Bill Text: CA AB383 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Clean Energy Financing Clearinghouse.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Failed) 2020-02-03 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB383 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB383-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Assembly
April 11, 2019 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
March 28, 2019 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION
| Assembly Bill | No. 383 |
| Introduced by Assembly Members Mayes and Friedman |
February 05, 2019 |
An act to add Division 16.2 (commencing with Section 26100) to the Public Resources Code, relating to energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 383, as amended, Mayes.
Clean Energy Financing Clearinghouse.
Existing law establishes various state programs pertaining to energy technologies that advance environmental protection goals, including renewable energy resources, energy efficiency, energy conservation, weatherization, energy storage, distributed generation, and transportation electrification and other low-emission transportation technologies.
This bill would establish the Clean Energy Financing Clearinghouse, a new office under the direction of the Treasurer, to coordinate all government programs that invest capital in clean energy technologies, as defined, that advance environmental protection goals; make program information clear and accessible for market participants; and partner with capital providers, investors, project developers, technology companies, and other market actors to catalyze more private investment into clean energy
technologies that advance environmental protection and environmental justice goals. The bill would specify functions that the Clean Energy Financing Clearinghouse is to perform with respect to cross-agency coordination, partnering with market actors, and partnering with capital providers.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) California has established aggressive targets to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, increase the use of renewable energy resources, and improve energy efficiency.
(b) Since disadvantaged and low-income communities are often disproportionately affected by pollution, California has made commitments to invest in disadvantaged communities to make an equitable transition to a low-carbon economy.
(c) To meet these targets, billions of dollars must be invested in
the deployment of a broad set of energy technologies that advance environmental protection goals, including the generation of electricity from renewable energy resources, energy efficiency, energy storage, microgrids, and transportation electrification and other low-emission transportation technologies.
(d) This investment capital will necessarily come from the private sector, with public funds used as needed to spark market activity.
(e) There is also a need to integrate investments in energy technologies that advance environmental protection goals with other kinds of infrastructure investment that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
(f) The state has already devoted significant public resources, in the form of
both subsidies and financing, to enable this deployment, with programs operated by numerous agencies.
(g) However, not all of these public resources are used to maximum efficiency, and they are not closely coordinated with one another.
(h) In addition, private sector participants may be unable to identify public resources that are available because of the complexity of existing programs and because the administration and oversight of existing programs is scattered across governmental entities.
SEC. 2.
Division 16.2 (commencing with Section 26100) is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:DIVISION 16.2. CLEAN ENERGY FINANCING CLEARINGHOUSE
26100.
For purposes of this division, “clean energy technology” includes all of the following:(a) Energy efficiency measures, including, but not limited to, weatherization, energy conservation, energy savings, insulation, and demand reduction.
(b)Eligible renewable energy resources pursuant to the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code).
(c)
(b) An energy storage system, as defined in Section 2835 of the Public Utilities Code, used to ensure reliability and integrate electricity from intermittent eligible renewable energy resources.
(d)
(c) Electrical demand response measures used to ensure reliability and integrate electricity from intermittent eligible renewable energy resources.
(e)
(d) No- and low-carbon electrical generation technologies, including fuel cells.
(f)
(e) Advanced vehicle technology, including plug-in and hybrid electric light-duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
(g)
(f) Other technologies and measures that the Clean Energy Financing Clearinghouse determines are important to utilize to maintain or reach federal and state ambient air quality standards, to meet the state’s goals for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code), or to meet the state’s goals for increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy
pursuant to the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015 (Chapter 547 of the Statutes of 2015).
26105.
(a) There is hereby created, under the direction of the Treasurer, the Clean Energy Financing Clearinghouse, a new office for the following purposes:(1) To coordinate all government programs that invest capital in clean energy technologies that advance environmental protection goals to enable them to achieve their individual missions.
(2) To make information on these programs clear and accessible for market participants.
(3) To partner with capital providers, investors, project developers, technology companies, and other market actors to catalyze
more private investment in clean energy technologies that advance environmental protection and environmental justice goals, leveraging more private investment per public dollar used.
(b) The Clean Energy Financing Clearinghouse shall consult and coordinate with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, the Treasurer, the Public Utilities Commission, and other relevant governmental entities to achieve the purposes and functions described in this section.
(c) The Clean Energy Financing Clearinghouse shall perform the following functions with respect to cross-agency coordination:
(1) Create a central information resource that is both internal and
external facing, so that market actors and government entities are fully aware of all the public resources and funding available for the deployment of clean energy technologies that advance environmental protection and environmental justice goals.
(2) Proactively identify areas of overlap or adjacency from existing public programs and facilitate coordination so that public funds are used at maximum effectiveness within a given clean energy technology project or market.
(3) Ensure that all programs meant to support the adoption of clean energy technologies that advance environmental protection and environmental justice goals are made accessible to, and are well-integrated into program offerings available to, low-income and disadvantaged communities.
(d) The Clean Energy Financing Clearinghouse shall perform the following functions with respect to partnering with market actors:
(1) Work with developers, technology companies, and large wholesale environmentally friendly clean energy technology deployment firms to help them identify existing public resources that can be brought to bear in their relevant markets or projects.
(2) Work with those market actors to increase the pipeline of investable, environmentally friendly clean energy technology projects for California.
(3) (A) Work with those market actors to support the growth of women, minority, disabled veteran, and LGBT business enterprises.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, “women business enterprise,” “minority business enterprise,” “disabled veteran business enterprise,” and “LGBT business enterprise” have the same meaning as defined in Section 8282 of the Public Utilities Code.
(4) Ensure that developers serving low- to moderate-income communities first access all available subsidies and rebates before selling environmentally friendly clean energy technology services or financing so that households receive maximum potential benefit.
(5) Solicit proposals from market actors for innovative business models and solutions to increase the deployment of clean energy technologies that advance environmental protection and environmental justice goals that
rely on public resources, so that the Clean Energy Financing Clearinghouse acts as a facilitator between public agencies and the private sector to construct a cost-effective and marketable energy finance solution. These business models and solutions may include, but are not limited to, novel approaches to deploy community solar, low-income-focused clean energy technologies, distributed energy storage solutions, and other novel combinations of technology, financing, and public and private resources.
(6) Develop, to the extent feasible, materials in multiple languages to facilitate growth in the activity of market actors that may be focused on non-English-speaking market segments.
(e) The Clean Energy Financing Clearinghouse shall perform the following functions with respect to
partnering with capital providers:
(1) Work with large institutional or wholesale capital providers to find efficient and innovative paths and structures for investment in clean energy technologies that advance environmental protection and environmental justice goals in the state by working in coordination with other state agencies and public resources.
(2) Direct potential investors to appropriate governmental entities and programs so that those governmental entities or programs may work together to deploy public and private capital for clean energy technologies that advance environmental protection and environmental justice goals.
(f) The Clean Energy Financing Clearinghouse shall have a dedicated staff of
professionals that have the technical, financial, and energy industry skills required to perform its functions.
(g) The Clean Energy Financing Clearinghouse shall work closely with markets and operate in a flexible manner to bridge any gap that exists between public resources and programs and the needs of the private sector.
(h) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide a reliable source of funding for the Clean Energy Financing Clearinghouse.
