BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 1776
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   June 30, 2004

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                   Judy Chu, Chair

                 SB 1776 (Bowen) - As Introduced:  February 20, 2004 

          Policy Committee:                               
          UtilitiesVote:12-0 (Consent)
                        Natural Resources                     10-0  
          (Consent)

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill reinstates, until January 1, 2007, a requirement for  
          the California Energy Commission (CEC) to establish an  
          expedited, six-month review process for the certification of  
          thermal powerplants.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Potential minor savings to the CEC to the extent that the  
          expedited process can be utilized.

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  . The CEC has the exclusive authority to certify all  
          thermal powerplant proposals over 50 megawatts within the state,  
          whether at a new site or for a change or addition to an existing  
          facility. According to the author's office, in 2001, in response  
          to rapidly rising energy costs, the CEC was required to  
          institute an expedited review process for thermal powerplants  
          and related facilities. That process sunset on January 1, 2004  
          with mixed reviews. During the three-year stretch, 12  
          applications were submitted under the process. Two of those  
          projects were successfully completed, five were sited using the  
          traditional 12-month process and five were discontinued. The CEC  
          indicates that the most likely candidates for the expedited  
          process are the repowering of existing plants, which generally  
          present fewer environmental and community problems. Given recent  
          forecasts from both the CEC and the California Independent  
          System Operator citing potential energy supply problems as early  








                                                                  SB 1776
                                                                  Page  2

          as 2006, reinstating the expedited review process may be a  
          helpful step to meeting the state's energy needs.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081