2827.5.
(a) As used in this section, the following definitions apply:(1) “High fire threat district” means areas identified as tier 2 (elevated) or tier 3 (extreme) fire risk on the fire threat map maintained by the commission.
(2) “Large electrical corporation” has the same meaning as defined in Section 2827.
(3) “Low income “Low-income customer” means an individual or household who
qualifies for one or more of the following programs:
(A) The California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program described in Section 739.1.
(B) The Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) program described in Section 739.12.
(C) The CalFresh program established pursuant to (Chapter Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 18900) of Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code). Code.
(D) The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (Chapter 51 (commencing with Section 2011) of Title 7 of the United States Code).
(E) The Low-income Heating Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) (42 U.S.C. Sec. 8621).
(F) The federal Head Start Program (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9801 et seq.).
(4) “Proportionate share” means the share of the total program size allocated to each large electrical corporation based on that large electrical corporation’s share of the total electrical load of all large electrical corporations in California.
(5) “Qualified multifamily housing” means housing with
four or more housing units that satisfies one of the following criteria:
(A) The housing predominantly houses low-income customers.
(B) The housing is located in an underserved community.
(C) The housing is located in a high fire threat district.
(6) “Renewable energy credit” has the same meaning as defined in Section 399.12.
(7) “Solar and storage system” means a photovoltaic generating system with paired storage that is sized to optimize the system’s ability to generate
export electricity to the electrical grid at times of day when it is most valuable.
(8) “Total program size” means generating capacity of 3,000 megawatts.
(9) “Underserved community” has the same meaning as defined in Section 1601.
(b) On or before January 1, 2024, the commission shall establish a new multifamily housing local solar program consistent with all of the following requirements:
(1) The program shall be implemented as quickly as reasonably possible, but constructing one-half of the total program size shall not
take longer than 5 years and constructing the total program size shall not take longer than 10 years.
(2) Each large electrical corporation shall identify enough qualified multifamily housing to satisfy its proportionate share.
(3) (A) Each large electrical corporation shall construct, or contract for the construction of, a solar and storage system on or near the qualified multifamily housing it identified pursuant to paragraph (2). The solar and storage system shall be sized to meet all, or part, of those customers’ electrical requirements.
(B) The property owner of qualified multifamily housing shall not be required to participate in the program established by this section. A large electrical corporation that seeks to site a solar and storage system on property that it does not own shall enter into a mutually agreeable lease, easement, or other arrangement with the property owner.
(4) The solar and storage system shall be owned by the large electrical corporation and connected in front of the customers’ meters.
(5) Each large electrical corporation shall export electricity from the solar and storage system and shall apply the value of
revenue from the exports as follows: to provide monthly bill credits to participating low-income customers, pay the costs of constructing and operating the system, and pay the costs of administering the program. Each large electrical corporation shall not shift these costs to nonparticipating customers.
(A)The value of the electricity shall be set using the commission’s most recent
avoided cost calculator or its successor.
(B)One-half of the value set pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be credited monthly to participating low-income customers residing in the qualified multifamily housing as a separate line item on their electricity bills.
(C)One-half of the value set pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be applied to the revenue requirement for the cost of the solar and storage system until the revenue requirement is paid off, at which time the entire value shall be credited to participating customers, less the costs of administering the program. The revenue requirement shall include the large electrical corporation’s reasonable costs of administering the program.
(6) Each large electrical corporation shall site and operate its the solar and storage system systems to accomplish, to the greatest extent feasible, all
of the following:
(A) Maximizing the bill credit available to participating customers.
(B) Maximizing the economic and reliability benefits to the electrical system and all other customers.
(C) Providing resilience to participating customers and their communities.
(7) Each large electrical corporation shall retire all renewable energy credits from generation exported by the solar and storage system on behalf of the participating customers.
(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 1720 of the Labor Code, unless constructed by employees of a large
electrical corporation, construction of each solar and storage system shall constitute a public works project for purposes of Article 2 (commencing with Section 1770) of Chapter 1 of Part 7 of Division 2 of the Labor Code.
(d) The commission may increase the total program size.