BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 1790
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 14, 2002

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                              Darrell Steinberg, Chair

                    SB 1790 (Bowen) - As Amended:  June 27, 2002 

          Policy Committee:                              Utilities and  
          Commerce     Vote:                            10-4

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill:

          1)Requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to develop a  
            program for residential and commercial air-conditioning load  
            control.  

          2)Enacts several non-substantive and/or non-controversial  
            changes to the California Energy Commission's (CEC's) Energy  
            Conservation Assistance Account loan program.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor absorbable costs to the PUC and the CEC.

           COMMENTS  

           Background and Purpose  .  Air conditioning represents the single  
          largest electricity demand. It takes about 14,000 MW to run air  
          conditioners in the California summertime, which is almost 30  
          percent of peak summer demand.  Several utilities have limited  
          air conditioning load control programs in place.  For example,  
          Southern California Edison (SCE) has a program in place in which  
          enrolled customers receive a credit on their electricity bill  
          ranging from $25 to $50 per month (July through September) in  
          exchange for allowing SCE to shut off their air conditioning  
          (via a cycling device installed by SCE) for a certain number of  
          minutes per hour during peak times.  The goal of the program in  
          this bill is to reduce electricity consumption and consumers'  
          energy costs.









                                                                  SB 1790
                                                                  Page  2

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081