BILL NUMBER: AB 1685	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Leno

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2003

   An act to add Section 379.6 to the Public Utilities Code, relating
to energy.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1685, as introduced, Leno.  Energy:  self generation incentive
program.
   Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), in
consultation with the Independent System Operator and the State
Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy
Commission), to adopt initiatives, on or before March 7, 2001, to
reduce demand for electricity and reduce load during peak demand
periods, including differential incentives for renewable or
superclean distributed generation resources.  Pursuant to this
requirement, the PUC has developed a Self Generation Incentive
Program to encourage customers of electrical corporations to install
distributed generation that operates on renewable fuel or contributes
to system reliability.
   This bill would require the PUC, in consultation with the Energy
Commission, to administer a self generation incentive program for
solar electricity generation.
   Vote:  majority.  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 reliance on renewable energy
resources, particularly solar electricity generation, promotes stable
electricity prices, protects public health, improves environmental
quality, stimulates sustainable economic development, creates new
employment opportunities, and reduces reliance on imported fuels.
   (b) The development of renewable energy resources, particularly
nonpolluting solar electricity generation, ameliorates air quality
problems throughout the state and improves public health by reducing
the burning of fossil fuels and the associated environmental impacts.

   (c) The Self Generation Incentive Program administered by the
Public Utilities Commission and established pursuant to Section 379.5
(Decision 01-03-073, March 27, 2001), has been a critically
important subsidy for the growth of solar electricity generation in
California, but is set to expire at the end of 2004.
   (d) The Legislature intends that the commission continue the Self
Generation Incentive Program in order to subsidize solar electricity
generation.
  SEC. 2.  Section 379.6 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
   379.6.  The commission, in consultation with the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission, shall administer a
self generation incentive program for solar electricity generation.