BILL ANALYSIS
AB 594
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 594 (Leno)
As Amended July 21, 2004
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 15, 2003) |SENATE: |32-1 |(August 10, 2004) |
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(vote not revelant)
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: |11-0 |(August 18, 2004) |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
|(Utilities and | | | | |
|Commerce) | | | | |
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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. This bill
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prohibits the City and County of San Francisco from selling
electricity from the projects under this agreement to third
parties.
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 be 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 a co metering agreement
between Hetch Hetchy Water and Power photovoltaic electricity
generation facilities owned and designated by the City and County
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of San Francisco.
History of Net Metering : Net metering was established by SB 656
(Alquist), Chapter 369, Statutes of 1995, to mainly help
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 either co metering or net metering programs
established by SB 656 or ABX 29 (Kehoe) Chapter 8, Statutes of 2001
and extended by AB 58 (Keeley) Chapter 836, Statutes of 2002.
This proposal between PG&E and the City and County of San Francisco
would allow electricity to be placed back on the grid during
non-high use times. Under this proposal PG&E would require that
the City and County of San Francisco utilize meters that will
separately record the total flow of electricity in both directions
so that PG&E will be able to continue to charge transmission and
distribution, and public goods charges unlike in a typical net
metering arrangement.
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 MW 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:
0008252
AB 594
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