BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1733
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:  April 21, 2003

                    ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE
                                 Sarah Reyes, Chair
             AB 1733 (Assembly Utilities and Commerce) - As Introduced:   
                                    March 5, 2003
           
          SUBJECT  :  Electricity: procurement plans.

           SUMMARY  :  Makes a technical change to existing law governing  
          utility electricity procurement plans.  Specifically,  this bill   
          requires a proposed electricity procurement plan to demonstrate  
          that it furthers the utility's obligation under the renewables  
          portfolio standard. 

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Establishes a process at the California Public Utilities  
            Commission (PUC) by which an investor-owned utility (IOU) may  
            obtain a determination that its proposed electricity  
            procurement expenses will be deemed reasonable, and therefore  
            recoverable from ratepayers, before the procurement expenses  
            are incurred, rather than after the fact, which was the former  
            practice. 

          2)Requires each IOU to file a procurement plan for review by PUC  
            that outlines its future procurement plans.

          3)Requires IOUs, in their procurement plans, in order to fulfill  
            unmet resource needs, to procure renewable energy resources  
            with the goal of ensuring that at least additional one percent  
            per year of the electricity sold by IOU is renewable energy  
            until a 20 percent renewable resources portfolio is achieved,  
            provided sufficient public goods charge funds are available to  
            cover the above-market costs of new renewable energy.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown.

           COMMENTS  :

           Renewables Portfolio Standard  

          Last year, the Legislature passed SB 1078 (Sher), Chapter 516,  
          Statutes of 2002, which requires utilities to increase  
          procurement of electricity from renewable energy sources by at  








                                                                  AB 1733
                                                                  Page  2

          least one percent per year so that at least 20 percent of their  
          retail sales are procured from renewables by the year 2017.

          The Legislature also passed AB 57 (Wright) last year, which was  
          signed into law by the Governor as Chapter 835, Statutes of  
          2002.  AB 57 separately provided that IOUs shall increase their  
          procurement of renewable energy resources using the same 20  
          percent portfolio standard goal.

          This bill makes it clear the two separately mentioned renewables  
          portfolio standards are one in the same by correcting a  
          statutory cross-reference. 

           
          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          None on file.

           Opposition 
           
          None on file.
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Paul Donahue / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083