SB 854

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) The existing California renewables portfolio standard program requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to implement annual procurement targets for the procurement of eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, for all retail sellers, as defined, to achieve the targets and goals of the program. The renewables portfolio standard program requires that a retail seller of electricity, including electrical corporations, community choice aggregators, and electric service providers, but not including local publicly owned electric utilities, purchase a specified minimum percentage of electricity generated by eligible renewable energy resources in any given year as a specified percentage of total kilowatthours sold to retail end-use customers each calendar year (renewables portfolio standard) . The renewables portfolio standard requires each retail seller to increase its total procurement of eligible renewable energy resources by at least an additional 1% of retail sales per year so that 20% of its retail sales are procured from eligible renewable energy resources no later than December 31, 2010. Under existing law the governing body of a local publicly owned electric utility is responsible for implementing and enforcing a renewables portfolio standard for the utility that recognizes the intent of the Legislature to encourage renewable resources, while taking into consideration the effect of the standard on rates, reliability, and financial resources and the goal of environmental improvement. This bill would require an obligated party to procure an amount of renewable energy credits (RECs) , as defined, sufficient to demonstrate compliance with the party's renewables portfolio standard, as defined, procurement requirements. Obligated parties would be defined to include an electrical corporation, electric service provider, community choice aggregator, and local publicly owned electric utility. The bill would establish renewables portfolio standards for 6 different compliance intervals, to be calculated by multiplying the obligated party's total electricity sales to California retail end-use customers during the compliance interval by a specified percentage that increases by interval from 20% of sales in January 1, 2012, to 40% of sales by January 1, 2027. The bill would require that not less than 50% of the renewables portfolio standard procurement requirements be met with bundled RECs, as defined, would authorize firmed and shaped RECs, as defined, to be used to meet not more than 50% of the procurement requirements, and would authorize tradable RECs, as defined, to be used to meet not more than 25% of the procurement requirements. The bill would make the PUC responsible for supervising the implementation of the renewables portfolio standard program by electrical corporations and overseeing certain aspects of the program by electric service providers and community choice aggregators. The bill would make its governing body responsible for implementation of the program by a local publicly owned electric utility. The bill would make numerous other revisions to the renewables portfolio standard program. (2) Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to (A) certify eligible renewable energy resources, (B) design and implement an accounting system to verify compliance with the renewables portfolio standard by retail sellers, (C) establish a system for tracking and verifying RECs that verifies the generation and delivery of electricity associated with RECs, and (D) certify the eligibility of RECs associated with deliveries of electricity to a local publicly owned electric utility. This bill would require the Energy Commission to design and implement an accounting system to verify compliance with the renewables portfolio standard by all obligated parties and would delete the separate requirement that it certify the eligibility of RECs associated with deliveries of electricity to a local publicly owned electric utility. The bill would require the Energy Commission, among other things, to adopt regulations specifying procedures for enforcement of the renewables portfolio standard procurement requirements that include a public process under which the Energy Commission is authorized to issue a notice of violation and correction with respect to a local publicly owned electric utility and for referral to the State Air Resources Board for penalties imposed pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 or other laws if that act is suspended or repealed. (3) The bill would require every electrical corporation that owns electrical transmission facilities to annually prepare and submit a report to the PUC that contains specified matter and identifies any electrical transmission facility, upgrade, or enhancement that is reasonably necessary to achieve the renewables portfolio standard procurement requirements. The bill would delete certain reporting requirements and would require each electrical corporation, electric service provider, and community choice aggregator to prepare and submit to the PUC, and each local publicly owned electric utility to prepare and submit to the Energy Commission, an annual report that includes the current status and progress made by that obligated party toward meeting the renewables portfolio standard procurement requirements for the current compliance interval and recommendations to remove impediments towards its achievement. The bill would require the PUC, in coordination with the Energy Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the Independent System Operator, and local publicly owned electric utilities to conduct 3 reviews of the renewables portfolio standard program to assess changes that may be needed to improve implementation progress and to complete and present its review to the Legislature by December 31, 2015, December 31, 2020, and December 31, 2025. (4) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because certain provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of a crime. By placing additional requirements upon local publicly owned electric utilities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 specified reasons.