Bill Text: CA SB1032 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission: electrical transmission grid development and expansion: study.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-08-11 - August 11 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. [SB1032 Detail]
Download: California-2021-SB1032-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Senate
April 07, 2022 |
Amended
IN
Senate
March 16, 2022 |
Introduced by Senator Becker |
February 15, 2022 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
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.
(a) This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Clean Energy Infrastructure Authority Act of 2022.SEC. 2.
Division 1.8 (commencing with Section 3600) is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:DIVISION 1.8. Clean Energy Infrastructure Authority Act
PART 1. General Provisions
3600.
This division shall be known, and may be cited, as the Clean Energy Infrastructure Authority Act.3601.
For purposes of this division, the following definitions apply:3602.
The purpose of this division is to create the Clean Energy Infrastructure Authority to lead the state’s efforts to build criticalPART 2. Governance
3605.
(a) The Clean Energy Infrastructure Authority is hereby created as a public instrumentality of the state.(1)Three members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. These initial appointments shall be for staggered terms of one, two, and three years, and subsequent appointments shall be for three-year terms.
(3)One member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. The initial appointment shall be for two years, and subsequent appointments shall be for four-year terms.
(4)One member appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. An appointment made pursuant to
this paragraph shall be for a four-year term.
(c)The appointments made pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be consistent with both of the following requirements:
(1)One member appointed by the Governor shall have expertise in financial matters involving eligible clean energy infrastructure.
(2)The other four appointed members shall have both of the following:
(A)Special knowledge of the utility industry, as evidenced by college degrees or by experience, at least five years of which must have been within the utility industry.
(B)Knowledge of renewable energy development.
(3)An appointed member shall not represent a public utility, publicly owned utility, or other private person that owns or operates electrical
transmission infrastructure, except in their capacity as a member of the board.
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
(i)
3606.
(a) The authority shall hire an executive director and any other employees or agents, including consultants, financial advisors, and legal advisors, as it deems necessary for the performance of the authority’s powers and duties, and prescribe the powers and duties of, and fix the compensation of, the employees and agents.PART 3. Powers and Duties
3610.
The authority shall do all of the following:3611.
The authority may do any of the following:3612.
(a) This section shall only apply to electrical transmission infrastructure that will be located in the service territory of, or connected directly to the electrical transmission infrastructure of, a large electrical corporation and owned by the authority.3613.
The authority shall not enter into a project if a public utility, publicly owned utility, or private person is constructing, or already providing, equivalent electrical transmission infrastructure for the services contemplated by the authority.3614.
The authority may propose, and plan for, new electrical transmission infrastructure, but shall not develop electrical transmission infrastructure unless the California balancing authority with control over the area in which the electrical transmission infrastructure will be developed has approved the project.3615.
Notwithstanding any other law, upon a project being approved by the California balancing authority with control over the area in which the electrical transmission infrastructure will be developed, approval of the project by the commission shall not be required.Notwithstanding any other law, county and city zoning ordinances shall not apply to the location or development of eligible clean energy infrastructure pursuant to this division.
3617.
Notwithstanding any other law, the authority is not subject to the supervision or control of the commission or any other board, bureau, department, or agency of the state, except as specifically provided in this division.PART 4. Financial Provisions
3620.
There is hereby created the Clean Energy Infrastructure Authority Fund in the State Treasury for the purpose of financing projects pursuant to this division.3621.
(a) Revenues of, and all other income collected by, the authority pursuant to this division shall be deposited into the fund.3622.
Upon appropriation, the authority may use moneys in the fund for any of the following purposes:PART 5. Revenue Bonds
3625.
(a) (1) Upon request by the authority, the bank shall, on behalf of the authority, issue taxable or tax-exempt revenue bonds pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 63070) of Division 1 of Title 6.7 of the Government Code and deposit the proceeds from the bonds into the fund or, with authority approval, use the proceeds to refund bonds previously issued under this part. Bond proceeds may also be used to fund necessary reserves, capitalized interest, or costs of issuance.3626.
(a) The authority may pledge all or any part of the revenues of, and all other income collected by, the authority, and other lawfully available moneys of the authority, to bonds entered into pursuant to this division and any repayment or reimbursement obligations of the authority to any provider of bond insurance, letter of credit, line of credit, reserve fund surety, or other facility providing credit or liquidity support for any revenue bonds.3627.
(a) The authority may request that the bank issue revenue bonds pursuant to this part through a resolution adopted by the authority’s board by majority vote.PART 6. Oversight
3630.
The Department of Finance shall do all of the following:3631.
Once each calendar quarter, the authority shall report to the Legislature on all expenditures made and activities conducted in the fiscal year to date pursuant to this division.3632.
The authority, on or before December 1, shall annually submit to the Legislature a report of its activities. Each report shall set forth a complete operating and financial statement covering its operations for the previous fiscal year.3633.
The California State Auditor, or the California State Auditor’s designee, shall conduct an annual financial and legal compliance audit of the accounts of the authority and file copies with the Governor and the Legislature.3634.
A report to be submitted pursuant to this part shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.PART 7. Miscellaneous Provisions
3640.
(b)A publicly owned utility may recover the capital costs of a project undertaken in partnership with the authority pursuant to this division only if the project has been approved by the governing body of the publicly owned utility.
3641.
Information obtained by the authority that is proprietary technical or business information shall be confidential and not subject to inspection pursuant to the California Public Records Act. “Proprietary technical or business information” includes, but is not limited to, power purchase agreements, costs of production, costs of transmission, transmission service agreements, credit reviews, detailed power models, and financing statements.SEC. 3.
The Legislature finds and declares that Section 2 of this act, which adds Section 3641 to the Public Utilities Code, imposes a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:The Legislature finds and declares that enabling the financing, planning, development, acquisition, ownership, maintenance, and operation of electrical transmission infrastructure and energy storage systems throughout the state in order to reduce costs, increase electrical reliability, and streamline project deployment is a matter of statewide concern and is not a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, Section 2 of this act adding Section 3616 to the Public Utilities Code applies to all cities, including charter cities.