BILL NUMBER: AB 594 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 3, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 24, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Leno
FEBRUARY 18, 2003
An act to add Section 2828 2851 to
the Public Utilities Code, relating to solar energy systems, and
declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 594, as amended, Leno. Solar energy systems: Hetch Hetchy
Water and Power solar generation.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission is vested with
regulatory authority over public utilities and is required to
establish requirements for the administration of power purchase
contracts between electrical corporations and private energy
producers. Existing law authorizes the City of Davis to receive a
bill credit, as defined, to a benefiting account, as defined, for
electricity supplied to the electrical grid by a photovoltaic
facility located within and partially owned by the city and requires
the commission to adopt a rate tariff for the benefiting account.
This bill would authorize the City and County of San Francisco to
elect to designate specific photovoltaic generation facilities
meeting specified conditions as Hetch Hetchy Water and Power (HHWP)
solar generation facilities and upon election and the filing and
acceptance of an advice letter with the commission establishing
rates, Pacific Gas and Electric Company would be required on a
monthly basis, to pay credit the City
and County of San Francisco for the electricity generated and
delivered to the electric grid at the established
time-of-use rate in accordance with specified rate
criteria. The bill would provide for the termination of
this arrangement upon notice from the city and county or upon the
city and county, as a community choice aggregator, assumes
responsibility for serving any load beyond its municipal load .
Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act, a
filed tariff, or an order of the commission is a crime.
Because the provisions of the bill would be a part of the act and
would require an order or other action of the commission to implement
those provisions, the bill would impose a state-mandated local
program by creating a new crime.
The bill would declare that, due to the special circumstances
applicable only to HHWP solar generation facilities, a general
statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of
Article IV of the California Constitution, and the enactment of a
special statute is therefore necessary.
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.
The 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: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares each of the
following:
(a) Increasing California's use of solar generated electricity
promotes stable electricity prices, protects public health, improves
environmental quality, stimulates sustainable economic development,
creates new employment opportunities, and reduces reliance on fossil
fuels.
(b) Electricity for municipal facilities of the City and County of
San Francisco is provided by Hetch Hetchy Water and Power through
electric transmission and distribution lines owned by Pacific Gas and
Electric Company. This situation is unique to the City and County
of San Francisco. Because of this situation solar electric
generation on municipal facilities are prevented from exporting
electricity to the grid. For all other cities and counties that have
electricity distributed by Pacific Gas and Electric Company, solar
electric facilities on municipal facilities are permitted to export
electricity to the grid under net metering.
(c) San Francisco is among the most vulnerable areas of California
for electricity blackouts because of transmission constraints that
prevent electricity from coming into the city and aging powerplants
located in the city. Development of solar electric facilities in San
Francisco can improve electric service reliability and contribute to
the retirement of the aging fossil fuel generating facilities.
(d) Payments for the electricity produced from Hetch Hetchy Water
and Power solar generation facilities are in the public interest in
order to value the production of a unique, wholly renewable resource
for electricity generation located in, and owned by, the City and
County of San Francisco.
SEC. 2. Section 2828 is added to Chapter 9 of Part 1 of Division 1
of the Public Utilities Code, to read:
2828. (a) As used in this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Environmental attributes" associated with the Hetch Hetchy
Water and Power (HHWP) solar generation include, but are not limited
to, the credits, benefits, emissions reductions, environmental air
quality credits, and emissions reduction credits, offsets, and
allowances, however entitled, resulting from the avoidance of the
emission of any gas, chemical, or other substance attributable to the
Hetch Hetchy Water and Power photovoltaic electricity generation
facility owned by the City and County of San Francisco.
(2) "HHWP solar generation" means the electricity generated by
Hetch Hetchy Water and Power photovoltaic electricity generation
facilities owned by the City and County of San Francisco, not to
exceed five megawatts of peak generation capacity in total.
(b) The City and County of San Francisco may elect to designate
specific photovoltaic electricity generation facilities as HHWP solar
generation, if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) No single photovoltaic generation project exceeds one megawatt
of peak generation capacity.
(2) The electricity generated by the photovoltaic facility is
metered for time of use.
(3) All costs associated with equipping the facility with
time-of-use metering pursuant to paragraph (2) are the responsibility
of the City and County of San Francisco.
(4) All electricity delivered to the electric grid by the HHWP
solar generation is the property of Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
(5) The City and County of San Francisco does not sell electricity
delivered to the electric grid from HHWP solar generation to a third
party.
(6) The right, title, and interest in the environmental attributes
associated with the electricity delivered to the electric grid by
the HHWP solar generation are the property of the City and County of
San Francisco.
(c) Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall pay the City and County
of San Francisco, on a monthly basis, an amount equal to the
applicable time-of-use rate for the electricity generated by the HHWP
solar generation that is delivered to the electric grid.
(d) Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall file an advice letter
with the commission, that complies with this section, not later than
10 days after the City and County of San Francisco first designates
the specific generation facilities that will comprise HHWP solar
generation, proposing a rate for the purchase of the electricity
generated by the HHWP solar generation. The commission, within 30
days of the date of filing of the advice letter, shall approve the
proposed rate or specify conforming changes to be made by Pacific Gas
and Electric Company to be filed in a new advice letter within 30
days.
(e) The City and County of San Francisco may terminate its
election pursuant to subdivision (b), upon providing Pacific Gas and
Electric Company with a minimum of 60 days' notice.
(f) Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the City and County of
San Francisco shall, no later than January 1, 2010, report to the
commission on the costs and benefits to Pacific Gas and Electric
Company ratepayers of the installed HHWP solar generation.
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares each of the
following:
(a) Increasing California's use of solar generated electricity can
promote stable electricity prices, protects public health, improves
environmental quality, create new employment opportunities, and
reduces reliance on fossil fuels.
(b) Electricity for municipal facilities of the City and County of
San Francisco is provided by Hetch Hetchy Water and Power through
electric transmission and distribution lines owned by Pacific Gas and
Electric Company. This situation is unique to the City and County of
San Francisco.
(c) The City and County of San Francisco has declared its
intention to become a Community Choice Aggregator, but until the time
that the City and County of San Francisco begins to procure power
for nonmunicipal load, the City and County of San Francisco has no
available mechanism to market the temporarily existing excess
generation of proposed photovoltaic projects to be located at San
Francisco municipal sites and which may on occasion exceed the load
at the site.
(d) San Francisco is among the most vulnerable areas of California
for electricity blackouts because of transmission constraints that
prevent electricity from coming into the city and county and aging
powerplants located in the city and county. Development of solar
electric facilities in San Francisco can improve electric service
reliability and contribute to the retirement of the aging fossil fuel
generating facilities.
(e) Compensation for the electricity produced from Hetch Hetchy
Water and Power solar generation facilities are in the public
interest.
SEC. 2. Section 2851 is added to Chapter 9 of Part 1 of Division 1
of the Public Utilities Code, to read:
2851. (a) As used in this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Environmental attributes" associated with the Hetch Hetchy
Water and Power (HHWP) solar generation include, but are not limited
to, the credits, benefits, emissions reductions, environmental air
quality credits, and emissions reduction credits, offsets, and
allowances, however entitled, resulting from the avoidance of the
emission of any gas, chemical, or other substance attributable to the
HHWP photovoltaic electricity generation facility owned by the City
and County of San Francisco.
(2) "HHWP solar generation" means the electricity generated by
HHWP photovoltaic electricity generation facilities owned by the City
and County of San Francisco, designated by the City and County of
San Francisco pursuant to subdivision (b) and not to exceed five
megawatts of peak generation capacity in total.
(3) "Interconnection Agreement" means the 1987 agreement between
Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the City and County of San
Francisco, as filed with and accepted by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC), and as amended from time to time with
FERC approval which provides for rates for transmission, distribution
and sales of supplemental power to the City and County of San
Francisco. Nothing in this section shall waive or modify the rights
of parties under the Interconnection Agreement or the jurisdiction of
the FERC over rates set forth in the Interconnection Agreement.
(4) "Appropriate time-of-use tariff" means the time-of-use tariff
to which the City and County of San Francisco account at the
photovoltaic project site would be subject if the facility at the
site were a Pacific Gas and Electric Company bundled customer.
(b) The City and County of San Francisco may elect to designate
specific photovoltaic electricity generation facilities as HHWP solar
generation, if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) No single photovoltaic generation project exceeds one megawatt
of peak generation capacity.
(2) The photovoltaic project utilizes a meter, or multiple meters,
capable of separately measuring electricity flow in both directions.
All meters shall provide "time-of-use" measurement information. If
the existing meter at the site of the photovoltaic project is not
capable of providing time-of-use information or is not capable of
measuring total flow of energy in both directions, the City and
County of San Francisco is responsible for all expenses involved in
purchasing and installing a meter or meters that are both capable of
providing time-of-use information and able to measure total
electricity flow in both directions.
(3) The amount of all electricity delivered to the electric grid
by the designated HHWP solar generation is the property of Pacific
Gas and Electric Company.
(4) The City and County of San Francisco does not sell electricity
delivered to the electric grid from the designated HHWP solar
generation to a third party.
(5) Ownership and use of environmental attributes associated with
the electricity delivered to the electric grid by HHWP solar
generation shall be determined by the commission in accordance with
Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1.
(c) For each site of a photovoltaic project that comprises the
HHWP solar generation, Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall
identify the appropriate time-of-use tariff for that site. Any
electricity exported to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company grid at
that site shall, for each time-of-use period, result in a monetary
credit to be listed monthly on the invoice created pursuant to the
Interconnection Agreement and shall be valued at the generation
component of the appropriate time-of-use tariff plus an an additional
component to be determined by the California Public Utilities
Commission to reflect the locational value and the value of the
environmental attributes of the designated HHWP solar generation.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if the
City and County of San Francisco assumes responsibility as a
community choice aggregator for serving any load beyond the municipal
load of the City and County of San Francisco, all other provisions
of this section become inoperative.
(e) Pursuant to this section, the offset to charges under the
Interconnection Agreement is the medium to convey credits earned
under this section. Nothing in this section shall be construed to
affect in any way the rights and obligations of the City and County
of San Francisco and Pacific Gas and Electric Company under the
Interconnection Agreement.
(f) Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall file an advice letter
with the commission, that complies with this section, not later than
10 days after the City and County of San Francisco first designates
the specific generation facilities that will comprise HHWP solar
generation. The commission, within 30 days of the date of filing of
the advice letter, shall approve the advice letter or specify
conforming changes to be made by Pacific Gas and Electric Company to
be filed in an amended advice letter within 30 days.
(g) The City and County of San Francisco may terminate its
election pursuant to subdivision (b) upon providing Pacific Gas and
Electric Company with a minimum of 60 days' written notice.
SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that, because of the
unique circumstances applicable only to Hetch Hetchy Water and Power
solar generation of electricity, a statute of general applicability
cannot be enacted within the meaning of subdivision (b) 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 XIII B 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 XIII B 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:
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) has several
opportunities to develop large-scale solar generation facilities in
San Francisco in the near future if the issue of exporting some of
the electricity to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company grid can be
resolved. These sites include the covered University Mound
Reservoir, which could accommodate a one-megawatt project, and the
new Moscone West Convention Center, which could also support a
one-megawatt project. Because the City of San Francisco is not
currently eligible for net metering at these sites, it is difficult
to begin planning for project development at these sites.
Development of a large-scale solar generation facility at either site
would be one of the premier solar electricity generation
installations in the United States, providing impetus for additional
solar energy development in California. It is necessary that this
act take effect immediately to enable SFPUC to prepare bid documents
and to select a project developer on an expedited basis in order to
obtain the environmental and public health advantages that these
projects achieve.