BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1389| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 445-6614 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ UNFINISHED BUSINESS Bill No: SB 1389 Author: Bowen (D) Amended: 8/23/02 Vote: 21 SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 8-0, 4/23/02 AYES: Bowen, Alarcon, Battin, Murray, Sher, Speier, Vasconcellos, Vincent SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 SENATE FLOOR : 26-5, 5/23/02 AYES: Alarcon, Alpert, Bowen, Burton, Chesbro, Costa, Dunn, Escutia, Figueroa, Johannessen, Karnette, Kuehl, Margett, McPherson, Murray, O'Connell, Ortiz, Peace, Perata, Romero, Scott, Sher, Soto, Speier, Torlakson, Vasconcellos NOES: Ackerman, Haynes, Knight, McClintock, Oller ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 66-11, 8/25/02 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Energy: planning and forecasting SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill consolidates and updates the California Energy Commission's reporting requirements into one integrated report and requires the reporting of the energy data from all entities that participate in the state energy markets. CONTINUED SB 1389 Page 2 Assembly Amendments make further clarifying and consolidating modifications. ANALYSIS : Under existing law (Chapter 4 of the Warren-Alquist Act), the California Energy Commission (CEC) has various energy planning and forecasting duties, including the preparation of periodic reports on electricity and natural gas demand, energy efficiency, renewable technologies, public interest energy research, climate change, environmental performance of power plants, and the use, availability and price of transportation fuels. Background In 1974, the Warren-Alquist Act established the CEC and required it to develop long-term forecasts of state energy needs, which formerly served as the basis for the planning and certification of individual power plants. Since the advent of electrical restructuring, the link between the CEC's planning and siting functions has been severed. The act gives the CEC broad authority to undertake a continuing assessment of trends in the consumption and supply of electricity and other forms of energy and to analyze the social, economic, and environmental consequences of these trends. The CEC is also required to prepare several policy reports on a biennial cycle, including the Biennial Report, Electricity Report, Fuels Report, Energy Efficiency Report, and Energy Development Report. Circumstances in energy markets have changed dramatically since original passage of the act, but the act itself hasn't been updated to reflect these changes. As a consequence, the existing planning and forecasting requirements are not well suited to support analysis of current energy issues. For example, the CEC is required to conduct its forecasting and assessment of the electricity industry in the context of the Electricity Report (ER), which is based on forecasts submitted by the investor-owned utilities (IOUs). One of the primary purposes of the ER was to assess the need for new generating facilities (the Integrated Assessment of SB 1389 Page 3 Need). The ER established policies and criteria for determining whether power plant applications before the CEC were in conformance with that assessment of need. SB 110 (Peace), Chapter 581, Statutes of 1999, eliminated the requirement that every power plant licensing decision determine that the need for the facility conformed to the CEC's integrated assessment of need. While the role of IOUs has diminished in the restructured market, the current data collection provisions remain targeted solely at IOUs. This fails to provide for data collection from new participants in the electricity market, such as merchant generators, wholesale marketers and energy service providers. According to the CEC, it is in the process of revising its data collection regulations to bring them into conformance with changes in the restructured market. However, statutory revisions are needed to eliminate obsolete data collection authority and clarify the CEC's authority to collect necessary data from new market participants. In addition, revisions are necessary to ensure that new data collection regulations can adequately be enforced and to ensure the CEC is able to provide appropriate confidentiality protections to protect customer privacy and commercially sensitive data. The purpose of this bill is to consolidate the CEC's reporting requirements into one timely, integrated report, to require the reporting of the energy data necessary to support this report from new market participants, and to develop and maintain the capability to produce the required analyses. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No Absorbable costs SUPPORT : (Verified 8/24/02) California Energy Commission Independent Energy Producers Association Office of Ratepayer Advocates SB 1389 Page 4 ASSEMBLY FLOOR AYES: Aanestad, Alquist, Aroner, Bogh, Briggs, Canciamilla, Cardenas, Cardoza, Cedillo, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cogdill, Cohn, Corbett, Correa, Daucher, Diaz, Dickerson, Dutra, Firebaugh, Florez, Frommer, Goldberg, Harman, Havice, Hertzberg, Horton, Jackson, Keeley, Kehoe, Kelley, Koretz, Leach, Leslie, Liu, Longville, Lowenthal, Maddox, Maldonado, Matthews, Migden, Nakano, Nation, Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, Robert Pacheco, Rod Pacheco, Papan, Pavley, Pescetti, Reyes, Richman, Salinas, Shelley, Simitian, Steinberg, Strickland, Strom-Martin, Thomson, Washington, Wayne, Wiggins, Wright, Wyland, Wesson NOES: Ashburn, Bates, John Campbell, Cox, Hollingsworth, La Suer, Leonard, Mountjoy, Runner, Wyman, Zettel NC:kb 8/26/02 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****