Bill Text: CA AB1295 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Public utilities: renewable energy: community renewables option.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2013-07-02 - In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [AB1295 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB1295-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1295	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 9, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 21, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Roger Hernández

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2013

   An act to add and repeal Chapter 7.6 (commencing with Section
2831) of Part 2 of Division 1  of, and to repeal Sections
2832 and 3832.5 of,   of  the Public Utilities
Code, relating to public utilities.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1295, as amended, Roger Hernández. Public utilities: renewable
energy: community renewables option.
   Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
jurisdiction over public utilities, including electrical
corporations, as defined, while local publicly owned electric
utilities, as defined, are under the direction of their governing
boards. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and
charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and
charges be just and reasonable. Under existing law, the local
government renewable energy self-generation program authorizes a
local government, as defined, to receive a bill credit, as defined,
to be applied to a designated benefiting account for electricity
exported to the electrical grid by an eligible renewable generating
facility, as defined, and requires the commission to adopt a rate
tariff for the benefiting account.
   The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program, referred to
as the RPS program, requires a retail seller of electricity, as
defined, and local publicly owned electric utilities to purchase
specified minimum quantities of electricity products from eligible
renewable energy resources, as defined, for specified compliance
periods, sufficient to ensure that the procurement of electricity
products from eligible renewable energy resources achieves 20% of
retail sales for the period January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2013,
inclusive, 25% of retail sales by December 31, 2016, and 33% of
retail sales by December 31, 2020, and in all subsequent years. The
RPS program, consistent with the goals of procuring the least-cost
and best-fit eligible renewable energy resources that meet project
viability principles, requires that all retail sellers procure a
balanced portfolio of electricity products from eligible renewable
energy resources, as specified.
   This bill would require an electrical corporation  and a
local publicly owned electric utility  to include provisions
in its tariff and addenda to a standard contract or allow an
electrical generation facility, as defined, to participate in the
community renewables option that would allow the facility to assign
the payment by the electrical corporation  or a local
publicly owned electric utility  due to that facility to a
subscribing customer, as defined, in the form of a bill credit. The
bill would, on and after January 1, 2016, require the commission
 and the governing board of the local publicly owned electric
utility  to evaluate the demand for the community
renewables option. If the commission  or the governing board
of a local publicly owned electric utility  finds that the
community renewables option should be discontinued, the bill would
make the  above  provisions  applicable to an
electrical corporation or that local publicly owned electric utility,
respective, be  inoperative.  The bill would require a
local publicly owned utility, by July 1, 2015, to offer a comparable
community renewables option and would require the governing board of
the local publicly owned utility to review and approve the community
renewables option.  This bill would repeal the provision of the
community renewables option on January 1, 2020  , unless the
commission or the governing board of a local publicly owned electric
utility finds that there is an adequate demand for the community
renewables option, in which case, the provision of the community
renewables option would remain in effect for the electrical
corporation or that local publicly owned utility, respectively
 .
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Chapter 7.6 (commencing with Section 2831) is added to
Part 2 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 7.6.  COMMUNITY RENEWABLES FACILITY


   2831.  As used in this article, the following terms mean the
following:
   (a) "Community renewables facility" means an electric generation
facility that has elected to participate in the community renewables
option.
   (b) "Community renewables option" means the right of an 
electrical   electric  generation facility to
assign the payment by the electrical corporation  or a
publicly owned electric utility  due to that facility in
accordance with this article to subscribing customers of the
electrical corporation in the form of a bill credit.
   (c)  "Electrical   "Electric  generation
facility" means an  electrical   electric 
generation facility located within the service territory of, and
developed to sell electricity to, an electrical corporation 
or a local publicly owned electric utility  that meets all
of the following criteria:
   (1) Has an effective capacity of not more than three megawatts.
   (2) Is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical
transmission and distribution grid.
   (3) Is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical
transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the
deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load
centers.
   (4) Is an eligible renewable energy resource, as defined in
Section 399.12. 
   (5) Meets all the requirements established pursuant to Section
399.20 that are applicable to electric generation facilities. 

   (d) "Feed-in tariff payment" means the payment that is due to the
electric generation facility in accordance with the tariff or
standard contract established pursuant to Section 399.20 as described
in a monthly total payment.  
   (d) 
    (e)  "Subscribing customer" means a customer of an
electrical corporation  or publicly owned utility 
who has subscribed to the output of a community renewables facility.

   (e) 
    (f)  "Subscription amount" means the percentage of
kilowatthours delivered to an electrical corporation  or a
local publicly owned electric utility  from a community
renewables facility to which a subscribing customer has subscribed.

   (g) "Unsubscribed output" means the percentage of kilowatthours
delivered to an electrical corporation from a community renewables
facility to which no subscribing customer has subscribed. 
   2831.5.  A community renewables facility is not an electrical
corporation, as defined in Section 218 or an electric service
provider, as defined in Section 218.3.
   2832.  (a) An electrical corporation shall include provisions in
its tariff and an addendum to a standard contract developed pursuant
to Section 399.20 to provide for a community renewables option
allowing a community renewables facility to assign the payment of
electricity by the electrical corporation due to that facility to a
subscribing customer in the form of a bill credit. 
   (b) The subscribing customer's bill credit shall be calculated as
the feed-in tariff payment multiplied by the customer's subscription
amount.  
   (b) 
    (c)  In approving the tariff, the commission shall
ensure all of the following:
   (1) Customers that do not participate in the community renewables
option are indifferent to whether other customers participate in the
community renewables option, and no costs are shifted from
subscribing customers to nonsubscribing customers.
   (2) An electric generation facility that has executed a standard
contract with an electrical corporation and has begun deliveries
pursuant to the contract may, in its sole discretion, elect to become
a community renewables facility.
   (3) (A) The community renewables facility is solely responsible
for any and all arrangements, agreements, or disputes with its
subscribing customers concerning the community renewables option. The
community renewables facility shall communicate, in writing, to the
electrical corporation, in a timely manner, to be specified in the
electrical corporation's tariff and contract addendum described in
subdivision (c), but not less than once per year, information
necessary for the electrical corporation to make payment under the
standard contract and addendum to the standard contract that,
include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
   (i) The name of each subscribing customer.
   (ii) The service address and service account number of each
subscribing customer to which a bill credit should be applied.
   (iii) Each subscribing customer's subscription amount.
   (iv) The  percentage of delivered kilowatthours of
electricity that remains unsubscribed   unsubscribed
output  , if any, for which payment should be made directly to
the community renewables facility.
   (B) The electrical corporation shall not be a party to an
arrangement or agreement between the community renewables facility
and the subscribing customer.
   (4) The electrical corporation shall continue to bill subscribing
customers for all electricity consumed pursuant to each subscribing
customer's otherwise applicable tariff. The payments made to a
subscribing customer in the form of a bill credit shall be applied to
the subscribing customer's monthly bill calculated pursuant to the
customer's otherwise applicable tariff. 
   (5) The electrical corporation shall pay the community renewables
facility for any unsubscribed output by multiplying the unsubscribed
output by the feed-in tariff payment.  
   (5) 
    (6)  All electricity purchases by an electrical
corporation pursuant  to  this section shall be credited
towards the electrical corporation's procurement requirements
pursuant to Section 399.15 and shall count toward the electrical
corporation's proportionate share of the statewide cap specified in
Section 399.20. 
   (c) 
    (d)  The commission shall not authorize the community
renewables option until it has adopted the tariff consistent with
this section. 
   (d) 
    (e)  Notwithstanding  paragraph  
paragraphs  (1)  and (5)  of subdivision (c) of Section
2831, the commission may allow  other   the
 renewable programs adopted by the commission  ,
including those programs adopted  in commission decisions
10-12-048 and 09-06-049  , as those decisions and programs
may be modified from time to time, that meet the requirements of
subdivisions (a) and (b) to include an equivalent community
renewables option   to include a community renewables
option if the community renewable option meets the requirements of
subdivision (c). If the commission elects to establish a community
renewables option pursuant to this subdivision, the subscribing
customer's monthly bill credit shall be calculated as the amount that
would be otherwise be paid to the participating renewable generator
in accordance with the power purchase contract between the utility
and the renewable generator multiplied by the customer's subscription
amount, and all purchases pursuant to this subdivision shall count
towards the electrical corporation's proportional share of the
program's cap  . 
   (e) 
    (f)  An electrical corporation shall recover from the
community renewables facility any costs of implementing the community
renewables option reasonably attributable to the community facility.
Any implementation costs not reasonably attributable to the
community renewables facility shall  not  be
recovered from the ratepayers, as determined by the commission.

   (f) 
    (g)  If a customer participates in direct transactions
pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 365 or
Section 365.1, the electrical corporation that provides distribution
service for the customer is not obligated to allow that customer to
participate in a community renewables option. 
   (g) 
    (h)  On or before July 1, 2015, an energy service
provider or community choice aggregator shall offer a comparable
community renewables option  of eligible renewable energy
resources as defined in Section 399.12  in accordance with the
procurement practices of that load serving entity. The commission
shall review and approve the community renewables option proposed by
the load serving entity to ensure that it is comparable to the
requirements specified in subdivision  (b)   (c)
 . 
   (h) 
    (i)  (1) On and after January 1, 2016, the commission
shall evaluate the demand for the community renewables option and
consider whether to continue offering a community renewables option.
   (2) If the commission determines that the community renewables
option should terminate, the commission shall issue an order to that
effect and deliver a copy of the order to the Secretary of State. The
section shall become inoperative on the effective date of the order.

   (i) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), this section shall
remain in effect only until January 1, 2020, and as of that date is
repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before
January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.  
   (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if, before January 1, 2020, the
commission finds that there is adequate demand to continue offering
a community renewables option, this section shall remain in effect.
The commission shall issue an order finding an adequate demand to
continue offering a community renewables option and deliver a copy of
the order to the Secretary of State.  
   2832.5.  (a) A local publicly owned electric utility shall include
provisions in its tariff and an addendum to a standard contract
developed pursuant to Section 399.32 to provide for a community
renewables option allowing a community renewables facility to assign
the payment of electricity by the local publicly owned electric
utility due to that facility to a subscribing customer in the form of
a bill credit.
   (b) The governing board of the local publicly owned electric
utility shall ensure all of the following:
   (1) Customers that do not participate in the community renewables
option are indifferent to whether other customers participate in the
community renewables option, and no costs are shifted from
subscribing customers to nonsubscribing customers.
   (2) An electric generation facility that has executed a standard
contract with a local publicly owned electric utility and has begun
deliveries pursuant to the contract may, in its sole discretion,
elect to become a community renewables facility.
   (3) (A) The community renewables facility is solely responsible
for any and all arrangements, agreements, or disputes with its
subscribing customers concerning the community renewables option. The
community renewables facility shall communicate, in writing, to the
local publicly owned electric utility, information necessary for the
local publicly owned electric utility to make payment under the
standard contract and addendum to the standard contact that, include,
but is not limited to, all of the following:
   (i) The name of each subscribing customer.
   (ii) The service address and service account number of each
subscribing customer to which a bill credit should be applied.
   (iii) Each subscribing customer's subscription amount.
   (iv) The percentage of delivered kilowatthours of electricity that
remain unsubscribed, if any, for which payment should be made
directly to the community renewables facility.
   (B) The local publicly owned electric utility shall not be a party
to an arrangement or agreement between the community renewables
facility and the subscribing customer.
   (4) The electrical corporation shall continue to bill subscribing
customers for all electricity consumed pursuant to each subscribing
customer's otherwise applicable tariff. The payments made to a
subscribing customer in the form of a bill credit shall be applied to
the subscribing customer's monthly bill calculated pursuant to the
customer's otherwise applicable tariff.
   (5) All electricity purchases by a local publicly owned electric
utility pursuant this section shall be credited towards the local
publicly owned electric utility's procurement requirements pursuant
to Section 399.30.
   (c) The local publicly owned electric utility may allow other
renewable programs it has adopted that meet the requirements of
subdivisions (a) and (b) to include an equivalent community
renewables option.
   (d) (1) On and after January 1, 2016, the governing board of a
local publicly owned electric utility shall evaluate the demand for
the community renewables option and consider whether to continue
offering a community renewables option.
   (2) If the governing board of a local publicly owned electric
utility determines the offering of a community renewables option
should terminate, the governing board shall adopt a resolution to
that effect and deliver a copy of the resolution to the Secretary of
State. This section shall not apply to that local publicly owned
electric utility on the effective date of the resolution.
   (e) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (1), this section shall
remain in effect only until January 1, 2020, and as of that date is
repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before
January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.
   (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if, before January 1, 2020, the
governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility finds
that there is adequate demand to continue offering a community
renewables option, this section shall remain in effect for that local
publicly owned electric utility. The governing board shall adopt a
resolution finding and adequate demand to continue offering a
community renewables option and deliver a copy of the resolution to
the Secretary of State.  
   2832.5.  On or before July 1, 2015, a local publicly owned
electric utility required to comply with Section 399.32 shall offer a
comparable community renewables option for an electric generation
facility as defined in Section 399.32. The governing board of the
local publicly owned electric utility shall review and approve the
community renewables option. 
   2833.   Except as provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(i) of Section 2832 or paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section
2832.5, this   This  chapter shall remain in effect
only until January 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless
a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020,
deletes or extends that date.