BILL NUMBER: AB 1685 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 16, 2003
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 13, 2003
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 24, 2003
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Leno
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Hancock, Jackson, and Koretz)
FEBRUARY 21, 2003
An act to add Section 379.6 to repeal and
add Section 379.5 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to
energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1685, as amended, Leno. Energy: self-generation incentive
program : peak reduction .
Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission
(PUC) on or before March 7, 2001 , and
in consultation with the Independent System Operator and
, to take certain actions, including, in consultation
with 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 adopting
energy conservation demand-side management and other initiatives in
order to reduce demand for electricity and reduce load during peak
demand periods, including, but not limited to, differential
incentives for renewable or superclean distributed generation
resources. Pursuant to this requirement, the PUC
commission 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. Existing law also requires the
commission, in consultation with those entities, to adopt and
implement a residential, commercial, and industrial peak reduction
program that encourages electric customers to reduce electricity
consumption during peak power periods.
This bill would repeal those provisions and would, instead,
require the PUC commission , in
consultation with the Energy Commission, to administer a
self-generation incentive program for solar electricity generation
until January 1, 2008 , in the form that exists on January
1, 2004 .
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.
SEC. 2. Section 379.5 of the Public Utilities Code is repealed.
379.5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, on or before
March 7, 2001, the commission, in consultation with the Independent
System Operator, shall take all of the following actions, and shall
include the reasonable costs involved in taking those actions in the
distribution revenue requirements of utilities regulated by the
commission, as appropriate:
(a) (1) Identify and undertake those actions necessary to reduce
or remove constraints on the state's existing electrical transmission
and distribution system, including, but not limited to,
reconductoring of transmission lines, the addition of capacitors to
increase voltage, the reinforcement of existing transmission
capacity, and the installation of new transformer banks. The
commission shall, in consultation with the Independent System
Operator, give first priority to those geographical regions where
congestion reduces or impedes electrical transmission and supply.
(2) Consistent with the existing statutory authority of the
commission, afford electrical corporations a reasonable opportunity
to fully recover costs it determines are reasonable and prudent to
plan, finance, construct, operate, and maintain any facilities under
its jurisdiction required by this section.
(b) In consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation
and Development Commission, adopt energy conservation demand-side
management and other initiatives in order to reduce demand for
electricity and reduce load during peak demand periods. Those
initiatives shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Expansion and acceleration of residential and commercial
weatherization programs.
(2) Expansion and acceleration of programs to inspect and improve
the operating efficiency of heating, ventilation, and
air-conditioning equipment in new and existing buildings, to ensure
that these systems achieve the maximum feasible cost-effective energy
efficiency.
(3) Expansion and acceleration of programs to improve energy
efficiency in new buildings, in order to achieve the maximum feasible
reductions in uneconomic energy and peak electricity consumption.
(4) Incentives to equip commercial buildings with the capacity to
automatically shut down or dim nonessential lighting and
incrementally raise thermostats during a peak electricity demand
period.
(5) Evaluation of installing local infrastructure to link
temperature setback thermostats to real-time price signals.
(6) Incentives for load control and distributed generation to be
paid for enhancing reliability.
(7) Differential incentives for renewable or super clean
distributed generation resources.
(8) Reevaluation of all efficiency cost-effectiveness tests in
light of increases in wholesale electricity costs and of natural gas
costs to explicitly include the system value of reduced load on
reducing market clearing prices and volatility.
(c) In consultation with the Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission, adopt and implement a residential,
commercial, and industrial peak reduction program that encourages
electric customers to reduce electricity consumption during peak
power periods.
SEC. 3. Section 379.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
379.5. The commission, in consultation with the State
Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, shall until
January 1, 2008, administer a self-generation incentive
program in the same form as exists on January 1, 2004.
program for solar electricity generation.