BILL NUMBER: AB 2432 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 30, 2008
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 21, 2008
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2008
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2008
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Laird
FEBRUARY 21, 2008
An act to amend Sections 25620.1, 25620.7, and 25620.11 of the
Public Resources Code, relating to coastal resources
energy .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2432, as amended, Laird. State Energy Resources Conservation
and Development Commission: climate change research.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission (Energy Commission) to develop, implement, and
administer the Public Interest Research, Development, and
Demonstration Program. The goal of the program is to develop, and
help bring to market, energy technologies that provide increased
environmental benefits, greater system reliability, and lower system
costs, and that provide tangible benefits to electric utility
customers through specified investments.
This bill would additionally require the Energy Commission, in
support of that program, to provide investment in research,
development, and demonstration activities to mitigate and adapt to
climate change impacts and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
. The Energy Commission would be authorized to contract for or
enter into interagency agreements to support the program. The Energy
Commission would be required to convene state agency decisionmakers
responsible for climate change mitigation and adaption activities to
provide those decisionmakers with information on current climate
change research activities and to receive advice on future research
needs.
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 25620.1 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
25620.1. (a) The commission shall develop, implement, and
administer the Public Interest Research, Development, and
Demonstration Program that is hereby created. The program shall
include a full range of research, development, and demonstration
activities that, as determined by the commission, are not adequately
provided for by competitive and regulated markets. The commission
shall administer the program consistent with the policies of this
chapter.
(b) The general goal of the program is to develop, and help bring
to market, energy technologies that provide increased environmental
benefits, greater system reliability, and lower system costs, and
that provide tangible benefits to electric utility customers through
the following investments:
(1) Advanced electricity and natural gas transportation
technologies that reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions
beyond applicable standards, and that benefit electricity and natural
gas ratepayers.
(2) Increased energy efficiency in buildings, appliances,
lighting, and other applications beyond applicable standards, and
that benefit electric utility customers.
(3) Advanced electricity generation technologies that exceed
applicable standards to increase reductions in greenhouse gas
emissions from electricity generation, and that benefit electric
utility customers.
(4) Advanced electricity technologies that reduce or eliminate
consumption of water or other finite resources, increase use of
renewable energy resources, or improve transmission or distribution
of electricity generated from renewable energy resources.
(5) Research, development, and demonstration activities to
mitigate and adapt to climate change impacts, including, but not
limited to, mitigation and adaptation assistance to state agencies
that benefit electric utility customers.
(6) Research, development, and demonstration projects to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, including, but not limited to, projects for
increasing efficiency and conservation of energy technologies that
benefit electric utility customers.
(c) To achieve the goals established in subdivision (b), the
commission shall adopt a portfolio approach for the program that does
all of the following:
(1) Effectively balances the risks, benefits, and time horizons
for various activities and investments that will provide tangible
energy or environmental benefits for California electricity
customers.
(2) Emphasizes innovative energy supply and end-use technologies,
focusing on their reliability, affordability, and environmental
attributes.
(3) Includes projects that have the potential to enhance
transmission and distribution capabilities.
(4) Includes projects that have the potential to enhance the
reliability, peaking power, and storage capabilities of renewable
energy.
(5) Demonstrates a balance of benefits to all sectors that
contribute to the funding under Section 399.8 of the Public Utilities
Code.
(6) Addresses key technical and scientific barriers.
(7) Demonstrates a balance between short-term, midterm, and
long-term potential.
(8) Ensures that prior, current, and future research not be
unnecessarily duplicated.
(9) Provides for the future market utilization of projects funded
through the program.
(10) Ensures an open project selection process and encourages the
awarding of research funding for a diverse type of research as well
as a diverse award recipient base and equally considers research
proposals from the public and private sectors.
(11) Coordinates with other related research programs.
(d) The term "award," as used in this chapter, may include, but is
not limited to, contracts, grants, interagency agreements, loans,
and other financial agreements designed to fund public interest
research, demonstration, and development projects or programs.
SEC. 2. Section 25620.7 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
25620.7. (a) The commission may contract for, or through
interagency agreement obtain, technical, scientific, or
administrative services or expertise from one or more entities, to
support the program. Funding for this purpose shall be made from
money in the Public Interest Research, Development, and Demonstration
Fund.
(b) The commission may select the services or expertise described
in subdivision (a), pursuant to Section 25620.5. In the event that
contracts or interagency agreements have been made to multiple
entities and their subcontractors for similar purposes, the
commission may select from among those entities the particular
expertise needed for a specified type of work. Selection of the
particular expertise may be based solely on a review of
qualifications, including the specific expertise required,
availability of the expertise, or access to a resource of special
relevance to the work, including, but not limited to, a database,
model, technical facility, or a collaborative or institutional
affiliation that will expedite the quality and performance of the
work.
SEC. 3. Section 25620.11 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
25620.11. (a) The commission shall regularly convene an advisory
board that shall make recommendations to guide the commission's
selection of programs and projects to be funded under this chapter.
The advisory board shall include as appropriate, but not be limited
to, representatives from the Public Utilities Commission, consumer
organizations, environmental organizations, and electrical
corporations subject to the funding requirements of Section 381 of
the Public Utilities Code.
(b) The commission shall convene, as a part of the advisory board
or separately, state agency decisionmakers responsible for climate
change mitigation and adaptation activities to provide those state
decisionmakers with information on current climate change research
activities and to receive advice from state decisionmakers on future
research needs.
(c) Three members of the Senate, appointed by the Senate President
pro Tempore, and three Members of the Assembly, appointed by the
Speaker of the Assembly, may meet with the advisory board and
participate in its activities to the extent that the participation is
not incompatible with their respective positions as Members of the
Legislature.