BILL ANALYSIS AB 1585 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 1585 (Blakeslee) As Amended August 15, 2005 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |77-1 |(May 23, 2005) |SENATE: |36-4 |(August 23, | | | | | | |2005) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: U. & C. SUMMARY : Requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to review the feasibility of increasing the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) target to 33% by 2017. The Senate amendments provide that the: 1)Review should be conducted as part of assessments CEC is required to make as part of 2007 the Integrated Energy Policy Report. 2)Bill will only becomes operative if SB 107 (Simitian), pending in the Assembly, is enacted by January 1, 2006. AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required CEC to conduct the review as a separate study and to report the results of this review to the Legislature and the Governor by July 1, 2007. FISCAL EFFECT : Minor absorbable costs to CEC, which indicates it is already conducting such an evaluation. COMMENTS : SB 1078 (Sher), Chapter 516, Statutes of 2002, creates California's RPS, under which the investor owned utilities are required to increase their renewable procurement each year by at least 1% of total sales, so that 20% of their sales are from renewable energy sources by December 31, 2017. Once a 20% portfolio is achieved, no further increase is required. The Energy Action Plan adopted by the Public Utilities Commission, CEC and the state Power Authority pledges that the agencies will accelerate RPS implementation to meet the 20% goal by 2010, instead of 2017. In the 2004 update to its Integrated Energy Policy Report, CEC recommended further advancing the state's commitment to renewable resources by AB 1585 Page 2 requiring retail sellers of electricity to achieve a 33% RPS by 2017. This bill addresses this recommendation by requiring CEC to further study the feasibility of mandating that goal. Analysis Prepared by : Edward Randolph / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083 FN: 0012200