period of February 1, 2001, to June 30,
2006, inclusive, payments for energy delivered by non-gas-fueled QFs
shall be established at 5.37 cents ($0.0537) per kilowatthour,
subject to subdivision (c) of Section 391.3.
(b) (1) A QF with a power purchasing agreement with fixed energy
provisions, in which those fixed energy provisions will terminate
during the period of February 1, 2001, to June 30, 2006, inclusive,
may make the following elections regarding the electric power that is
the subject of the agreement:
(A) Terminate the fixed energy provisions of the agreement as of
February 1, 2001, and accept instead the pricing provisions of
subdivision (a).
(B) Wait until the fixed energy provisions of the agreement
terminate pursuant to the agreement and the energy pricing converts
to SRAC payments. If the election is this subparagraph, the QF may
elect SRAC payments determined pursuant to one of the following
methods:
(i) The SRAC methodology as determined by the commission.
(ii) The product of 5.37 cents ($0.0537) per kilowatthour times
the levelized cost of a forward burnertip natural gas strip at the
time of conversion to June 30, 2006, divided by six dollars and fifty
cents ($6.50) per MMBtu.
(2) If a power purchasing agreement has both fixed energy
provisions and energy payments subject to subdivision (c) of Section
390, the fixed energy provisions shall be subject to this subdivision
and the energy payments subject to subdivision (c) of Section 390
shall be subject to Section 391.6.
(3) A QF with respect to power purchasing agreements that are
subject to this subdivision shall make all elections required by this
subdivision within 30 days from the effective date of this article.
If the elections are not made within that 30-day period, then when
the fixed energy provisions of the power purchasing agreement
terminate pursuant to the agreement and the energy payments convert
to SRAC payments, the SRAC payments shall be determined using the
SRAC methodology as determined by the commission.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), San Diego Gas and Electric
Company and Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall pay any
non-gas-fueled QF whose forecast energy payments under an Interim
Standard Offer 4 agreement terminate in 2001, 5.37 cents ($0.0537)
per kilowatthour, subject to subdivision (c) of Section 391.3, for
all energy delivered to San Diego Gas and Electric Company or Pacific
Gas and Electric Company, as applicable, commencing on the date on
which the QF's forecast energy payments terminate and continuing
through June 30, 2006.
(d) For a QF with a contract with Southern California Edison
Company for electricity generated by wind that specifies Capacity
Payment Option B, the pricing for that contract shall be determined
by this subdivision. The contract shall be amended as follows:
(1) On the effective date of this article, the contract shall be
converted to Capacity Option A (forecast of as-available capacity).
The conversion shall not obligate the QF to make any capacity payment
refund to Southern California Edison, or subject the QF to any other
penalty or repayment obligation.
(2) For the five-year period commencing as of the effective date
of this article, a fixed, combined payment for both energy and
capacity in the total amount of 7.8 cents ($0.078) per kilowatthour
shall be paid for each kilowatthour of electricity delivered pursuant
to the contract. The fixed payment shall be the total compensation
payable by Southern California Edison for electricity delivered under
the contract during the five-year period. No allocation factor,
including, but not limited to, time-of-delivery, may be applied to
the fixed payment during the five-year period. After the five-year
period, the price for energy shall revert to a price determined by
using the then-current commission-approved SRAC methodology.
Capacity payments following the five-year period shall be made as set
forth in paragraph (3). Energy and capacity payments following the
conclusion of the end of the five-year period shall be subject to
commission-approved time-of-delivery allocation factors that are then
being applied generally to SRAC payments.
(3) Commencing on the day following the five-year period that
commences on the effective date of this article, capacity payments
shall commence and be payable for the remaining term of the contract
at an annual rate equal to the annual rate specified in the
applicable contract for payment under the firm capacity option. That
annual rate shall be converted to a cents per kilowatthour rate
pursuant to Southern California Edison's general methodology for
making forecast as-available capacity payments.
(4) It is the intent of the Legislature that, on the effective
date of this section, Southern California Edison Company and the QFs
subject to this subdivision mutually waive any and all pending claims
arising from or related to compliance with firm capacity on-peak
performance requirements, compliance with annual capacity
demonstration requirements, or failures to deliver contract capacity
during system emergencies. It is further intended by the Legislature
that no payments, refunds, or penalties shall be due or owing from a
QF to Southern California Edison Company with respect to the pending
claims on any claims of the same nature that arose between the
parties prior to the effective date of this section.
391.5. (a) Commencing on February 1, 2001, and ending on June 30,
2006, payments for energy deliveries by QFs employing solar thermal
technology shall be based 75 percent on the pricing methodology
described in subdivision (a) of Section 391.4, and 25 percent based
the energy pricing formula as established pursuant to subdivision (c)
of Section 391.8, even if the contract is not with the Southern
California Edison Company.
(b) If a non-gas-fueled QF whose primary energy source is solar
energy has received final Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
certification orders, the commission shall not oppose the use of
natural gas by the QF within the limits of those certification
orders.
391.6. (a) For the month of January 2001, a switching QF shall be
paid for energy deliveries under the SRAC methodology, as that
methodology was being implemented by the commission on January 1,
2001.
(b) The "switch date" for each switching QF shall be the date on
which the switching QF began to receive energy prices based on the
day-ahead clearing price paid by the independent Power Exchange under
subdivision (c) of Section 390. Subdivision (c) or (d) shall apply
to a switching QF for the following terms, based on the QF's switch
date:
(1) If the switch date is June 1, 2000, the term is 54 months.
(2) If the switch date is July 1, 2000, the term is 48 months.
(3) If the switch date is August 1, 2000, the term is 42 months.
(4) If the switch date is September 1, 2000, the term is 36
months.
(5) If the switch date is October 1, 2000, the term is 30 months.
(6) If the switch date is November 1, 2000, the term is 24 months.
(7) If the switch date is December 1, 2000, the term is 18 months.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 391.4, commencing on February 1, 2001,
and continuing for the term required under subdivision (b), the
price for energy deliveries to an electrical corporation by a
switching QF that is non-gas-fueled shall be 5.02 cents ($0.0502) per
kilowatthour. Following the expiration of that term, the price for
energy deliveries by that QF shall be established pursuant to the
methodology set forth in Section 391.4.
(d) Beginning on February 1, 2001, and continuing for the term
required under subdivision (b), the price for energy deliveries to an
electrical corporation by a switching QF that is gas-fired shall be
adjusted by subtracting 3.5 mils ($0.0035) per kilowatthour from the
rate set forth under Section 391.8. Following the expiration of that
term, prices for energy deliveries by that QF shall be established
in accordance with the methodology set forth in Section 391.8,
without adjustment.
(e) The price per kilowatthour for each switching QF for energy
delivered between the QF's switch date and December 31, 2000, shall
be equal to the independent Power Exchange's hourly day-ahead
constrained market clearing price for the zone in which the QF is
located, and shall not be subject to adjustment, revision, or true-up
of any kind.
391.7. (a) For purposes of this section, "program" means the
Central Valley Agricultural Biomass-to-Energy Incentive Grant Program
established under Part 3 (commencing with Section 1101) of Division
1 of the Food and Agricultural Code.
(b) Upon appropriation, the sum of twenty million dollars
($20,000,000) per year shall be transferred from the General Fund to
the California Trade and Commerce Agency for the purposes of
providing funding, commencing on July 1, 2001, to offset the costs of
certain qualified solid biomass fuels, including, but not limited
to, urban wood waste and forest-related materials resulting from
timber harvesting conducted in full compliance with the Z'
berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 (Chapter 8 (commencing with
Section 4511) of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code)
utilized by any biomass-to-energy facility, and to extend until June
30, 2006, the funding of the program, both as established under those
provisions and as expanded under this section. This funding shall
be provided in addition to any other funding provided for the
existing program.
(c) The program shall continue to be administered by the Trade and
Commerce Agency.
(d) Southern California Edison Company shall pay a biomass QF
company, whose forecast energy payments under an Interim Standard
Offer 4 contract terminate during the period of February 1, 2001, to
June 30, 2006, inclusive, 5.37 cents ($0.0537) per kilowatthour
subject to subdivision (c) of Section 391.3, for all energy delivered
to the Southern California Edison Company from the termination date
of the forecast energy payments to June 30, 2006, inclusive.
391.8. (a) The purpose of the pricing methodology applicable to
gas-fired QFs in this section is to link the SRAC price for energy
provided by a gas-fired QF to the long-term cost of natural gas for
the period from February 1, 2001, to June 30, 2006, inclusive, or if
the gas-fired QF's power purchase agreement terminates after
commencement of that period and prior to June 30, 2006, then the
period from that termination date to June 30, 2006, inclusive, by
offering to the gas-fired QF the benchmark option, the portfolio
option, and the actual cost option, pursuant to subdivision (g).
(b) For a gas-fired QF selling energy to Pacific Gas and Electric
Company, the SRAC payment shall be determined in accordance with the
SRAC methodology as it was being implemented by the commission on
February 1, 2001, except that the GPn in the formula shall be
replaced with a long-term GP. A long-term GP shall be established
for the QF in accordance with subdivision (g). Until the time that a
long-term GP is established under the agreement on long-term gas
purchase arrangements, or following expiration of a long-term GP and
prior to the establishment of a new long-term GP, if any, the
gas-fired QF shall be paid for energy deliveries in accordance with
the SRAC methodology as it was being implemented by the commission on
February 1, 2001.
(c) For a QF selling energy to Southern California Edison Company,
the SRAC payment for the QF shall be set equal to the sum of the
following:
(1) The product of 9,821 Btu per kilowatthour, subject to
subdivision (c) of Section 391.3, and the applicable long-term GP in
dollars per MMBtu for that QF determined pursuant to subdivision (g),
and divided by 10,000.
(2) Three mils ($0.003) per kilowatthour multiplied by the average
California Consumer Price Index as of December 31 of the year prior
to the payment determination, and divided by the average California
Consumer Price Index as of December 31, 2000.
Until the time that a long-term GP is established for the QF, or
following expiration of a long-term GP and prior to the establishment
of a new long-term GP, if any, the QF shall be paid for energy
deliveries in accordance with the SRAC methodology, as that
methodology was implemented by the commission on February 1, 2001.
(d) (1) For purposes of this subdivision, "QF Companies" mean Kern
River Cogeneration Company, Sycamore Cogeneration Company, Midway
Sunset Cogeneration Company, and Watson Cogeneration Company,
individually or collectively.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the
energy payments to QF companies shall be pursuant to the QF company's
power purchase agreement with Southern California Edison Company
existing as of February 1, 2001, modified only in accordance with the
agreement on long-term gas price determined pursuant to subdivision
(g).
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section
367, the implementation and administration of these agreements and
contract modifications shall, in accordance with paragraph (2) of
subdivision (g) of Section 391.3, be approved by the commission as
reasonable per se for cost recovery purposes and otherwise.
(e) For a gas-fired QF selling energy to San Diego Gas and
Electric Company, the SRAC payment shall be determined in accordance
with the SRAC methodology as it was being implemented by the
commission on February 1, 2001, except that GPn in the formula shall
be replaced with a long-term GP. A long-term GP shall be established
for the QF in accordance with subdivision (g). Until the time that
a long-term GP is established for the QF, or following expiration of
a long-term GP, and prior to the establishment of a new long-term GP,
if any, the gas-fired QF shall be paid for energy deliveries in
accordance with the SRAC methodology as it was being implemented by
the commission on February 1, 2001.
(f) A gas-fired QF with a power purchase agreement that contains
nonstandard energy pricing terms may be included in the gas purchase
arrangements described in subdivision (g) if its power purchase
agreement is conformed, by mutual agreement of the parties, to
reflect the applicable energy pricing methodology set forth in this
section.
(g) (1) The long-term gas price shall be determined for a QF
pursuant to one of the options of this subdivision. A public utility
shall inform each gas-fired QF with whom it has a power purchase
agreement of the process for the benchmark, portfolio, and actual
cost gas options. Each gas-fired QF within 30 days of the effective
date of this section shall select the gas purchase option to be used
to determine the long-term gas price for purposes of this section.
If the QF does not make the selection within the 30 days, the public
utility shall select the option to be used for the QF. Once a gas
purchase option is selected, neither the QF nor the public utility
may change the option.
(2) Benchmark gas purchase option:
(A) Each public utility and the gas-fired QFs with whom it has a
power purchase agreement shall, within 10 days of the effective date
of this section, select a procurement manager. If the parties cannot
agree on the procurement manager, the Treasurer shall appoint the
procurement manager.
(B) Each gas-fired QF shall provide the procurement manager with
its gas requirements, timing, constraints, and any other pertinent
information within 10 days of the procurement manager being selected.
(C) The procurement manager, working with the public utility,
shall divide the gas-fired QFs into tranches, and shall determine
when to send those tranches out for bid. The procurement manager and
the public utility shall work to obtain the best gas price.
(D) When the procurement manager obtains a bid, he or she shall
provide the bid to the public utility and to the Treasurer. Both
shall have one hour of receipt of the bid to either accept or reject
the bid. The Treasurer may only reject a bid if he or she determines
the bid is not in the state's best interest for recovering the
moneys the state has borrowed to finance the purchase of electric
power.
(E) If both the public utility and the Treasurer accept the bid,
the procurement manager shall present the bid to all the gas-fired
QFs with whom the public utility has a power purchase agreement.
Until the bid expires, but in no event less than two hours, each
gas-fired QF may accept the natural gas and the price or only the
price.
(F) If a QF does not accept the price, then the long-term gas
price for the QF shall be the GPn gas price used in the commission's
then posted SRAC price.
(3) Portfolio gas purchase option:
(A) Each public utility and the gas-fired QFs with whom it has a
power purchase agreement shall, within 10 days of the effective date
of this section, select a portfolio manager. If the parties cannot
agree on the procurement manager, the Treasurer shall appoint the
portfolio manager.
(B) Each gas-fired QF shall provide the portfolio manager with its
gas requirements, timing, constraints, and any other pertinent
information within 10 days of the portfolio manager being selected.
(C) The procurement manager, working with the public utility,
shall purchase natural gas on a long-term basis to minimize price.
(D) When the portfolio manager obtains a bid, he or she shall
provide the bid to the public utility and to the Treasurer. Both
shall have one hour of receipt of the bid to either accept or reject
the bid. The Treasurer may only reject a bid if he or she determines
the bid is not in the state's best interest for recovering the
moneys the state has borrowed to finance the purchase of electric
power.
(E) If both the public utility and the Treasurer accept the bid,
the portfolio manager shall buy the natural gas for the portfolio.
The gas price for natural gas in the portfolio shall be the weighted
average cost of the natural gas in the portfolio.
(F) A QF that agrees to the portfolio gas purchase option shall
purchase gas from the portfolio.
(4) Actual cost option:
(A) A gas-fired QF shall purchase natural gas for five years, or
the remaining term of the power purchase agreement, whichever is
less. The Treasurer may reject the purchase. The Treasurer may only
reject a purchase if he or she determines that the bid is not in the
state's best interest for recovering the
moneys the state has borrowed to finance the purchase
of electric power.
(B) The gas-fired QFs shall choose for all of them an independent
auditor, and shall provide the independent auditor the actual natural
gas cost information and the energy payments due under this section
based on the purchase price of the gas for each gas-fired QF. The
independent auditor shall review and approve the bill.
(C) The independent auditor shall aggregate all participating
gas-fired QF bills under this option, and shall send the aggregated
bill to the public utility. The public utility shall pay the
independent auditor, who shall disaggregate the funds received, and
disburse the funds to each gas-fired QF.
(5) For purposes of this subdivision, "Treasurer" means the
Treasurer of the state, or his or her designee.
(6) The Treasurer shall prepare and submit a report to the
Governor and to the appropriate committee's of the Legislature at
least three times a year on the performance of each public utility in
performing the gas purchase options. The report shall include, if
necessary, recommendations.
(h) No electrical corporation or gas corporation shall have any
obligation to serve as a portfolio manager under paragraph (3) of
subdivision (g), and the commission may not subject any corporation's
decisions to serve or not serve as portfolio manager to a
reasonableness review. If any corporation serves as a portfolio
manager, the commission may not consider the results of that
corporation's portfolio management activities in connection with this
section, in connection with any other jurisdictional reasonableness
review of the corporation's natural gas procurement function.
391.9. (a) (1) If a QF has not been paid by the Southern
California Edison Company (SCE) or the Pacific Gas and Electric
Company (PG&E) in accordance with a purchase power agreement for the
month of November 2000, December of 2000, or January of 2001, SCE and
PG&E shall make the payments for those months in accordance with the
following schedule:
Month of delivery Payment Due Date
November 2000 On or before April 2, 2001
December 2000 On or before May 1, 2001
January 2001 On or before June 1, 2001
(2) If a QF is not paid by SCE in accordance with paragraph (1)
for moneys owed under all purchase power agreements with SCE,
notwithstanding any provision of this article, the QF as of February
1, 2001, shall be paid by SCE the posted SRAC price or the SRAC price
determined pursuant to this article, whichever is greater, until all
the moneys owned for November, December, and January are paid to the
QF.
(3) PG&E owes no moneys to QFs for the month of November 2000. If
a QF is not paid by PG&E in accordance with paragraph (1) for moneys
owed under all purchase power agreements with PG&E, then
notwithstanding any provision of this article, the QF as of February
1, 2001, shall be paid by PG&E the posted SRAC price or the SRAC
price determined pursuant to this article, whichever is greater,
until all moneys owned for December and January are paid to the QF.
(b) This article shall become inoperative on July 1, 2006, and, as
of January 1, 2007, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2007, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
SEC. 2. The provisions of this article are severable. If any
provision of this article or its application is held invalid, that
invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can
be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that, because of the
unique circumstances applicable only to specified public utilities
and qualified facilities, a statute of general applicability cannot
be enacted within the meaning of subdivision (d) of Section 16 of
Article IV of the California Constitution. Therefore, this special
statute is necessary.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB 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 XIIIB of the California Constitution.
SEC. 5. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
To help avoid Stage 3 alerts in California, it is necessary that
this act take effect immediately.