BILL NUMBER: AB 1393 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 15, 1999
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Wright
FEBRUARY 26, 1999
An act to amend Sections 381 and 382 of, and to add Section 381.5
to, the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1393, as amended, R. Wright. Electrical restructuring:
programs: funding.
(1) The Public Utilities Act requires specified electrical
corporations to allow customers to make voluntary contributions
through their utility bill payments as either a fixed amount or a
variable amount to support programs established for the in-state
operation and development of existing and new and emerging renewable
resource technologies, as described. The act requires the Public
Utilities Commission to order certain electrical corporations to
collect and spend funds for, among other purposes, cost-effective
energy efficiency and conservation activities, in accordance with a
prescribed schedule. The act requires programs provided to
low-income electricity customers, including, but not limited to,
targeted energy-efficiency services and the California Alternative
Rates for Energy Program to be funded at not less than 1996
authorized levels based on an assessment of customer need, and
requires the commission to allocate funds necessary to meet those
low-income objectives.
This bill would require those specified electrical corporations to
also allow customers to make those voluntary contributions described
above to support programs established for cost-effective energy
efficiency and conservation activities. The bill would require the
commission to allocate the funds collected to support those programs
in accordance with administration and expenditure criteria, upon the
establishment of those criteria by the Legislature. The bill would
require the commission to order those certain electrical corporations
required to collect and spend funds for cost-effective energy
efficiency and conservation activities to allocate 35% of those to
cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation activities that
affect residential energy use. The bill would require the commission
to order the electrical corporations to collect and expend funds for
targeted energy efficiency programs for low-income electricity
customers in accordance with a prescribed schedule. The bill would
require the commission, with respect to those low-income objectives,
to require the collection and allocation of funds necessary to meet
the objectives.
The bill would require the commission to order certain electrical
corporations, on and after January 1, 2002, to collect a specified
fee to support cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation
activities. Because a violation of the act is a crime, this
bill would impose state-mandated local programs by creating new
crimes.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 381 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
381. (a) To ensure that the funding for the programs described in
subdivision (b) and Section 382 is not commingled with other
revenues, the commission shall require each electrical corporation to
identify a separate rate component to collect the revenues used to
fund these programs. The rate component shall be a nonbypassable
element of the local distribution service and collected on the basis
of usage. This On or before January 1, 2002,
this rate component shall fall within the rate levels
identified in subdivision (a) of Section 368.
(b) The commission shall allocate funds collected pursuant to
subdivision (a), and any interest earned on collected funds, to
programs which enhance system reliability and provide in-state
benefits as follows:
(1) Cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation activities.
(2) Public interest research and development not adequately
provided by competitive and regulated markets.
(3) In-state operation and development of existing and new and
emerging renewable resource technologies defined as electricity
produced from other than a conventional power source within the
meaning of Section 2805, provided that a power source utilizing more
than 25 percent fossil fuel may not be included.
(c) The Public Utilities Commission shall order the respective
electrical corporations to collect and spend these funds, as follows:
(1) Cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation activities
shall be funded at not less than the following levels commencing
January 1, 1998, through December 31, 2001: for San Diego Gas and
Electric Company a level of thirty-two million dollars ($32,000,000)
per year; for Southern California Edison Company a level of ninety
million dollars ($90,000,000) for each of the years l998, 1999, and
2000; fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) for the year 2001; and for
Pacific Gas and Electric Company a level of one hundred six million
dollars ($106,000,000) per year. The commission shall order the
respective electrical corporations, on and after January 1, 2002, to
collect a surcharge of 1.5 mills ($0.0015) per kilowatt hour to
support cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation activities.
(2) Research, development, and demonstration programs to advance
science or technology that are not adequately provided by competitive
and regulated markets shall be funded at not less than the following
levels commencing January 1, 1998 through December 31, 2001: for
San Diego Gas and Electric Company a level of four million dollars
($4,000,000) per year; for Southern California Edison Company a level
of twenty-eight million five hundred thousand dollars ($28,500,000)
per year; and for Pacific Gas and Electric Company a level of thirty
million dollars ($30,000,000) per year.
(3) In-state operation and development of existing and new and
emerging renewable resource technologies shall be funded at not less
than the following levels on a statewide basis: one hundred nine
million five hundred thousand dollars ($109,500,000) per year for
each of the years 1998, 1999, and 2000, and one hundred thirty-six
million five hundred thousand dollars ($136,500,000) for the year
2001. To accomplish these funding levels over the period described
herein the San Diego Gas and Electric Company shall spend twelve
million dollars ($12,000,000) per year, the Southern California
Edison Company shall expend no less than forty-nine million five
hundred thousand dollars ($49,500,000) for the years 1998, 1999, and
2000, and no less than seventy-six million five hundred thousand
dollars ($76,500,000) for the year 2001, and the Pacific Gas and
Electric Company shall expend no less than forty-eight million
dollars ($48,000,000) per year through the year 2001. Additional
funding not to exceed seventy-five million dollars ($75,000,000)
shall be allocated from moneys collected pursuant to subdivision (d)
in order to provide a level of funding totaling five hundred forty
million dollars ($540,000,000).
(4) Up to fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) of the amount
collected pursuant to subdivision (d) may be used to resolve
outstanding issues related to implementation of subdivision (a) of
Section 374. Moneys remaining after fully funding the provisions of
this paragraph shall be reallocated for purposes of paragraph (3).
(5) Up to ninety million dollars ($90,000,000) of the amount
collected pursuant to subdivision (d) may be used to resolve
outstanding issues related to contractual arrangements in the
Southern California Edison service territory stemming from the
Biennial Resource Planning Update auction. Moneys remaining after
fully funding the provisions of this paragraph shall be reallocated
for purposes of paragraph (3).
(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, entities
subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission shall
extend the period for competition transition charge collection up to
three months beyond its otherwise applicable termination of December
31, 2001, so as to ensure that the aggregate portion of the
research, environmental, and low-income funds allocated to renewable
resources shall equal five hundred forty million dollars
($540,000,000) and that the costs specified in paragraphs (3), (4),
and (5) of subdivision (c) are collected.
(e) Each electrical corporation shall allow customers to make
voluntary contributions through their utility bill payments as either
a fixed amount or a variable amount to support programs established
pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (3) of subdivision (b). Funds
collected by electrical corporations for these purposes shall be
forwarded in a timely manner to the appropriate fund as specified by
the commission.
(f) The commission shall allocate the funds collected for the
purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) in accordance with
administration and expenditure criteria, upon the establishment of
those criteria by the Legislature.
(g) The commission shall determine how to utilize funds for
purposes of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b), provided that only
those research and development funds for transmission and
distribution functions shall remain with the regulated public
utilities under the supervision of the commission. The commission
shall provide for the transfer of all research and development funds
collected for purposes of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) other than
those for transmission and distribution functions and funds
collected for purposes of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) to the
California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission
pursuant to administration and expenditure criteria to be established
by the Legislature.
(h) The commission's authority to collect funds pursuant to this
section for purposes of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) shall become
inoperative on March 31, 2002.
(i) For purposes of this article, "emerging renewable technology"
means a new renewable technology, including, but not limited to,
photovoltaic technology, that is determined by the California Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission to be emerging from
research and development and that has significant commercial
potential.
SEC. 2. Section 381.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
381.5. (a) The commission shall order the respective electrical
corporations specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section
381 to allocate 35 percent of the funds collected pursuant to that
paragraph to cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation
activities that affect residential energy use.
(b) The commission shall order the respective electrical
corporations to collect and expend funds for targeted energy
efficiency programs for low-income electricity customers, as
described in Section 382, at the following levels, commencing January
1, 2000, through December 31, 2001: for San Diego Gas and Electric
Company a level of five million dollars ($5,000,000) per year; for
Southern California Edison Company a level of twelve million dollars
($12,000,000) for each year; and for Pacific Gas and Electric Company
a level of fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) per year. These
funds are in addition to funds collected pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (c) of Section 381.
381.5. It is the intent of the Legislature that both of the
following requirements should be met:
(a) That funds identified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of
Section 381 be allocated equitably among classes and subclasses of
electric customers in approximate proportion to the amounts each
group pays to the surcharge fund.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), that special emphasis be
placed on programs to reduce electricity bills of customer groups
that have been historically underserved by energy efficiency or
conservation programs operated by the investor-owned utilities,
including small businesses, schools, owners and tenants of
multifamily residential buildings, owners and tenants of mobile home
parks, tribes, persons with limited English skills, and other
customer groups identified as hard-to-reach. Funds for energy
efficiency and conservation should also be used to stimulate the
growth of a competitive industry providing cost-effective products
and services and to improve the acquisition and use of
energy-efficient appliances and equipment by consumers.
SEC. 3. Section 382 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
382. Programs provided to low-income electricity customers,
including, but not limited to, targeted energy-efficiency services
and the California Alternative Rates for Energy Program shall be
funded at not less than 1996 authorized levels based on an assessment
of customer need. The commission shall require the collection and
allocation of funds necessary to meet the low-income objectives in
this section.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the
only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.