Bill Text: CA AB923 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Bill 923 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Bay Area Rapid Transit District: electricity procurement and delivery.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-09-20 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 314, Statutes of 2019. [AB923 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB923-Chaptered.html

Assembly Bill No. 923

CHAPTER 314

An act to amend Section 701.8 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity.

[ Approved by Governor September 20, 2019. Filed with Secretary of State September 20, 2019. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 923, Wicks. Bay Area Rapid Transit District: electricity procurement and delivery.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) system to elect to obtain electricity from multiple sources, including (1) preference power purchased from a federal power marketing agency or its successor, (2) electricity purchased from a local publicly owned electric utility, and (3) electricity generated by an eligible renewable energy resource, as defined. Existing law requires any electrical corporation that owns and operates transmission and distribution facilities that deliver electricity to BART, upon request by BART, to deliver electricity from those sources without discrimination or delay.

This bill would additionally authorize BART to elect to obtain electricity purchased from an electrical corporation or marketer, as defined, and electricity purchased through a market operated by the Independent System Operator.

Existing law establishes a program under which retail suppliers of electricity, including electrical corporations and local publicly owned electric utilities, disclose reliable, accurate, timely, and consistent information regarding fuel sources for electric generation offered for retail sales in California. Existing law requires that a retail supplier’s disclosure be expressed as a percentage of annual sales derived from specific purchases and unspecified sources of electricity and separately identify total California system electricity, which is the sum of all in-state generation and net electricity imports by fuel type. Existing law requires that these categories additionally identify annual sales that are derived from specified fuels or sources of energy, including coal, large hydroelectric, natural gas, nuclear, eligible renewable energy resources, and other categories determined by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission.

This bill would require the BART District to annually report to the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission the information that retail suppliers of electricity must disclose and report.

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

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

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Use of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) system should be encouraged as a means of reducing single-occupant vehicle trips, roadway congestion, air pollution, and emissions of greenhouse gases from the transportation sector.

(b) BART provides an important alternative to driving that is affordable, accessible, convenient, and environmentally friendly.

(c) The cost of electricity is BART’s second largest operating cost, and electrical needs are projected to grow due to system expansion and increased service frequency.

(d) On April 27, 2017, the BART Board of Directors adopted a Wholesale Electricity Portfolio Policy that is aligned with state climate policy goals and does all of the following:

(1) Supports low and stable BART operating costs to promote ridership and affordable fares.

(2) Prioritizes a long-term predictable electricity cost structure.

(3) Supports state climate policies by prioritizing purchases from supply sources with very low or zero emissions of greenhouse gases.

(4) Supports state renewable energy policies by prioritizing purchases from sources that qualify as eligible renewable energy resources under criteria set by state law.

(e) It is the intent of the Legislature that BART takes delivery of electricity for the purpose of integrating BART’s electricity supply resources and operating the BART system, and not for the purpose of becoming a retail seller or energy marketer.

SEC. 2.

Section 701.8 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

701.8.

(a) To ensure that electrical corporations do not operate their transmission and distribution monopolies in a manner that impedes the ability of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART District) to reduce its electricity cost through the purchase and delivery of preference power, electrical corporations shall meet the requirements of this section.

(b) Any electrical corporation that owns and operates transmission and distribution facilities that deliver electricity at one or more locations to the BART District’s system shall, upon request by the BART District, and without discrimination or delay, use the same facilities to do any or all of the following:

(1) Deliver preference power purchased from a federal power marketing agency or its successor.

(2) Deliver electricity purchased from a local publicly owned electric utility.

(3) Deliver electricity generated by an eligible renewable energy resource.

(4) Deliver electricity purchased from an electrical corporation or marketer.

(5) Deliver electricity purchased through a market operated by the Independent System Operator.

(c) Where the BART District purchases electricity at more than one location, at any voltage, from an electric utility under tariffs regulated by the commission, the utility shall bill the BART District for usage as though all the electricity purchased at transmission level voltages were metered by a single meter at one location and all the electricity purchased at subtransmission voltages were metered by a single meter at one location, provided that any billing for demand charges would be based on the coincident demand of transmission and distribution metering.

(d) If, on or after January 1, 1996, the BART District leases or has agreed to lease, as special facilities, utility plants for the purpose of receiving power at transmission level voltages, an electrical corporation may not terminate the lease without concurrence from the BART District.

(e) When the BART District elects to have electricity delivered pursuant to subdivision (b), Sections 365, 365.1, and 366, and any commission regulations, orders, or tariffs, that implement direct transactions, are inapplicable, and the BART District is not an electricity supplier. Neither the commission, nor any electrical corporation that delivers the electricity described in subdivision (b) to the BART District, shall require that an electricity supplier be designated as a condition of the delivery of that electricity.

(f) The BART District may elect to obtain electricity from the following multiple sources at the same time:

(1) Electricity delivered pursuant to subdivision (b).

(2) Electricity supplied by one or more direct transactions.

(3) Electricity from any electrical corporation that owns and operates transmission and distribution facilities that deliver electricity at one or more locations to the BART District’s system.

(g) The BART District shall annually report to the Energy Commission the information for the previous calendar year required of retail electricity suppliers in Article 14 (commencing with Section 398.1) of Chapter 2.3, including all of the following:

(1) The kilowatthours purchased from specified sources, by generator and fuel type during the previous calendar year, consistent with meter data, including losses, reported to the system operator.

(2) The kilowatthours purchased from unspecified sources in California and from unspecified sources imported into California from other subregions within the Western Electricity Coordinating Council.

(3) The kilowatthours consumed by the BART District.

(h) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) “Electricity from specified sources” or “purchases from specified sources” means electricity transactions that are traceable to a specific generation source by any auditable contract trail or equivalent, such as a tradable commodity system, that provides commercial verification that the electricity source claimed has been sold once, and only once, to an end user. The BART District may rely on annual data to determine whether a transaction meets this definition, rather than hour-by-hour matching of loads and resources.

(2) “Electricity from unspecified sources” or “purchases from unspecified sources” means electricity that is not traceable to a specific generation source by any auditable contract trail or equivalent, including a tradable commodity system, that provides commercial verification that the electricity source claimed has been sold once, and only once, to an end user.

(3) “Eligible renewable energy resources” means an eligible renewable energy resource pursuant to the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3).

(4) “Marketer” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 331.

(5) “System operator” has the same meaning as defined in Section 398.2.