BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 185|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 445-6614 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 185
Author: Sher (D)
Amended: 9/4/03
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 8-1, 4/8/03
AYES: Bowen, Morrow, Alarcon, Battin, Dunn, Murray, Sher,
Vasconcellos
NOES: McClintock
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR : 35-2, 5/8/03
AYES: Aanestad, Ackerman, Alarcon, Alpert, Ashburn,
Battin, Bowen, Brulte, Burton, Cedillo, Chesbro, Denham,
Ducheny, Escutia, Figueroa, Florez, Karnette, Knight,
Kuehl, Machado, Margett, McPherson, Morrow, Murray,
Oller, Ortiz, Poochigian, Romero, Scott, Sher, Soto,
Speier, Torlakson, Vasconcellos, Vincent
NOES: Hollingsworth, McClintock
NO VOTE RECORDED: Dunn, Johnson, Perata
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-3, 9/8/03 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Electricity: source disclosure
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill makes changes in the disclosure
requirements for retail suppliers of electricity.
CONTINUED
SB 185
Page
2
Assembly amendments (a) change reporting interval from
biannually to annually, (b) add provisions clarifying
requirement that the California Energy Commission establish
a format for disclosure of electricity sources, (c) clarify
the meaning of renewables, and (d) make other clarifying
and technical changes.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires retail sellers of
electricity to disclose their sources of electricity, but
allows sellers who don't make any claims about their
sources to report statewide averages, rather than their
actual sources. Existing law requires renewable resources
to be separately identified according to specified fuel
types (biomass and waste, geothermal, small hydroelectric,
solar, and wind).
This bill updates existing requirements that retail sellers
of electricity disclose to end use customers and to the
California Energy Commission (CEC) the sources by fuel type
of their electricity portfolio. Specifically, this bill:
1.Requires retail providers of electricity to disclose in
all promotional material distributed and at least
annually to all end use customers the percentage of
retail electricity sales derived from:
A. Coal.
B. Large hydroelectric (greater that 30 megawatts).
C. Natural gas.
D. Nuclear.
E. Specified renewable energy resources, and,
F. Other fuel types.
1.Requires retail suppliers of electricity to annually
report to CEC detailed information regarding fuel types
and electricity generated.
2.Repeals provisions that allow retail sellers of
electricity that do not make specific claims about the
SB 185
Page
3
source of their electricity to report statewide averages
instead of actual sources.
3.Specifies that CEC shall establish a format for
disclosing fuel sources that includes information on the
retail provider's progress toward meeting their renewable
portfolio obligations.
4.Allows publicly owned utilities to meet reporting
obligations under separate code sections if they comply
with the reporting requirements under only the specified
code section.
5.Prohibits CEC from requiring an audit of a public owned
electric utility's fuel source reporting unless CEC first
makes a finding of good cause.
Background
SB 1305 (Sher), Chapter 796, Statutes of 1997, requires,
among other things, retail sellers of electricity to tell
their customers the sources of the electricity they
provide. SB 1305 resulted in the "Power Content Label"
periodically included in utility bills, which indicates the
percentages of various types of renewable, coal, large
hydroelectric, and natural gas resources in the retail
seller's portfolio. Retail sellers making no specific
product claims are permitted to report system averages,
rather than their actual portfolio.
With the demise of the Power Exchange, the system average
portfolio is harder to discern and less relevant. With the
passage of the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS),
individual sellers' electricity sources are more
significant to their customers.
According to the author, this bill is intended to update
and revise the provisions of SB 1305 to reflect recent
changes in the electricity market. Recent changes include
the passage of the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) under
SB 1078 (Sher), Chapter 516, Statutes of 2002. SB 1078
added new categorical definitions of renewable power. This
bill conforms the definition of renewable electricity
resources required to be reported to customers to those
established by SB 1078.
SB 185
Page
4
Additionally, at the time SB 1305 was passed, retail
providers purchased electricity on the spot the market.
When most power was purchased on the spot market, it was
difficult for electricity providers to report on the
sources of their power, as the sources were unknown or
unpredictable. Today more electricity is purchased through
long-term contracts thus it becomes easier for all retail
providers of electricity to report on their fuel sources
and, according to supporters of this bill, the option to
only report statewide averages is no longer justified.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
Negligible costs to CEC.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/4/03)
Southern California Edison
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Aghazarian, Bates, Benoit, Berg, Bermudez, Calderon,
Campbell, Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cogdill, Cohn,
Corbett, Correa, Cox, Daucher, Diaz, Dutra, Dutton,
Dymally, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg, Hancock, Harman,
Jerome Horton, Shirley Horton, Houston, Jackson, Kehoe,
Koretz, La Malfa, La Suer, Laird, Leno, Leslie, Levine,
Lieber, Liu, Longville, Lowenthal, Maddox, Maldonado,
Matthews, Maze, McCarthy, Montanez, Mountjoy, Mullin,
Nakanishi, Nakano, Nation, Negrete McLeod, Nunez,
Oropeza, Pacheco, Parra, Pavley, Plescia, Reyes, Richman,
Ridley-Thomas, Runner, Salinas, Samuelian, Simitian,
Spitzer, Steinberg, Strickland, Vargas, Wiggins, Wolk,
Wyland, Yee, Wesson
NOES: Bogh, Haynes, Keene
NC:nl 9/9/03 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
SB 185
Page
5