AB 2619

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. Existing law requires the commission to have developed a 2nd standard contract or tariff for each large electrical corporation, as defined, 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, in developing the 2nd standard contract or tariff, to ensure that customer-sited renewable distributed generation continues to grow sustainably and to include specific alternatives designed for growth among residential customers in disadvantaged communities. Existing law authorizes the commission to revise the 2nd standard contract or tariff as appropriate. Pursuant to that authorization, the commission has instituted rulemakings and issued decisions relating to the 2nd standard contract or tariff. This bill would require all eligible customer-generators of large electrical corporations receiving service under the 2nd standard contract or tariff to be subject to a specified version of the tariff developed by the commission in a specified rulemaking. The bill would require the commission to develop a new standard contract or tariff providing for net energy metering for eligible customer-generators of large electrical corporations, and would require every other electric utility to revise its standard contract or tariff providing for net energy metering. The bill would require every electric utility to make the standard contract or tariff available to all new eligible customer-generators beginning on January 1, 2027. By adding new duties on local publicly owned electric utilities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the commission to design the standard contract or tariff for large electrical corporations to achieve an annual rate of installation of solar renewable electrical generation facilities that is sufficient to meet the state's anticipated need for customer-side solar generation resources, as provided. The bill would require the commission to adjust the standard contract or tariff for large electrical corporations to ensure that the annual rate of installation of renewable electrical generation facilities in disadvantaged communities is reasonably comparable to the statewide annual rate. Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because certain provisions of the bill would require an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission to implement, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating new crimes. 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.