BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                          SB 110
                                                          Page  1

Date of Hearing:   September 1, 1999

              ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS 
                    Carole Migden, Chairwoman

          SB 110 (Peace) - As Amended: August 26, 1999 

Policy Committee:                              Utilities and  
Commerce     Vote:                             11-0

Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local  
Program:NoReimbursable:            

  SUMMARY  :

This bill:

1)Requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to prepare and  
  submit the following reports:

   a)   By April 2000, recommendations to improve the  
     application and certification process for siting power  
     plants.
   b)   By April 2000, recommendations to consolidate and  
     clarify existing reporting requirements regarding electric  
     utility generating loads and emerging trends in energy  
     supply and demand.
   c)   By April 2000, a workplan for completing a subsequent  
     report by July 2001.
   d)   By July 2001 and every two years thereafter, an  
     assessment of the environmental performance of the state's  
     electric generation facilities.

2)Makes various changes to, in part, streamline the CEC's power  
  plant siting process. 

  FISCAL EFFECT  :

The CEC indicates absorbable costs to complete the required  
reports.

  COMMENTS  :

  Purpose  .  The Warren-Alquist Act provides CEC with exclusive  
authority to certify power plants and authorizes CEC to override  








                                                          SB 110
                                                          Page  2

other state, local, or regional decisions and certify a power  
plant it determines is required for "public convenience and  
necessity."  Additionally, the Act requires CEC to develop  
long-range forecasts of the state's energy needs, which serve as  
the basis for planning and certification of individual power  
plant facilities. This bill streamlines CEC's siting and  
licensing process to conform with a competitive generation  
market, where ratepayers are no longer on the hook for the cost  
of building and maintaining power plants.  In a competitive  
market, the owners of new generating facilities, and not  
ratepayers, bear the risks of those investments.

  Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)319-2081