BILL ANALYSIS
AB 594
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 594 (Leno)
As Amended July 21, 2004
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 15, 2003 ) |SENATE: |37-0 |(August 10, |
| | | | | |2004) |
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(vote not revelant)
Original Committee Reference: NAT. RES.
SUMMARY : Establishes a net metering program between the City
and County of San Francisco through Hetch Hetchy Water and Power
photovoltaic generation facilities and Pacific Gas and Electric
(PG&E).
The Senate Amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
1)Require the development of a net metering program between PG&E
and the Hetch Hetchy Water and Power photovoltaic generation
facilities owned by the City and County of San Francisco.
2)Require the total amount of electricity eligible for
participation in the net metering program to five megawatts of
peak generation capacity and requires that no single
photovoltaic generation project exceed one megawatt (MW) of
peak generation capacity.
3)Require that the photovoltaic project use a single or multiple
time of use (TOU) meters that measure electricity flow in both
directions. If the project needs to retrofitted with these
meters or doesn't have the capability of separately measuring
total flow of energy in both directions then the City and
County of San Francisco is responsible for purchasing and
installing it.
4)Specify that the amount of electricity delivered to the
electric grid under this agreement is the property of PG&E.
Prohibit the City and County of San Francisco from selling
electricity from the projects under this agreement to third
parties.
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5)Specify that ownership and use of the environmental attributes
associated with the electricity under this agreement is to be
determined by the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC)
in accordance with the California Renewable Portfolio Standard
(RPS) [SB 1078 (Sher) Chapter 516, Statutes of 2002)].
6)Specify that PG&E is responsible for identifying TOU tariff
for each site of a photovoltaic project under this agreement
and that electricity exported will be monetary credit to be
applied monthly as a credit or offset against the monthly
bill. PUC is allowed to increase the credit to reflect any
additional value derived from the location or environmental
attributes of the designated project.
7)Specify that monthly charges and credit amounts are subject to
accounting true ups and are to performed annually. Under the
agreement the City and County of San Francisco can only use
the credit or offset to reduce the obligation for the invoice
amount owed to PG&E and if there is no invoiced obligation
then there is no credit or offset.
8)Specify that the net metering agreements become inoperative if
the City and County of San Francisco engages in retail sales
of electricity to customers in PG&E territory as a result of
community choice aggregation or municipalization.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY, this bill exempted from the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Public Resources
Code Section 21000, et seq.) a project that consists of
restriping an existing paved right-of-way for bicycle lanes,
provided that it satisfied several conditions.
FISCAL EFFECT : Minor absorbable costs.
COMMENTS : The Senate amendments completely change the subject
matter of this bill as it left the Assembly. Previously this
bill dealt with CEQA exemptions for projects that consist of
restriping an existing paved right of way for bicycle lanes.
The Senate amendments changed this bill to allow for net
metering agreements between Hetch Hetchy Water and Power
photovoltaic electricity generation facilities owned and
designated by the City and County of San Francisco.
History of Net Metering: Net metering was established by SB 656
(Alquist), Chapter 369, Statutes of 1995, to mainly help
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residential customers who installed solar panels on their homes.
The purpose of net metering allowed for homeowners to capture
the electricity cost savings by installing solar panels through
receiving a credit or offset on their monthly bills as a result
of putting electricity back on the grid from the power generated
from their solar panels.
The Electricity Resource Plan (ERP) for the City and County of
San Francisco proposes increasing renewable generation to 50 MW
by 2015. Currently the Moscone Convention Center has been
retrofitted with solar panels that produce 688 kW of electricity
and a second site is proposed that will be 600 kW at a
wastewater treatment plant.
Currently, Hetch Hetchy Water and Power supplies most of the
electricity to the City and County of San Francisco but is
unable to participate in a net metering program established for
residential customers [SB 656 (Alquist), Chapter 369, Statutes
of 1995] or large commercial and industrial customers [ABX 29
(Kehoe) Chapter 8, Statutes of 2001, extended by AB 58 (Keeley)
Chapter 836, Statutes of 2002].
The net metering proposal between Hetch Hetchy Water and Power
photovoltaic generation facilities and PG&E would be capped at
five MW of peak generation total and each single photovoltaic
generation project would be capped at one megawatt of peak
generation capacity. The benefits for PG&E as a result of this
net metering agreement come from the lower costs of purchasing
this electricity under TOU tariffs versus retail rates and
having the electricity purchased meet its RPS requirements under
state law.
Analysis Prepared by : Daniel Kim / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083
FN: 0007614