BILL NUMBER: SB 418 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 5, 1999
INTRODUCED BY Senator Bowen
FEBRUARY 12, 1999
An act to amend Section 381 of the Public Utilities Code, relating
to public utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 418, as amended, Bowen. Electrical restructuring: funding of
programs.
Existing law governing electrical restructuring
requires the Public Utilities Commission to require that each
electrical corporation identify a separate rate component to collect
revenues used to fund programs that enhance system reliability and
provide in-state benefits, as specified, and low-income electricity
customer programs . That provision, for specified funding
purposes, defines "emerging renewable technology" to mean 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 .
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes in
those provisions modify the defined term to "emerging
renewable resource technology" and would also include within the
definition solar thermal electric technology, fuel cells that use
renewable fuels, and wind turbines of not more than 10 kilowatts
rated electrical capacity per customer site. The bill would make a
related statement of legislative intent .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:
no yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting
this act to provide, in 2002 and thereafter, for the appropriate
funding and administration of programs that enhance electrical system
reliability and provide in-state benefits, as described in
subdivision (b) of Section 381 of the Public Utilities Code.
SEC. 2. 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 are 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 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 that 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.
(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
in this section, 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 paragraph (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 determine how to utilize funds for
purposes of paragraphs (1) and (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.
(g) 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.
(h) For purposes of this article, "emerging renewable
resource technology" is a new renewable technology, including,
but not limited to, photovoltaic technology , solar thermal
electric technology, fuel cells that use renewable fuels, and wind
turbines of not more than 10 kilowatts rated electrical capacity per
customer site , 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.