BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1709|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1709
Author: Kelley (R)
Amended: 5/16/00
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 8-1, 4/11/00
AYES: Bowen, Brulte, Hughes, Kelley, Mountjoy, Peace,
Solis, Vasconcellos
NOES: Alarcon
NOT VOTING: Murray, Speier
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Public utilities: electrical corporation
SOURCE : Association of California Water Agencies
DIGEST : This bill clarifies that providers of anaerobic
or digester gas technologies for the generation of
electricity are exempt from the definition of an electrical
corporation and from regulation by the California Public
Utilities Commission.
Senate Floor Amendments of 5/16/00 narrow the exemption in
the bill by prohibiting water treatment companies from
distributing this electricity. It requires power generated
from digester gas technology to be transmitted through the
distribution system of the local publicly owned utility or
electrical corporation serving the end use customer.
ANALYSIS : Current law defines an electrical corporation
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as every corporation or person owning, controlling,
operating, or managing any electric plant for compensation
in the state -- except where the electricity is generated
for its own use or the use of its tenants and not for sale
or transmission to others.
Current law has two different definitions for activities
that would not qualify a person or company as an
"electrical corporation."
This bill clarifies that providers of anaerobic or digester
gas technologies are exempt from the definition of an
electrical corporation and from regulation by the
California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). It also
allows for the limited use or sale of the power produced
through this technology.
Under the bill, the sale or transmission of digester
gas-generated power to another electrical corporation or
state agency is allowed, but only if it runs through the
transmission lines of the standing local publicly owned
electric utility or electrical corporation serving the end
user.
Comments :
According to the sponsor of this bill, the Association of
California Water Agencies, there are approximately 200-250
water treatment plants in the state and many of them use an
anaerobic -- without oxygen -- process to break down
wastewater for final disposal. The process is carried out
in a large metal or concrete tank and during the treatment
process, a methane gas is created and released.
The sponsor asserts that roughly 100 water treatment
organizations, notably Inland Empire Water Agency, are
capturing the gas that would otherwise be burned and
released into the open air, and are turning it into
electric power for their own use and for sale to others.
This bill appears to be a response to a problem that
occurred in the Inland Empire Utilities Agency where,
according to the sponsor, the agency's ability to use
digester gas technology and provide electricity across a
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natural easement was called into question.
The amendment of 5/16/00 attempts to respond to concerns by
utility distribution companies that companies would use the
bill's exemption not only to generate power through
digester gas technology, but also to distribute or transmit
the electricity produced without comparable regulation.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/17/00)
Association of California Water Agencies (source)
California Association of Sanitation Agencies
Inland Empire Utilities Agency
Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles
County
Sierra Club California
NC:jk 5/17/00 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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