Bill Text: CA SB366 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Electrical corporations: Green Tariff Shared Renewables Program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-07-12 - July 12 set for first hearing canceled at the request of author. [SB366 Detail]

Download: California-2017-SB366-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  April 03, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 366

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Introduced by Senator Leyva

February 14, 2017

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An act to amend Sections 2831.5 and 2833, 2833 of, to add Sections 2833.2 and 2833.4 to, and to add Article 6 (commencing with Section 8290) to Chapter 7 of Division 4 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 366, as amended, Leyva. Electrical corporations: workforce development: Green Tariff Shared Renewables Program.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, gas corporations, water corporations, and telephone corporations. The California Constitution authorizes the PUC to establish rules and to fix the rates and charges for all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature. Existing law directs the PUC to require every electrical, gas, water, and telephone corporation, and wireless telecommunications service provider, with annual gross revenues exceeding $25,000,000, and their regulated subsidiaries and affiliates, to annually submit a detailed and verifiable plan for increasing procurement from women-, minority-, and disabled veteran-owned, and LGBT business enterprises, as defined, and directs the PUC to require the reporting of certain related information. The PUC, by its rulemaking authority, has adopted General Order 156, applicable to certain electrical, gas, and telephone corporations, to effectuate these requirements.

This bill would require the PUC, in consultation with the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, to establish rules by January 1, 2019, requiring an electrical corporation to establish training programs that will cultivate quality workforce development, and that will provide recruitment, job opportunities, and job retention strategies for residents living in disadvantaged communities. The bill would require that the training program include those training opportunities that the PUC determines to be prudent and reasonable for persons that construct, operate, or maintain distributed generation resources that interconnect to the electrical corporation’s electrical grid.

The

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. The Green Tariff Shared Renewables Program requires an electrical corporation with 100,000 or more customers in California to file with the PUC an application requesting approval of a tariff to implement a program enabling ratepayers to participate directly in offsite electrical generation facilities that use eligible renewable energy resources, consistent with certain legislative findings and statements of intent. Existing law requires the PUC, by July 1, 2014, to issue a decision to approve or disapprove the the utility’s application, with or without modifications. Existing law requires the PUC, after notice and opportunity for public comment, to approve the application if the PUC determines that the proposed program is reasonable and consistent with the legislative findings and statements of intent and directs the commission to require that a utility’s Green Tariff Shared Renewables Program be administered in accordance with specified provisions. An electrical corporation is not required to offer the program once the nameplate rated generating capacity serving customers participating in the program reaches the utility’s proportionate share of a statewide limitation of 600 megawatts. Of this amount, 100 megawatts are reserved for facilities that are no larger than one megawatt nameplate rated generating capacity and that are located in areas that the California Environmental Protection Agency has identified as most impacted and disadvantaged communities.

This bill would substitute an unspecified amount would, in place of the 600 megawatt statewide limitation. The bill would do the same for the 100 megawatts reserved for most impacted and disadvantaged communities and would reserve that unspecified megawatt amount instead limitation, require that an electrical corporation offer the program until the utility reaches the utility’s proportionate share of a statewide minimum of 800 megawatts and would require that a minimum of 300 megawatts be reserved for disadvantaged communities identified pursuant to a specified law. The bill would prohibit the operator of a generating facility participating in the program from charging a participating low-income customer, as defined, in a disadvantaged community for the purchase of the customer’s share of the electricity at a rate above the applicable California Alternate Rates for Energy program rate. The bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to establish a grant program to provide financial assistance to operators of a generating facility participating in a utility’s green tariff shared renewables program that is providing electricity to participating low-income customers in communities identified pursuant to a specified law. The bill would require the operator of a generating facility participating in the program pursuant to the portion of the program reserved for facilities that are no larger than one megawatt nameplate rated generating capacity and that are located in communities identified as disadvantaged to coordinate with the electrical corporation’s workforce development program discussed above. require that preference be given to projects located in disadvantaged communities identified pursuant to that law, except as specified.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. That act requires the state board to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined, to be achieved by 2020, equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990. The state board is authorized to include in its implementation of the act the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. The implementing regulations adopted by the state board provide for the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to electrical corporations pursuant to a market-based compliance mechanism. Existing law authorizes the PUC to allocate 15% of these revenues for clean energy and energy efficiency projects established pursuant to statute that are administered by electrical corporations or 3rd-party administrators and requires the PUC to direct the balance of the revenues to be credited directly to the residential, small business, and emissions-intensive trade-exposed retail customers of the electrical corporations, as specified. Existing law requires the PUC to annually authorize the allocation of $100,000,000 or 10%, whichever is less, beginning with the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2016, and ending with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, from the greenhouse gas allowance revenues received by electrical corporations set aside for clean energy and energy efficiency projects for the Multifamily Affordable Housing Solar Roofs Program.

This bill would require the PUC to implement, by January 1, 2019, the Renewable Energy for All program to pay any net costs associated with subscriptions by participating low-income customers for generating facilities built pursuant to the 300 megawatt set aside for disadvantaged communities under the Green Tariff Shared Renewables Program. The bill would require that, beginning with the 2018–19 fiscal year and ending with the 2019–20 fiscal year, any moneys remaining of the 15% available for clean energy and energy efficiency projects from the sale of greenhouse gas allowances by electrical corporations not allocated to the Multifamily Affordable Housing Solar Roofs Program be allocated to the Renewable Energy for All program. The bill would authorize the PUC to allocate additional moneys to the Renewable Energy for All program if it makes specified findings. The bill would require the PUC to allocate moneys from the Renewable Energy for All program to community-based and nonprofit organizations to conduct marketing, education, and outreach to customers, with emphasis on increasing participation of low-income customers.

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 the bill requires action by the PUC to implement its requirements, and a violation of the PUC’s rule or order would be a crime, thus the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.

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 a specified reason.

Digest Key

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

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 Section 2831.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

2831.5.

 (a) This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Green Tariff Shared Renewables Program.

(b) For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) “Eligible renewable energy resource,” “renewable energy credit,” and “renewables portfolio standard” have the same meaning as those terms have for the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1).

(2) “Participating low-income customer” means a customer of a participating utility who is eligible for the California Alternate Rates for Energy program established pursuant to Section 739.1 or the CalFresh program established pursuant to Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 18900) of Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code Family Electric Rate Assistance program and who is procuring renewable energy resources pursuant to the Green Tariff Shared Renewables Program.

(3) “Participating utility” means an electrical corporation with 100,000 or more customer accounts in California.

SEC. 2.

 Section 2833 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

2833.

 (a) The commission shall require a green tariff shared renewables program to be administered by a participating utility in accordance with this section.

(b) Generating facilities participating in a participating utility’s green tariff shared renewables program shall be eligible renewable energy resources with a nameplate rated generating capacity not exceeding 20 megawatts, except for those generating facilities reserved for location in areas identified by the California Environmental Protection Agency as the most impacted and disadvantaged communities pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d), which shall not exceed one megawatt nameplate rated generating capacity.

(c) A participating utility shall use commission-approved tools and mechanisms to procure additional eligible renewable energy resources for the green tariff shared renewables program from electrical generation facilities that are in addition to those required by the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1). For purposes of this subdivision, “commission-approved tools and mechanisms” means those procurement methods approved by the commission for an electrical corporation to procure eligible renewable energy resources for purposes of meeting the procurement requirements of the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1).

(d) A participating utility shall permit customers within the service territory of the utility to purchase electricity pursuant to the tariff approved by the commission to implement the utility’s green tariff shared renewables program, until the utility meets its proportionate share of a statewide limitation of ____ minimum of 800 megawatts of customer participation, measured by nameplate rated generating capacity. The statewide minimum of 800 megawatts of customer participation shall be increased to the extent necessary to accommodate participation by participating low-income customers and projects located in disadvantaged communities. The proportionate share shall be calculated based on the ratio of each participating utility’s retail sales to total retail sales of electricity by all participating utilities. The commission may place other restrictions on purchases under a green tariff shared renewables program, including restricting participation to a certain level of capacity each year. The following restrictions requirements shall apply to the statewide ____ megawatt limitation: minimum of 800 megawatts of customer participation:

(1) ____ Not less than 300 megawatts shall be reserved for facilities that are no larger than one megawatt nameplate rated generating capacity and that are located in communities identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.

(2) Not less than 100 megawatts shall be reserved for participation by residential class customers.

(3) Twenty megawatts shall be reserved for the City of Davis.

(4) For the reminder not set aside pursuant to paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, preference shall be given to projects located in communities identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.

(e) To the extent possible, a participating utility shall seek to procure eligible renewable energy resources that are located in reasonable proximity to enrolled participants.

(f) A participating utility’s green tariff shared renewables program shall support diverse procurement and the goals of commission General Order 156.

(g) A participating utility’s green tariff shared renewables program shall not allow a customer to subscribe to more than 100 percent of the customer’s electricity demand.

(h) Except as authorized by this subdivision, a participating utility’s green tariff shared renewables program shall not allow a customer to subscribe to more than two megawatts of nameplate generating capacity. This limitation does not apply to a federal, state, or local government, school or school district, county office of education, the California Community Colleges, the California State University, or the University of California.

(i) A participating utility’s green tariff shared renewables program shall not allow any single entity or its affiliates or subsidiaries to subscribe to more than 20 percent of any single calendar year’s total cumulative rated generating capacity.

(j) To the extent possible, a participating utility shall actively market the utility’s green tariff shared renewables program to low-income and minority communities and customers.

(k) Participating customers shall receive bill credits for the generation of a participating eligible renewable energy resource using the class average retail generation cost as established in the participating utility’s approved tariff for the class to which the participating customer belongs, plus a renewables adjustment value representing the difference between the time-of-delivery profile of the eligible renewable energy resource used to serve the participating customer and the class average time-of-delivery profile and the resource adequacy value, if any, of the resource contained in the utility’s green tariff shared renewables program. The renewables adjustment value applicable to a time-of-delivery profile of an eligible renewable energy resource shall be determined according to rules adopted by the commission. For these purposes, “time-of-delivery profile” refers to the daily generating pattern of a participating eligible renewable energy resource over time, the value of which is determined by comparing the generating pattern of that participating eligible renewable energy resource to the demand for electricity over time and other generating resources available to serve that demand.

(l) Participating customers shall pay a renewable generation rate established by the commission, the administrative costs of the participating utility, and any other charges the commission determines are just and reasonable to fully cover the cost of procuring a green tariff shared renewables program’s resources to serve a participating customer’s needs.

(m) A participating customer’s rates shall be debited or credited with any other commission-approved costs or values applicable to the eligible renewable energy resources contained in a participating utility’s green tariff shared renewables program’s portfolio. These additional costs or values shall be applied to new customers when they initially subscribe after the cost or value has been approved by the commission.

(n) Participating customers shall pay all otherwise applicable charges without modification.

(o) A participating utility shall permit a participating customer to subscribe to the program and be provided with a nonbinding estimate of reasonably anticipated bill credits and bill charges, as determined by the commission, for a period of up to 20 years.

(o)

(p) A participating utility shall provide support for enhanced community renewables programs to facilitate development of eligible renewable energy resource projects located close to the source of demand.

(p)

(q) The commission shall ensure that charges and credits associated with a participating utility’s green tariff shared renewables program are set in a manner that ensures nonparticipant ratepayer indifference for the remaining bundled service, direct access, and community choice aggregation customers and ensures that no costs are shifted from participating customers to nonparticipating ratepayers.

(q)

(r) A participating utility shall track and account for all revenues and costs to ensure that the utility recovers the actual costs of the utility’s green tariff shared renewables program and that all costs and revenues are fully transparent and auditable.

(r)

(s) Any renewable energy credits associated with electricity procured by a participating utility for the utility’s green tariff shared renewables program and utilized by a participating customer shall be retired by the participating utility on behalf of the participating customer. Those renewable energy credits shall not be further sold, transferred, or otherwise monetized for any purpose. Any renewable energy credits associated with electricity procured by a participating utility for the shared renewable energy self-generation program, but not utilized by a participating customer, shall be counted toward meeting that participating utility’s renewables portfolio standard.

(s)

(t) A participating utility shall, in the event of participant customer attrition or other causes that reduce customer participation or electrical demand below generation levels, apply the excess generation from the eligible renewable energy resources procured through the utility’s green tariff shared renewables program to the utility’s renewable portfolio standard procurement obligations or bank the excess generation for future use to benefit all customers in accordance with the renewables portfolio standard banking and procurement rules approved by the commission.

(t)

(u) In calculating its procurement requirements to meet the requirements of the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1), a participating utility may exclude from total retail sales the kilowatthours generated by an eligible renewable energy resource that is credited to a participating customer pursuant to the utility’s green tariff shared renewables program, commencing with the point in time at which the generating facility achieves commercial operation.

(u)

(v) All renewable energy resources procured on behalf of participating customers in the participating utility’s green tariff shared renewables program shall comply with the State Air Resources Board’s Voluntary Renewable Electricity Program. California-eligible greenhouse gas allowances associated with these purchases shall be retired on behalf of participating customers as part of the board’s Voluntary Renewable Electricity Program.

(v)

(w) A participating utility shall provide a municipality with aggregated consumption data for participating customers within the municipality’s jurisdiction to allow for reporting on progress toward climate action goals by the municipality. A participating utility shall also publicly disclose, on a geographic basis, consumption data and reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases achieved by participating customers in the utility’s green tariff shared renewables program, on an aggregated basis consistent with privacy protections as specified in Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 8380) of Division 4.1.

(w)

(x) This section does not prohibit or restrict a community choice aggregator from offering its own voluntary renewable energy programs to participating customers of the community choice aggregation.

SEC. 3.

 Section 2833.2 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

2833.2.

(a)An operator of a generating facility participating in a utility’s green tariff shared renewables program pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 2833 shall not charge a participating low-income customer in a disadvantaged community for the purchase of the customer’s share of the electricity at a rate above the applicable California Alternate Rates for Energy program rate.

(b)The Energy Commission shall establish a grant program to provide financial assistance to the operator of a generating facility participating in a utility’s green tariff shared renewables program that is providing electricity to participating low-income customers in communities identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.

2833.2.

 (a) By January 1, 2019, the commission shall implement the Renewable Energy for All program to pay any net costs associated with subscriptions by participating low-income customers for a generating facility that is built pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 2833. The commission shall ensure that the moneys made available for the Renewable Energy for All program are sufficient, at a minimum, to eliminate any forecasted rate premium and ensure meaningful bill savings over the duration of the contractual commitment by participating low-income customers. The commission may limit subscriptions as necessary to ensure sufficient moneys are available to meet the requirements of this section.

(b) From the revenues described in subdivision (c) of Section 748.5, beginning with the 2018–19 fiscal year, and ending with the 2019–20 fiscal year the commission shall annually require the allocation of any remaining available moneys not allocated to the Multifamily Affordable Housing Solar Roofs Program to the Renewable Energy for All program. The commission shall authorize the allocation of these moneys for the Renewable Energy for All program through June 30, 2030, if the commission determines that revenues are available after June 30, 2020, and that there is adequate interest and participation in the program.

(c) If a participating low-income customer defaults on his or her subscription obligations, each electrical corporation shall procure the associated generation at the price specified in the customer’s subscription and ensure that any net costs are allocated on a fully nonbypassable basis consistent with the treatment of costs identified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 365.1.

(d) The commission shall allocate moneys from the Renewable Energy for All program to community-based and nonprofit organizations to conduct marketing, education, and outreach to customers, with an emphasis on increasing participation of low-income customers.

SEC. 4.Section 2833.4 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

2833.4.

To ensure consistent, high-quality installations and to maximize benefits to disadvantaged communities, an operator of a generating facility participating in a utility’s green tariff shared renewables program pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 2833 shall coordinate with the electrical corporation’s workforce development program established pursuant to Section 8291.

SEC. 5.Article 6 (commencing with Section 8290) is added to Chapter 7 of Division 4 of the Public Utilities Code, to read:

6.Workforce development

8290.

For purposes of this article, “disadvantaged communities” means communities identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.

8291.

By January 1, 2019, the commission, in consultation with the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, shall establish rules requiring an electrical corporation to establish training programs that will cultivate quality workforce development, and that will provide recruitment, job opportunities, and job retention strategies for residents living in disadvantaged communities. In order to ensure electrical grid reliability that accommodates distributed generation, in addition to training persons who are or potentially may become employees of the electrical corporation, the training program shall include those training opportunities that the commission determines to be prudent and reasonable for persons that construct, operate, or maintain distributed generation resources that interconnect to the electrical corporation’s electrical grid.

SEC. 6.SEC. 4.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.