BILL NUMBER: SB 1716 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Ducheny
FEBRUARY 20, 2004
An act to amend Section 25534 of the Public Resources Code, and to
repeal Division 1.5 (commencing with Section 3300) of the Public
Utilities Code, relating to energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1716, as introduced, Ducheny. Energy Commission: California
power authority.
(1) The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Act requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission to certify sufficient sites and related
facilities that are required to provide a supply of electric power
sufficient to accommodate projected demand for power statewide. The
act authorizes the commission to amend the conditions of, or revoke
the certification for, any facility if the owner of a project does
not start construction of the project within 12 months after the date
all permits necessary for the project become final and all
administrative and judicial appeals have been resolved, and if the
California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority
notifies the commission that it is willing and able to construct the
project. The act requires the commission to provide notice to the
authority if a project owner fails to commence construction, without
good cause, within 12 months after a project has been certified and
the project owner has not received an extension, and provides for the
construction of the project by the authority, as prescribed. The
act authorizes the commission and authority, in consultation with
each other, to adopt emergency regulations for those purposes.
This bill would repeal those provisions relating to the authority.
(2) The California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing
Authority Act establishes the authority with certain powers and
responsibilities for the purposes of augmenting electric generating
facilities and ensuring a sufficient and reliable supply of
electricity. The act establishes a California Consumer Power and
Conservation Financing Authority Fund in the State Treasury.
This bill would repeal that act. The bill would abolish the fund
and would transfer all fund assets, liabilities, and surplus, on
order of the Controller and as of the effective date of its
abolition, to the Energy Resources Programs Account. Unless
otherwise provided, all existing appropriations, to the extent
encumbered, and also those made for particular projects from the fund
would continue to be available for the same purposes and periods
from the account.
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. Section 25534 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
25534. (a) The commission may, after one or more hearings, amend
the conditions of, or revoke the certification for, any facility for
any of the following reasons:
(1) Any material false statement set forth in the application,
presented in proceedings of the commission, or included in
supplemental documentation provided by the applicant.
(2) Any significant failure to comply with the terms or conditions
of approval of the application, as specified by the commission in
its written decision.
(3) A violation of this division or any regulation or order issued
by the commission under this division.
(4) The owner of a project does not start construction of the
project within 12 months after the date all permits necessary for the
project become final and all administrative and judicial appeals
have been resolved provided the California Consumer Power
and Conservation Financing Authority notifies the commission that it
is willing and able to construct the project pursuant to subdivision
(g) . The project owner may extend the 12-month period by
24 additional months pursuant to subdivision (f). This paragraph
applies only to projects with a project permit application deemed
complete by the commission after January 1, 2003.
(b) The commission may also administratively impose a civil
penalty for a violation of paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a).
Any civil penalty shall be imposed in accordance with Section 25534.1
and may not exceed seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) per
violation, except that the civil penalty may be increased by an
amount not to exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per
day for each day in which the violation occurs or persists, but the
total of the per day penalties may not exceed fifty thousand dollars
($50,000).
(c) A project owner shall commence construction of a project
subject to the start-of-construction deadline provided by paragraph
(4) of subdivision (a) within 12 months after the project has been
certified by the commission and after all accompanying project
permits are final and administrative and judicial appeals have been
completed. The project owner shall submit construction and
commercial operation milestones to the commission within 30 days
after project certification. Construction milestones shall require
the start of construction within the 12-month period established by
this subdivision. The commission shall approve milestones within 60
days after project certification. If the 30-day deadline to submit
construction milestones to the commission is not met, the commission
shall establish milestones for the project.
(d) The failure of the owner of a project subject to the
start-of-construction deadline provided by paragraph (4) of
subdivision (a) to meet construction or commercial operation
milestones, without a finding by the commission of good cause, shall
be cause for revocation of certification or the imposition of other
penalties by the commission.
(e) A finding by the commission that there is good cause for
failure to meet the start-of-construction deadline required by
paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) or any subsequent milestones of
subdivision (c) shall be made if the commission determines that any
of the following criteria are met:
(1) The change in any deadline or milestone does not change the
established deadline or milestone for the start of commercial
operation.
(2) The deadline or milestone is changed due to circumstances
beyond the project owner's control, including, but not limited to,
administrative and legal appeals.
(3) The deadline or milestone will be missed but the project owner
demonstrates a good faith effort to meet the project deadline or
milestone.
(4) The deadline or milestone will be missed due to unforeseen
natural disasters or acts of God that prevent timely completion of
the project deadline or milestone.
(5) The deadline or milestone will be missed for any other reason
determined reasonable by the commission.
(f) The commission shall extend the start-of-construction deadline
required by paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) by an additional 24
months, if the owner reimburses the commission's actual cost of
licensing the project, less the amount paid pursuant to subdivision
(a) of Section 25806. For the purposes of this section, the
commission's actual cost of licensing the project shall be based on a
certified audit report filed by the commission staff within 180 days
of the commission's certification of the project. The certified
audit shall be filed and served on all parties to the proceeding, is
subject to public review and comment, and is subject to at least one
public hearing if requested by the project owner. Any reimbursement
received by the commission pursuant to this subdivision shall be
deposited in the General Fund.
(g) If the owner of a project subject to the
start-of-construction deadline provided by paragraph (4) of
subdivision (a) fails to commence construction, without good cause,
within 12 months after the project has been certified by the
commission and has not received an extension pursuant to subdivision
(f), the commission shall provide immediate notice to the California
Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority. The authority
shall evaluate whether to pursue the project independently or in
conjunction with any other public or private entity, including the
original certificate holder. If the authority demonstrates to the
commission that it is willing and able to construct the project
either independently or in conjunction with any other public or
private entity, including the original certificate holder, the
commission may revoke the original certification and issue a new
certification for the project to the authority, unless the authority'
s statutory authorization to finance or approve new programs,
enterprises, or projects has expired. If the authority declines to
pursue the project, the permit shall remain with the current project
owner until it expires pursuant to the regulations adopted by the
commission.
(h) If the commission issues a new certification for a project
subject to the start-of-construction deadline provided by paragraph
(4) of subdivision (a) to the authority, the commission shall adopt
new milestones for the project that allow the authority up to 24
months to start construction of the project or to start to meet the
applicable deadlines or milestones. If the authority fails to begin
construction in conformity with the deadlines or milestones adopted
by the commission, without good cause, the certification may be
revoked.
(i) (1) If the commission issues a new certification for a project
subject to the start-of-construction deadline provided by paragraph
(4) of subdivision (a) to the authority and the authority pursues the
project without participation of the original certificate holder,
the authority shall offer to reimburse the original certificate
holder for the actual costs the original certificate holder incurred
in permitting the project and in procuring assets associated with the
license, including, but not limited to, major equipment and the
emission offsets. In order to receive reimbursement, the original
certificate holder shall provide to the commission documentation of
the actual costs incurred in permitting the project. The commission
shall validate those costs. The certificate holder may refuse to
accept the offer of reimbursement for any asset associated with the
license and retain the asset. To the extent the certificate holder
chooses to accept the offer for an asset, it shall provide the
authority with the asset.
(2) If the authority reimburses the original certificate holder
for the costs described in paragraph (1), the original certificate
holder shall provide the authority with all of the assets for which
the original certificate holder received reimbursement.
(j) This section does not prevent a certificate holder
from selling its license to construct and operate a project prior to
its revocation by the commission. In the event of a sale to an
entity that is not an affiliate of the certificate holder, the
commission shall adopt new deadlines or milestones for the project
that allow the new certificate holder up to 12 months to start
construction of the project or to start to meet the applicable
deadlines or milestones.
(k)
(h) Paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) and subdivisions (c) to
(j) (g) , inclusive, do not apply to
licenses issued for the modernization, repowering, replacement, or
refurbishment of existing facilities or to a qualifying small power
production facility or a qualifying cogeneration facility within the
meaning of Sections 201 and 210 of Title II of the federal Public
Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. Secs. 796(17), 796
(18), and 824a-3), and the regulations adopted pursuant to those
sections by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (18 C.F.R. Parts
292.101 to 292.602, inclusive), nor shall those provisions apply to
any other generation units installed, operated, and maintained at a
customer site exclusively to serve that facility's load. For the
purposes of this subdivision, "replacement" of an existing facility
includes, but is not limited to, a comparable project at a location
different than the facility being replaced, provided that the
commission certifies that the new project will result in the
decommissioning of the existing facility.
(l)
(i) Paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) and subdivisions (c) to
(j) (g) , inclusive, do not apply to
licenses issued to "local publicly owned electric utilities" as
defined in subdivision (d) of Section 9604 of the Public Utilities
Code whose governing bodies certify to the commission that the
project is needed to meet the projected native load of the local
publicly owned utility electric .
(m)
(j) To implement this section, the commission and
the California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority
may , in consultation with each other,
adopt emergency regulations in accordance with Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code. For purposes of that chapter, including,
without limitation, Section 11349.6 of the Government Code, the
adoption of the regulations shall be considered by the Office of
Administrative Law to be necessary for the immediate preservation of
the public peace, health and safety, or general welfare.
SEC. 2. Division 1.5 (commencing with Section 3300) of the Public
Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 3. The California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing
Authority Fund in the State Treasury is hereby abolished. All
California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority Fund
assets, liabilities, and surplus shall, on order of the Controller
and as of the effective date of its abolition, be transferred to and
become a part of the Energy Resources Programs Account. Unless
otherwise provided, all existing appropriations, to the extent
encumbered, and also those made for particular projects from the
California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority Fund
shall continue to be available for the same purposes and periods from
the Energy Resources Programs Account.