Bill Text: CA AB1536 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Electricity: resource adequacy distributed generation

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2010-06-03 - From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on E., U., & C. [AB1536 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB1536-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1536	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  DECEMBER 17, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  OCTOBER 14, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 10, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 8, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 2, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 23, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 6, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 14, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Blakeslee

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act to  amend Section 379.6 of   add
Section 565 to  the Public Utilities Code, relating to energy
 , and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately
 .



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1536, as amended, Blakeslee.  Distributed energy
resources incentive program   .  
Electricity: Pacific Gas and Electric Company: seismic fault. 

   (1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has
regulatory authority over public utilities including electrical
corporations, as defined.  
   Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission (Energy Commission) to conduct various
assessments and forecasts on energy industry supply, production,
transportation, delivery and distribution, demand, and prices. 

   This bill would require Pacific Gas and Electric Company, in
furtherance of the recommendations made by the Energy Commission, to
conduct seismic fault studies or surveys in areas at or near the
Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in order to maintain reliable
operation of the electrical grid and mitigate impacts to customer
rates that could result from a seismic event. Because a violation of
this requirement would be a crime, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program. The bill would require the commission,
in consultation with the California Geological Survey and the Seismic
Safety Commission, to conduct or facilitate a peer review of any
fault studies or surveys conducted pursuant to that requirement
within 120 days of receipt of a final study or survey. The bill would
require the Pacific Gas and Electric Company to fund all costs
associated with a peer review of any studies or surveys and would
require the commission to authorize the utility to fully recover, in
its generation procurement rates, all reasonable costs associated
with any studies, surveys, or peer review required pursuant to the
bill.  
   (2) 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.  
   (3) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as
to the necessity of a special statute for legislation.  
   (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.  
   Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has
regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical
corporations, as defined. Existing law requires the PUC, in
consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission (Energy Commission), to administer, until
January 1, 2012, a self-generation incentive program for distributed
generation resources.  
   This bill would instead require the PUC, in consultation with the
Energy Commission, to administer the distributed energy resources
incentive program for distributed generation until January 1, 2012,
for the purposes of deploying distributed generation technologies
that the PUC determines produce benefits for ratepayers commensurate
with their contribution to the costs of the program. The bill would
additionally authorize incentives to be provided pursuant to the
program for energy storage systems meeting certain requirements and
would delete certain combustion-operated distributed generation
projects from eligibility. The bill would delete the commission's
existing authority to include other ultraclean and low-emission
distributed generation technologies, as defined, in the program. The
bill would limit program costs to no more than $83,000,000 per year.

   Vote:  majority   2/3  . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program:  no
  yes  .


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

   SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:  
   (a) In issuing Decision 07-03-044, the Public Utilities Commission
authorized an expenditure of sixteen million eight hundred thousand
dollars ($16,800,000) of ratepayer funds to explore the feasibility
of relicensing the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.  
   (b) The Public Utilities Commission, regarding the expenditure of
those funds, said that Pacific Gas and Electric Company should defer,
to the extent feasible, its work, its own study, and associated
spending, until after the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission (Energy Commission) issues its findings and
conclusions pursuant to Section 25303 of the Pubic Resources Code,
and that Pacific Gas and Electric Company should incorporate the
findings and recommendations of that Energy Commission assessment in
its own work.  
   (c) The assessment made pursuant to Section 25303 of the Public
Resources Code included several findings and recommendations; in
particular, the Energy Commission found that Pacific Gas and Electric
Company should use three-dimensional geophysical seismic reflection
mapping and other advanced techniques to explore fault zones near
Diablo Canyon.  
   (d) The July 2007 magnitude 6.8 Japan Sea earthquake located 16
kilometers from Tokyo Electric Power Company's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa
Nuclear Power Plant shut down the facility at a cost of some hundreds
of millions of dollars per month.  
   (e) In November 2008, the United States Geological Survey
identified a previously unidentified offshore fault approximately one
kilometer west of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant with an
estimated ability to generate a magnitude 6.5 earthquake. 
   SEC. 2.   Section 565 is added to the  
Public Utilities Code   , to read:  
   565.  (a) (1) Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall, in
furtherance of the recommendations made by the Energy Commission
pursuant to paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 25303 of the
Public Resources Code, conduct seismic fault studies or surveys,
including, but not limited to, three-dimensional geophysical seismic
reflection mapping, in areas at or near the Diablo Canyon Nuclear
Power Plant, in order to maintain reliable operation of the
electrical grid and mitigate impacts to customer rates that could
result from a seismic event.
   (2) The Energy Commission, in consultation with the California
Geological Survey and the Seismic Safety Commission, may participate
in the development of study or survey designs.
   (b) (1) The Energy Commission, in consultation with the California
Geological Survey and the Seismic Safety Commission, shall conduct
or facilitate a peer review of any studies or surveys conducted
pursuant to subdivision (a) within 120 days of receipt of a final
study or survey.
   (2) The Energy Commission may enter into agreements with qualified
scientists with expertise in fault imaging and character and
behavior studies to conduct an external scientific peer review of the
scientific basis for any fault study or survey.
   (3) The Energy Commission shall include the findings and
recommendations of any studies or surveys conducted pursuant to
subdivision (a) in the integrated energy policy report as updates
pursuant to subparagraph (D) of paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of
Section 25303 of the Public Resources Code.
   (4) Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall be responsible for
funding all costs associated with a peer review of any studies or
surveys conducted pursuant to subdivision (a).
   (c) The commission shall allow Pacific Gas and Electric Company to
fully recover, in its generation procurement rates, all reasonable
costs associated with any studies or surveys required pursuant to
subdivision (a) and the peer review required pursuant to subdivision
(b). The commission shall expedite issuance of its decision approving
the recovery of costs as specified in this section, so that the
decision is made within 120 days of filing the application. 
   SEC. 3.    No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only 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. 
   SEC. 4.    The Legislature finds and declares that a
special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made
applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the
California Constitution because of unique circumstances pertaining to
Pacific Gas and Electric Company. 
   SEC. 5.    This act is an urgency statute necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety
within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go
into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
 
   Pacific Gas and Electric Company has recently announced that it
will seek federal approval for a license renewal to extend operation
of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. To ensure the ongoing safe
operation of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, it is critical
that Pacific Gas and Electric Company conduct the studies and surveys
required by this act as soon as possible before obtaining federal
relicensure for the power plant.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 379.6 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
   379.6.  (a) (1) The commission, in consultation with the Energy
Commission, shall administer, until January 1, 2012, the distributed
energy resources initiative program, originally established pursuant
to Chapter 329 of the Statutes of 2000. The distributed energy
resources eligible for program incentives are those specified in
subdivision (b). The purpose of the program is to deploy distributed
energy resources that the commission determines produce benefits for
ratepayers commensurate with their contribution to the costs of the
program.
   (2) The commission shall administer solar technologies separately
pursuant to the California Solar Initiative adopted by the commission
in Decision 05-12-044 and Decision 06-01-024, as modified by Chapter
8.8 (commencing with Section 25780) of Division 15 of the Public
Resources Code and Article 1 (commencing with Section 2851) of
Chapter 9 of Part 2.
   (b) Distributed energy resources that are eligible for the program
shall be limited to the following:
   (1) Fuel cells and wind distributed generation technologies that
meet or exceed the emissions standards required under the distributed
generation certification program requirements of Article 3
(commencing with Section 94200) of Subchapter 8 of Chapter 1 of
Division 3 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations.
   (2) Energy storage systems with a storage capacity of 10 megawatts
or less that meet any of the following requirements:
   (A) The energy storage system supports the integration of an
eligible renewable energy resource pursuant to Article 16 (commencing
with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3.
   (B) The energy storage system is capable of responding to dispatch
and market protocols for grid reliability and stability.
   (C) The energy storage system is capable of providing frequency or
area control error regulation required to integrate intermittent
eligible renewable energy resources and maintain reliable operation
of the electrical grid.
   (D) The energy storage system stores energy to be dispatched at a
later time.
   (c) Energy storage systems that have a storage capacity of more
than 10 megawatts are not eligible for the program.
   (d) (1) In administering the distributed energy resources
incentive program, the commission may adjust the amount of rebates
and evaluate other public policy interests, including, but not
limited to, ratepayers, and energy efficiency and environmental
interests.
   (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the commission may authorize
the expenditure of not more than eighty-three million dollars
($83,000,000) per year for the program, including incentive payments
and program administrative costs.
   (e) (1) In administering the distributed energy resources
incentive program, the commission shall provide an additional
incentive of 20 percent from existing program funds for the
installation of distributed energy resources from a California
supplier.
   (2) "California supplier" as used in this subdivision means any
sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation, or
other business entity that manufactures distributed energy resources
in California and that meets either of the following criteria:
   (A) The owners or policymaking officers are domiciled in
California and the permanent principal office, or place of business
from which the supplier's trade is directed or managed, is located in
California.
   (B) A business or corporation, including those owned by, or under
common control of, a corporation, that meets all of the following
criteria continuously during the five years prior to providing
distributed energy resources to a distributed energy resources
incentive program recipient:
   (i) Owns and operates a manufacturing facility located in
California that builds or manufactures distributed energy resources.
   (ii) Is licensed by the state to conduct business within the
state.
   (iii) Employs California residents for work within the state.
   (3) For purposes of qualifying as a California supplier, a
distribution or sales management office or facility does not qualify
as a manufacturing facility.