BILL NUMBER: SB 46 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senators Alpert and Sher
JANUARY 9, 2003
An act to amend Section 353.1 of the Public Utilities Code,
relating to energy, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 46, as introduced, Alpert. Distributed energy resources.
(1) Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to
require each electrical corporation under the operational control of
the Independent System Operator as of January 1, 2001, to modify
tariffs so that all customers that install new distributed energy
resources in accordance with specified criteria are served under
rates, rules, and requirements identical to those of a customer
within the same rate schedule that does not use distributed energy
resources, and to withdraw any provisions in otherwise applicable
tariffs that activate other tariffs, rates, or rules if a customer
uses distributed energy resources. Existing law defines "distributed
energy resources" to mean any electric generation technology that
meets certain criteria, including having commenced initial operation
between May 1, 2001, and June 1, 2003, except that gas-fired
distributed energy resources that are not operated in a combined heat
and power application must commence operation no later than
September 1, 2002.
This bill would expand that distributed energy resources criterion
to include electric generation technology that commenced initial
operation between May 1, 2001, and June 1, 2005, except that
gas-fired distributed energy resources that are not operated in a
combined heat and power application must commence operation no later
than September 1, 2002. Because a violation of a requirement of the
commission is a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local
program by changing the definition of a crime.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
(3) The bill would declare that it is take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The Public Utilities Commission has failed to implement
provisions of Chapter 12 of the Statutes of 2001, 2001-2002 First
Extraordinary Session of the Legislature, to direct electrical
corporations to establish new tariffs that take into account the
actual costs and benefits of distributed generation.
(b) The commission has failed to implement provisions of that
chapter that require the commission to submit a report to the
Legislature by June 1, 2002, describing the methodology to be used
for determining standby rates and the process by which the rates will
be established.
(c) As a result of inaction by the commission, standby fee tariffs
continue to serve as a disincentive to the installation of
distributed energy generation, which is acknowledged to provide
energy certainty to the customer, relief to the energy distribution
system, and diversity to the state's energy portfolio.
SEC. 2. Section 353.1 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
353.1. As used in this article, "distributed energy resources"
means any electric generation technology that meets all of the
following criteria:
(a) Commences initial operation between May 1, 2001, and June 1,
2003 2005 , except that gas-fired
distributed energy resources that are not operated in a combined heat
and power application must commence operation no later than
September 1, 2002.
(b) Is located within a single facility.
(c) Is five megawatts or smaller in aggregate capacity.
(d) Serves onsite loads or over-the-fence transactions allowed
under Sections 216 and 218.
(e) Is powered by any fuel other than diesel.
(f) Complies with emission standards and guidance adopted by the
State Air Resources Board pursuant to Sections 41514.9 and 41514.10
of the Health and Safety Code. Prior to the adoption of those
standards and guidance, for the purpose of this article, distributed
energy resources shall meet emissions levels equivalent to nine parts
per million oxides of nitrogen, or the equivalent standard taking
into account efficiency as determined by the State Air Resources
Board, averaged over a three-hour period, or best available control
technology for the applicable air district, whichever is lower,
except for distributed generation units that displace and therefore
significantly reduce emissions from natural gas flares or reinjection
compressors, as determined by the State Air Resources Control Board.
These units shall comply with the applicable best available control
technology as determined by the air pollution control district or
air quality management district in which they are located.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to remove barriers to clean distributed generation as
soon as possible, thereby promoting energy reliability and energy
portfolio diversity, it is necessary for this act to take effect
immediately.