Bill Text: CA SB255 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Women, minority, disabled veteran, and LGBT business enterprise procurement: electric service providers: energy storage system companies: community choice aggregators.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-10-02 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 407, Statutes of 2019. [SB255 Detail]

Download: California-2019-SB255-Introduced.html

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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 255

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Introduced by Senator Bradford

February 12, 2019

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An act to amend Section 8283 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to energy.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 255, as introduced, Bradford. Women, minority, disabled veteran, and LGBT business enterprise procurement: electric service providers: energy storage system companies: community choice aggregators.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical, gas, water, and telephone corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to establish rules for all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature.

Existing law defines an “electric service provider” as an entity that offers electrical service to customers within the service territory of an electrical corporation, excluding electrical corporations, local publicly owned electric utilities, and certain cogenerators. Existing law requires that electric service providers register with the commission and provides for the authorization of direct transactions between electric service providers and end-use customers.

Existing law authorizes a community choice aggregator to aggregate the electrical load of electricity consumers within its boundaries and provides that the community choice aggregator is solely responsible for all generation procurement activities on behalf of the community choice aggregator’s customers, except where other generation procurement arrangements are expressly authorized by statute. Existing law requires a community choice aggregator to develop, adopt, and file with the commission an implementation plan detailing the process and consequences of aggregation and containing specified information.

Existing law directs the commission to require every electrical corporation, gas corporation, water corporation, wireless telecommunications service provider, and telephone corporation with annual gross revenues exceeding $25,000,000, and their regulated subsidiaries and affiliates, to annually submit a detailed and verifiable plan for increasing procurement from women, minority, disabled veteran, and LGBT business enterprises, as defined, in all categories, including a renewable energy project, as defined, and wireless telecommunications, broadband, smart grid, and rail projects. Existing law requires the reporting of certain information about the implementation of the plans.

This bill would extend these requirements to electric service providers, community choice aggregators, and energy storage system companies, as defined, and would change the $25,000,000 annual gross revenue threshold above which these requirements become applicable to $1,000,000 in gross annual California revenues. The bill would additionally include an energy storage system project within the enumerated projects to which these requirements apply.

Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.

Because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing the bill’s expanded requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. Because the bill would impose reporting requirements upon community choice aggregators, which are entities of local government, 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.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 Section 8283 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

8283.

 (a) The commission shall require each electrical, gas, water, electrical corporation, gas corporation, water corporation, wireless telecommunications service provider, electric service provider, community choice aggregator, energy storage system company, and telephone corporation with gross annual California revenues exceeding twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) one million dollars ($1,000,000), and their commission-regulated subsidiaries and affiliates, to submit annually, annually a detailed and verifiable plan for increasing procurement from women, minority, disabled veteran, and LGBT business enterprises in all categories, including, but not limited to, renewable energy, energy storage system, wireless telecommunications, broadband, smart grid, and rail projects.

(b) These annual plans shall include short- and long-term goals and timetables, but not quotas, and shall include methods for encouraging both prime contractors and grantees to engage women, minority, disabled veteran, and LGBT business enterprises in subcontracts in all categories that provide subcontracting opportunities, including, but not limited to, renewable energy, energy storage system, wireless telecommunications, broadband, smart grid, and rail projects.

(c) The commission shall establish guidelines for all electrical, gas, water, electrical corporations, gas corporations, water corporations, wireless telecommunications service providers, electric service providers, community choice aggregator, energy storage system companies, and telephone corporations with gross annual California revenues exceeding twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) one million dollars ($1,000,000), and their commission-regulated subsidiaries and affiliates, to be utilized in establishing programs pursuant to this article.

(d) Every electrical, gas, water, electrical corporation, gas corporation, water corporation, wireless telecommunications service provider, electric service provider, community choice aggregator, energy storage system company, and telephone corporation with gross annual California revenues exceeding twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) one million dollars ($1,000,000) shall furnish an annual report to the commission regarding the implementation of programs established pursuant to this article in a form that the commission shall require, and at the time that the commission shall annually designate. The report shall include the information about LGBT business enterprises beginning with the 2016 report.

(e) (1) The Legislature declares that each electrical, gas, water, electrical corporation, gas corporation, water corporation, mobile telephony service provider, electric service provider, community choice aggregator, energy storage system company, and telephone corporation that is not required to submit a plan pursuant to subdivision (a) is encouraged to voluntarily adopt a plan for increasing women, minority, disabled veteran, and LGBT business enterprise procurement in all categories.

(2) The Legislature declares that each cable television corporation and direct broadcast satellite provider is encouraged to voluntarily adopt a plan for increasing women, minority, disabled veteran, and LGBT business enterprise procurement and to voluntarily report activity in this area to the Legislature on an annual basis.

(f) Pursuant to this section, “energy storage system company” means any person or corporation operating a centralized or distributed energy storage system, as defined in Section 2835, that furnishes electricity to an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, community choice aggregator, or electric service provider within California, or that supplies electricity to a retail end-use customer of an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, community choice aggregator, or electric service provider within California.

SEC. 2.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act or because costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.