BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 200| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 445-6614 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 200 Author: Leslie (R) Amended: As introduced Vote: 21 SENATE COMMITTEE : 9-0, 06/21/05 AYES: Escutia, Morrow, Alarcon, Bowen, Campbell, Cox, Dunn, Murray, Simitian NO VOTE RECORDED: Battin, Kehoe ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 4/11/05 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Renewable energy resources: California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program SOURCE : Pacific Corporation Sierra Pacific Power Company DIGEST : This bill modifies the manner in which an electrical corporation with fewer than 60,000 customers in California that also served customers in other states must meet Californias Renewable Portfolio Standard. ANALYSIS : Existing law, the "Renewables Portfolio Standard" (RPS), requires each investor-owned utility (IOU) to increase its existing level of renewable energy resources by one percent of sales per year until renewable energy resources account for 20 percent of its portfolio, with a deadline of 2017 for achieving 20 percent. With certain exceptions, renewable energy resources must be CONTINUED AB 200 Page 2 located within California to count toward RPS compliance. This bill permits an IOU serving fewer than 60,000 customers in California that also serves customers in another state (i.e. PacifiCorp and Sierra Pacific Power) to count its out-of-state renewable resources toward its RPS compliance. Background The RPS requires IOUs and certain other retail energy providers, collectively referred to as "retail sellers," to buy renewable electricity to the extent Public Goods Charge funds are available to pay for any costs exceeding a market price set by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Each IOU is required to increase its renewable procurement each year by at least one percent of total sales, so that 20 percent of its sales are renewable energy resources by December 31, 2017. With some exceptions, renewable energy resources must be located in California to be counted toward an IOU's RPS requirements. There are two IOUs based in other states, but who have small service areas in California and are subject to CPUC regulation and the RPS law for their California operations. Sierra Pacific Power is an electric utility which serves most of northern Nevada and a small part of California around Lake Tahoe. PacificCorp is an Oregon-based electric utility which serves Del Norte and Siskiyou Counties in Northern California. According to the author's office, PacifiCorp and Sierra Pacific need flexibility in meeting RPS requirements because they procure a pool of resources for all of their customers and do not procure specific resources for their California customers. This bill allows PacifiCorp and Sierra Pacific to count renewable resources in all of their service territory towards the RPS provided the resources meet other applicable criteria and aren't counted for another state's RPS. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No AB 200 Page 3 Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 6/21/05) PacifiCorp (co-source) Sierra Pacific Power Company (co-source) ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Aghazarian, Arambula, Baca, Bass, Benoit, Berg, Bermudez, Blakeslee, Bogh, Calderon, Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cogdill, Cohn, Coto, Daucher, De La Torre, DeVore, Dymally, Emmerson, Evans, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg, Hancock, Harman, Haynes, Shirley Horton, Houston, Huff, Jones, Karnette, Keene, Klehs, Koretz, La Malfa, La Suer, Laird, Leno, Leslie, Levine, Lieber, Liu, Matthews, Maze, McCarthy, Montanez, Mountjoy, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nation, Nava, Negrete McLeod, Niello, Oropeza, Parra, Pavley, Plescia, Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Sharon Runner, Ruskin, Saldana, Salinas, Spitzer, Strickland, Torrico, Tran, Umberg, Vargas, Villines, Walters, Wolk, Wyland, Yee, Nunez NO VOTE RECORDED: Gordon, Jerome Horton NC:do 6/22/05 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****