BILL NUMBER: AB 2017 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 11, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Muratsuchi
FEBRUARY 20, 2014
An act to add Section 2851.7 to, and to add Chapter 8.1
(commencing with Section 2846) to Part 2 of Division 1 of the Public
Utilities Code, relating to energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2017, as amended, Muratsuchi. Energy: financing: rental
properties.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has
regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical
corporations and gas corporations, as defined. Existing law
authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to fix the rates and
charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and
charges be just and reasonable.
This bill would authorize the commission to require an electrical
or gas corporation with 250,000 or more service connections to
develop and implement an on-bill repayment program providing
financial assistance for energy efficiency improvements for rental
properties by allowing for the repayment of the financial assistance
to be included in the utility customer's utility bill. Because a
violation of any part of any order, decision, rule, direction,
demand, or requirement of the Public Utilities Commission is a crime,
this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) Decisions of the Public Utilities Commission adopted the
California Solar Initiative, which is administered by the state's
electrical corporations pursuant to the regulatory supervision of the
commission. The commission is authorized, pursuant to the
initiative, to award monetary incentives for solar thermal and solar
water heating devices in a total amount up to $100,800,000.
The Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007 requires the
Public Utilities Commission, in consultation with the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission, to establish
eligibility criteria for solar water heating systems receiving gas
customer funded incentives under the act. The act requires the
criteria to include eligibility requirements for residential solar
water heating systems or solar collectors used in systems for
multifamily residential, commercial, government, nonprofit,
educational, or industrial water heating systems, as specified.
This bill would provide that residential solar water heating
devices shall be eligible for any energy efficiency rebate program or
financing program, or both, offered by a gas corporation for
purposes of reducing natural gas demand for water heating.
(2)
( 3) 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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 8.1 (commencing with Section 2846) is added to
Part 2 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, to read:
CHAPTER 8.1. ENERGY IMPROVEMENTS FOR RENTAL PROPERTIES
2846. For the purposes of this chapter, the following the terms
have the following meanings:
(a) "OBR improvement" means an eligible energy efficiency
improvement financed through an OBR obligation.
(b) "OBR obligation" means an obligation to repay a financing
provided to a utility customer by an OBR partner pursuant to an
on-bill repayment program approved by the commission.
(c) "OBR partner" means a person or entity providing financing for
eligible energy efficiency improvements pursuant to an on-bill
repayment program. OBR partners include, but are not limited to,
banks, savings and loan institutions, credit unions, or project
developers. Financing may be provided in the form of a loan, lease,
power purchase agreement, energy service agreement, or other
financing structure approved by the commission.
(d) "On-bill repayment program" or "OBR program" means a program,
which may include one or more pilot test programs, approved by the
commission that enables financing of eligible energy efficiency
improvements for rental properties to be repaid through OBR repayment
charges to be associated with the same utility account or accounts
where savings are anticipated to be realized as a result of the
improvements.
(e) "OBR repayment charge" means a charge, constituting repayment
of all or a portion of any OBR obligation, that is included on a
utility bill in accordance with a commission-approved utility tariff.
(f) "Utility" means an electrical corporation or gas corporation
that develops, or is required to develop, an on-bill repayment
program.
2846.1. (a) The commission may require an electrical corporation
or gas corporation with 250,000 or more service connections in the
state to develop and implement one or more on-bill repayment programs
for eligible energy efficiency improvements.
(b) A utility shall not implement the on-bill repayment program
without the express approval of the commission.
(c) The commission shall supervise on-bill repayment programs to
ensure that the programs are administered in compliance with the
terms approved by the commission.
(d) Implementation of any on-bill repayment program shall be done
incrementally, beginning with residents of low-income housing. For
purposes of this subdivision, "low-income housing" means a
residential building that meets all of the following requirements:
(1) Is financed or supported with low-income housing tax credits,
tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds, general obligation bonds, or
local, state, or federal loans, grants, rental assistance, or
operating subsidies.
(2) Rents charged to lower income households, as defined in
Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code, do not exceed rents
prescribed by applicable law, deed restrictions, regulatory
agreements, or program contracts pursuant to the terms of the
financing or financial assistance.
(3) Not less that 25 percent of the dwelling units within the
building are designated for occupancy by lower income households, as
defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
(e) Upon completion of the phase of the program for residents of
low-income housing, the commission shall perform a review to evaluate
how the requirements of this section have been met and shall make
any revisions that it determines are necessary before authorizing the
expansion of the program to residents of other types of housing.
2846.2. In approving an OBR program, the commission shall
consider whether ensure that the
program contains appropriate rules and criteria including
includes all of the following:
following rules and criteria:
(a) (1) Eligibility criteria for the types of energy efficiency
improvements that would be financed by the OBR program.
(2) The commission may include nonenergy reducing improvements as
an eligible improvement
improvements for financing if it deems appropriate.
(b) Rules prohibiting the unauthorized removal from the rental
property of an OBR improvement.
(c) Rules for project inspection and verification services to
ensure economic benefits for tenants of properties with an OBR
improvement. improvement, including
guidelines for collecting data and monitoring tenant impacts over
time.
(d) Consumer protections for customers subject to an OBR
repayment charge, including protections that prevent increases in the
number of service terminations, a loan loss reserve, bill
neutrality, and customers, including preventing
increases in the number of service terminations, requiring a loan
loss reserve and bill neutrality, providing a fair dispute resolution
process for tenants, and establishing other mechanisms deemed
appropriate by the commission.
(e) Criteria for determining benchmarks for program success,
including mechanisms for reducing ratepayer support while maintaining
an effective program.
(f) Mechanisms to ensure energy savings, including all of the
following requirements:
(1) Each OBR improvement is recommended based upon a
performance-based energy audit.
(2) An OBR obligation is limited to 90 percent of the energy
savings recommended by a performance-based energy audit.
(3) Correct installation of each OBR improvement is verified by a
qualified entity.
(4) Energy savings performance of OBR improvements is subject to
monitoring and annual reporting to assist in the implementation of
the consumer protections required by this chapter and in the
evaluation of OBR program energy efficiency performance.
2846.3. OBR repayment charges shall be subject to the provisions
of subdivision (a) of Section 779.2.
SEC. 2. Section 2851.7 is added to the
Public Utilities Code , to read:
2851.7. Notwithstanding any other law, residential solar water
heating devices shall be eligible for any energy efficiency rebate
program or financing program, or both, offered by a gas corporation
for purposes of reducing natural gas demand for water heating.
SEC. 2. 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.