BILL ANALYSIS
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1037
Author: Kehoe (D)
Amended: 8/15/05
Vote: 21
SEN. ENERGY, UTIL. & COMMUNICATIONS COMM. : 7-2, 4/19/05
AYES: Escutia, Alarcon, Battin, Bowen, Dunn, Kehoe,
Simitian
NOES: Morrow, Cox
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campbell, Murray
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-2, 5/16/05
AYES: Migden, Alquist, Battin, Bowen, Florez, Murray,
Ortiz
NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn
NO VOTE RECORDED: Dutton, Escutia, Poochigian, Speier
SENATE FLOOR : 26-14, 6/2/05
AYES: Alarcon, Alquist, Battin, Bowen, Cedillo, Chesbro,
Ducheny, Dunn, Escutia, Figueroa, Florez, Kehoe, Kuehl,
Lowenthal, Machado, Migden, Murray, Ortiz, Perata,
Romero, Scott, Simitian, Soto, Speier, Torlakson, Vincent
NOES: Aanestad, Ackerman, Ashburn, Campbell, Cox, Denham,
Dutton, Hollingsworth, Maldonado, Margett, McClintock,
Morrow, Poochigian, Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 47-31, 8/30/05 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Energy efficiency
SOURCE : Natural Resources Defense Council
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DIGEST : This bill requires electrical utilities,
municipal utilities, and the Public Utilities Commission to
make energy efficiency programs a priority before acquiring
other sources of electricity or building new transmission
lines.
Assembly Amendments rewrite the language in portions of the
bill, without changing the focus or intent.
ANALYSIS : Current law requires investor-owned utilities
to procure energy according to a procurement plan, approved
by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
This bill requires public and private gas and electric
utilities in procuring energy, to first acquire all
available energy efficiency and demand reduction resources
that are cost-effective, reliable, and feasible (before
conventional generation or other resources). Generally,
this is the existing policy of the PUC, although here it is
also being applied to local publicly-owned utilities.
Existing law, SB 1565 (Bowen), Chapter 562, Statutes of
2004, requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to
adopt a statewide transmission plan.
This bill requires the PUC, in considering an application
for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for
an electric transmission line, to consider all
cost-effective alternatives that meet the need, as
specified.
This bill requires municipal utilities (munis), in
procuring energy, to first acquire all available energy
efficiency and demand reduction recourses that are
cost-effective, reliable, and feasible (before conventional
generation or other resources), as specified.
This bill requires munis to annually report to its
customers and to the CEC its investments in energy
efficiency and demand reduction programs.
Comments
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California's energy agencies, including the PUC, have
adopted an "Energy Action Plan" (EAP) which includes a
"loading order" for the acquisition of new resources. The
loading order prioritizes energy efficiency. The EAP and
its loading order are unenforceable themselves. However,
elements of the EAP, including the loading order, have been
incorporated into PUC decisions governing the
privately-owned utilities it regulates. The EAP has not
been adopted by, and is not directly enforceable upon,
publicly-owned utilities. Publicly-owned utilities are
subject to state law, but are not subject to PUC
jurisdiction. Instead, they are public agencies governed
by local elected officials.
According to the author's office, this bill codifies recent
PUC decisions on energy efficiency and takes the first step
in a truly statewide energy efficiency policy by requiring
publicly-owned utilities to acquire energy efficiency
before conventional generation or other resources.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
Increased costs to the PUC are unknown, but approximately
$100,000 to $500,000 to conduct proceedings, consider
alternatives in transmission and distribution planning, and
comply with the other provisions of the bill. Public
Utilities' Reimbursement Account revenues are derived from
an annual fee imposed on utilities. Therefore, any
increased costs to the PUC should be offset by fee
revenues.
Any increased costs to local publicly owned utilities
should be recovered in rates.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/31/05)
Natural Resources Defense Council (source)
Public Utilities Commission
Southern California Edison
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
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AYES: Arambula, Baca, Bass, Berg, Bermudez, Blakeslee,
Calderon, Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cohn, Coto, De
La Torre, Dymally, Evans, Frommer, Goldberg, Hancock,
Jerome Horton, Jones, Karnette, Klehs, Koretz, Laird,
Leno, Levine, Lieber, Liu, Matthews, Montanez, Mullin,
Nation, Nava, Negrete McLeod, Parra, Pavley,
Ridley-Thomas, Ruskin, Saldana, Salinas, Torrico, Umberg,
Vargas, Wolk, Yee, Nunez
NOES: Aghazarian, Benoit, Bogh, Cogdill, Daucher, DeVore,
Emmerson, Garcia, Harman, Haynes, Shirley Horton,
Houston, Huff, Keene, La Malfa, La Suer, Leslie, Maze,
McCarthy, Mountjoy, Nakanishi, Niello, Plescia, Richman,
Sharon Runner, Spitzer, Strickland, Tran, Villines,
Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza, Vacancy
NC:mel 8/31/05 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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