BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       


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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  SB 1389|
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                              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





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           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  







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          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









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           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

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