Bill Text: CA SB242 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Property Assessed Clean Energy program: program administrator.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2017-10-04 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 484, Statutes of 2017. [SB242 Detail]

Download: California-2017-SB242-Introduced.html

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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 242

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Introduced by Senator Skinner

February 06, 2017

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An act relating to the Property Assessed Clean Energy program.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 242, as introduced, Skinner. Property Assessed Clean Energy program.

Existing law authorizes applicants, defined as including specified public agencies, entities administering Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing programs on behalf of and with the written consent of public agencies, or financial institutions, to assist property owners in financing the installation of distributed generation renewable energy sources, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, or energy or water efficiency improvements through the issuance of PACE bonds that are secured by voluntary contractual assessments, voluntary special taxes, or special taxes on property.

This bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature, in order to ensure that PACE programs continue to effectively meet their public purposes, to enact legislation to enhance the requirements, guidelines, and procedures to which PACE programs administered by 3rd parties must conform.

Digest Key

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

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a public agency to determine that it would be convenient, advantageous, and in the public interest to designate an area within the public agency within which authorized public agency officials and property owners may enter into voluntary contractual assessments to finance specified improvements, including the installation of distributed generation renewable energy sources, energy or water efficiency improvements, seismic strengthening improvements, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure that are permanently fixed to real property, as specified.

(b) These programs operate as Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs, which have been identified by the Legislature since 2008 as important to helping the state achieve its energy and climate change goals by increasing the deployment of renewable energy, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the energy efficiency of homes, helping reduce dependence on groundwater and other water resources during the drought, and increasing the availability of non-carbon-emitting vehicles on the road.

(c) Since 2008, PACE programs have operated at the direction of hundreds of municipalities or government agencies, have facilitated efficiency and energy generation improvements to over 50,000 residential properties in California, with financing totaling more than one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000), and have facilitated efficiency and energy generation improvements to hundreds of commercial properties as well. These improvements support thousands of jobs in California.

(d) Improvements facilitated through PACE programs have reduced greenhouse gas emissions in California by billions of tons, reduced energy usage by billions of kilowatts, and conserved billions of gallons of water.

(e) PACE programs are important to helping the state achieve its targeted goals for energy efficiency, renewable energy generation, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as described in the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Chapter 488 of the Statutes of 2006) and the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015 (Chapter 547 of the Statutes of 2015).

SEC. 2.

 In order to ensure that Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs continue to effectively meet their public purposes, it is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to enhance the requirements, guidelines, and procedures to which PACE programs administered by third parties must conform.