AB 2143

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires every electric utility, defined to include electrical corporations, local publicly owned electric utilities, and electrical cooperatives, to develop a standard contract or tariff for net energy metering, as defined, for generation by a renewable electrical generation facility, as defined, and to make this contract or tariff available to eligible customer-generators, as defined, upon request on a first-come-first-served basis until the time that the total rated generating capacity used by eligible customer generators exceeds 5% of the electric utility's aggregate customer peak demand. For a large electrical corporation, as defined, existing law requires the commission to have developed a 2nd standard contract or tariff to provide net energy metering to additional eligible customer-generators in the electrical corporation's service territory and imposes no limitation on the number of new eligible customer-generators entitled to receive service pursuant to this 2nd standard contract or tariff. Existing law requires the commission to ensure that the 2nd standard contract or tariff made available to eligible customer-generators by large electrical corporations ensures that customer-sited renewable distributed generation continues to grow sustainably. Existing law requires the commission, in developing this standard contract or tariff, to include specific alternatives designed for growth among residential customers in disadvantaged communities. Existing law imposes various requirements on public works projects, as defined, including a requirement that, at minimum, all workers employed on a public works project be paid the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for work of a similar character in the locality in which a public work is performed, as specified. This bill would apply those public works project requirements to the construction of any renewable electrical generation facility, and any associated battery storage, after December 31, 2023, that receives service pursuant to the 2nd standard contract or tariff, except (1) a residential facility that will have a maximum generating capacity of 15 kilowatts or less of electricity or that will be installed on a single-family home, (2) a project that is already a public work under existing law, or (3) a facility that serves only a modular home, a modular home community, or multiunit housing that has 2 or fewer stories. The bill would require a contractor who enters into a contract to perform work on the renewable electrical generation facility or associated battery storage to pay each construction worker employed in the execution of the work, at minimum, the general prevailing rate of per diem wages and each apprentice, at minimum, the applicable apprentice prevailing rate, as specified. The bill would authorize specified mechanisms to be used to enforce those wage requirements. The bill would provide that, if a willful violation of the bill's requirements has been enforced against a contractor for the construction of a renewable electrical generation facility using those mechanisms, the facility is not eligible to receive service pursuant to those standard contracts and tariffs. Existing law requires the commission to submit various reports to the Legislature, as specified. This bill would require the commission to annually publish on its internet website and submit to the Legislature a report on the progress made to grow the use of distributed energy resources among residential customers in disadvantaged communities and in low-income households, and an aggregated list of all renewable electrical generation facilities that began to receive service pursuant to a net energy metering contract or tariff during the preceding calendar year, as specified. 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 the above-described provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing the bill's requirements would be a crime, 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 a specified reason.