Bill Text: CA SB1486 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Natural gas: Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility: reliability.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-26 - Read third time. Refused passage. (Ayes 5. Noes 12. Page 3969.) [SB1486 Detail]
Download: California-2021-SB1486-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Natural gas: Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility: reliability.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-26 - Read third time. Refused passage. (Ayes 5. Noes 12. Page 3969.) [SB1486 Detail]
Download: California-2021-SB1486-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 1486
| Introduced by Senator Stern |
February 18, 2022 |
An act to add Sections 3186.5 and 3186.6 to the Public Resources Code, and to add Sections 350 and 9619 to, and to add Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 8400) to Division 4.1 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1486, as introduced, Stern.
Natural gas: Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility: reliability.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical and gas corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law, until January 1, 2021, required the PUC, no later than July 1, 2017, to open a proceeding to determine the feasibility of minimizing or eliminating use of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility located in the County of Los Angeles while still maintaining energy and electric reliability for the region. As part of that ongoing proceeding, the PUC has declined to eliminate the use of the Aliso Canyon facility. Under existing law, the PUC, in the November 2, 2017, Aliso Canyon Withdrawal Protocol, authorized the Southern California Gas Company to withdraw gas from the Aliso Canyon facility when all other alternatives have been
exhausted, as specified.
This bill would require that the Aliso Canyon Withdrawal Protocol remain in effect until the PUC, no later than an unspecified date in 2027, closes all natural gas operations at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility pursuant to the ongoing proceeding. The bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to ensure that any jobs or economic activity affected by the cessation of those operations at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility are fully retained, equitably transitioned, or otherwise protected, as specified.
Existing law requires the Independent System Operator to ensure efficient use and reliable operation of the transmission grid, and to manage the transmission grid and related energy markets in order to ensure the reliability of electrical service and the health and safety of the public.
Existing law requires a local publicly owned electric utility providing electric service to 250,000 or more customers within the Los Angeles Basin to maximize the use of demand response, renewable energy resources, and energy efficiency to reduce demand in the area where electrical reliability has been impacted as a result of reductions in gas storage capacity and gas deliverability resulting from the well failure at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility. Existing law requires each local publicly owned electric utility serving end-use customers to prudently plan for and procure resources that are adequate to meet its planning reserve margin and peak demand and operating reserves, sufficient to provide reliable electric service to its customers.
This bill would require the Independent System Operator to establish a local reliability plan, taking into consideration 2- to 3-day extreme weather events, to provide modeling,
scenarios, and analysis to evaluate the minimum local reliability needs to maintain electrical service to customers served by the Southern California Edison Company. The bill would also require the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, a local publicly owned electric utility, to similarly establish a local reliability plan applicable to the minimum local reliability needs of its customers.
This bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with the Independent System Operator, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Southern California Edison Company, and Southern California Gas Company, on or before June 30, 2023, to prepare a natural gas demand reduction plan that includes natural gas reduction targets for 2030 and 2035 in the service territories of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Southern California Edison Company, and Southern California Gas Company.
Under existing law, a violation of
the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime.
Because certain of the above provisions would be a part of the act and because a violation of a PUC action implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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 specified reasons.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Clean Energy Jobs, Coordination, and Community Safety Through Aliso Canyon Closure Act of 2022.SEC. 2.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) On October 23, 2015, a gas blowout started from well SS-25 at Southern California Gas Company’s Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility, becoming the largest known blowout of methane in our country’s history by the time the well was controlled in February 2016.
(b) More than 100,000 metric tons of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and accompanying toxic and noxious chemical species were emitted to the atmosphere from this industrial incident.
(c) Thousands of people in the surrounding communities had to temporarily move to protect their health from
this pollution. Some people were ultimately forced to permanently relocate due to ongoing health issues associated with the incident.
(d) In response to the public health crisis and climate impacts caused by the blowout, Senate Bill 380 (Chapter 14 of the Statutes of 2016) was enacted, among other things, to require the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to open a proceeding to “determine the feasibility of minimizing or eliminating use of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility.”
(e) Due to the blowout, the Los Angeles City Council, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the Los Angeles Unified School District, United States Senator Dianne Feinstein, United States Senator Alex Padilla, Congressman Brad Sherman, and environmental and community groups have called for the facility’s closure.
(f) On November
18, 2019, Governor Newsom issued a letter to the President of the PUC requesting additional action to expedite planning for the permanent closure of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility.
(g) The PUC is now in its third year of the proceeding required under SB 380 and the second of year of the expedited closure planning called for by the Governor.
(h) On November 4, 2021, astonishingly the PUC voted to increase by 20 percent the level of natural gas stored at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility.
(i) Since the blowout, the effects of climate change have worsened. California continues to be assailed with catastrophic wildfires, extreme drought, and extreme weather events resulting in the need to accelerate the achievement of the state’s climate goals and increase the procurement of clean energy
resources.
(j) Over the past five years, the PUC and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission have taken actions that have led to the development of over 10,000 megawatts of new clean energy resources.
(k) The PUC recently adopted 11.5 gigawatts of additional clean energy resources to be fully developed by 2026 in the territory overseen by the Independent System Operator.
(l) The Los Angeles City Council recently approved the LA100 Plan, a plan that will result in the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power transitioning to 100 percent clean energy by 2035.
(m) It remains critically important to increase clean energy resources while also phasing out natural gas demand through accelerated decarbonization efforts that
include new building standards and replacing appliances that burn natural gas with cleaner, electric alternatives.
(n) Given its history, shutting down the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility will result in accelerating the state’s path toward cleaner energy, job creation, improved health, and environmental justice.
