Gas & electric utilities

Prior law, until January 1, 2010, required the Attorney General to represent the Department of Finance and to succeed to all rights, claims, powers, and entitlements of the Electricity Oversight Board in any litigation or settlement to obtain ratepayer recovery for the effects of the 2000–02 energy crisis. That law additionally prohibited the Attorney General from expending the proceeds of any settlements of those claims, except as specified. This bill, until January 1, 2013, would reenact the above-described requirements and authorizations. Hide

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law authorizes a local government, as defined, to receive a bill credit, as defined, to be applied to a designated benefiting account for electricity exported to the electrical grid by an eligible renewable generating facility, as defined, and requires the commission to adopt a rate tariff for the benefiting account. Existing law establishes the responsibilities of the affected electrical corporation to which the facility is interconnected. An eligible renewable generating facility for the purposes of these provisions is limited to a facility that has a generating capacity of no more than one megawatt. These provisions are known as the Local Government Renewable Energy Self-Generation Program. This bill would expand the definition of an eligible renewable generating facility for the purposes of the program to include a facility that has a generating capacity of no more than 5 megawatts. The bill would prohibit an electrical corporation from being required to compensate a local government for electricity generated from a facility in excess of the bill credits applied to the designated benefiting account. The bill would prohibit a local government renewable generation facility participating in the program from being eligible for any other tariff or program that requires an electrical corporation to purchase generation from that facility while participating in the program. The bill would exempt an electrical corporation with 60,000 or fewer customer accounts from the program. Hide

(1)Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including gas corporations, as defined. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. This bill would prohibit a gas corporation from recovering any fine or penalty in any rate approved by the commission. The bill would require a gas corporation to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the commission in its general rate case proceeding that the requested revenue requirements will be sufficient to enable the gas corporation to fund those projects and activities necessary to maintain safe and reliable service and to meet federal and state safety requirements applicable to its gas plant, in a cost-effective manner. The bill would require a gas corporation to file gas transmission and storage safety reports with the commission’s consumer protection safety division that include certain matter and require that if the division determines that there is a deficiency in a gas corporation’s prioritization or administration of the storage or pipeline capital projects or operation and maintenance activities, to bring the deficiency to the commission’s immediate attention. This bill would require the commission, in any ratemaking proceeding in which the commission authorizes a gas corporation to recover expenses for a federal transmission pipeline integrity management program, or for related capital expenditures for the maintenance and repair of transmission pipelines, to require the gas corporation to establish and maintain a balancing account for the recovery of those expenses. This provision would not become operative if SB 879 is enacted and becomes effective on or before January 1, 2012, and SB 879 enacts an identical provision. (2)The Public Utilities Act authorizes the commission to ascertain and fix just and reasonable standards, classifications, regulations, practices, measurements, or service to be furnished, imposed, observed, and followed by specified public utilities, including gas corporations. Existing federal law requires the United States Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to adopt minimum safety standards for pipeline transportation and for pipeline facilities, including an interstate gas pipeline facility and intrastate gas pipeline facility, as defined. Existing law authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to prescribe or enforce safety standards and practices for an intrastate pipeline facility or intrastate pipeline transportation to the extent that the safety standards and practices are regulated by a state authority that submits to the secretary annually a certification for the facilities and transportation or alternatively authorizes the secretary to make an agreement with a state authority authorizing it to take necessary action to meet certain pipeline safety requirements. Existing law prohibits a state authority from adopting or continuing in force safety standards for interstate pipeline facilities or interstate pipeline transportation. Existing law authorizes a state authority that has submitted a current certification to adopt additional or more stringent safety standards for intrastate pipeline facilities and intrastate pipeline transportation only if those standards are compatible with the minimum standards prescribed by PHMSA. This bill would require owners and operators of intrastate transmission and distribution lines for natural gas, at least once each calendar year, to meet with each local fire department having fire suppression responsibilities in the area where those lines are located to discuss and review contingency plans for emergencies involving the intrastate transmission and distribution lines within the jurisdiction of the local fire department. The bill would require the commission, unless it determines that doing so is preempted under federal law, to require the installation of automatic shutoff or remote controlled sectionalized block valves on certain intrastate transmission lines, as specified. The bill would require each gas corporation to prepare and submit to the commission a proposed comprehensive pressure testing implementation plan that includes specified elements and require that, at the conclusion of an implementation period, all intrastate transmission line segments meet specified requirements. (3)Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. (4)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. Hide

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, as defined. The existing Public Utilities Act requires every public utility to furnish and maintain adequate, efficient, just, and reasonable service, instrumentalities, equipment, and facilities as are necessary to promote the safety, health, comfort, and convenience of its patrons, employees, and the public. This bill would provide that the ownership, control, operation, or management of a facility that supplies electricity to the public only for use to charge light duty plug-in electric vehicles, as defined, does not make the corporation or person a public utility for purposes of the act. Hide

(1)Under the Public Utilities Act, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. The Public Utilities Act requires the PUC to require, until January 1, 2012, an electrical corporation to identify a separate electrical rate component (public goods charge) to fund energy efficiency, renewable energy, and research, development, and demonstration programs that enhance system reliability and provide in-state benefits. A violation of the Public Utilities Act is a crime. This bill would extend this requirement to January 1, 2020. Because a violation of this requirement is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill also would, commencing on January 1, 2012, increase the amount of funds the PUC would require an electrical corporation to collect for these purposes. This bill would result in a change in state taxes for the purpose of increasing state revenues within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. The bill would provide that if the Legislature finds that moneys collected on or after January 1, 2012, are not used for the above-specified purposes, the collection of those moneys would cease at the end of the calendar year in which the Legislature made that finding.(2)Existing law requires that the moneys collected between January 1, 2007, and January 1, 2012, from the electrical corporations for public interest research, development, and demonstration projects be deposited in the Public Interest Research, Development, and Demonstration Fund and be used for the purposes of the Public Interest Research, Development, and Demonstration, Program. This bill would enact the Clean Energy Jobs and Investment Act. This bill would expressly provide that the public goods charge for public interest research, development, and demonstration projects collected before January 1, 2012, be deposited into the Public Interest Research, Development, and Demonstration Fund and expended for the purposes of the Public Interest Research, Development, and Demonstration Program. The bill would establish the Clean Energy Innovation Program Fund in the State Treasury and would require public goods charge collected on and after January 1, 2012, to be deposited into the Clean Energy Innovation Program Fund and expended by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), upon appropriation, for specified purposes. (3)Existing law requires the Energy Commission to establish programs to optimize public investment and ensure that the most cost-effective and efficient investments in renewable energy resources are vigorously pursued (Renewable Energy Resources Program). Existing law requires, until January 1, 2012, that moneys from the public goods charge collected for renewable energy be transferred to the Renewable Resource Trust Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for the purpose of implementing the program. This bill would revise and recast the Renewable Energy Resources Program to, among other things, provide investment in energy storage technologies. The bill would extend to January 1, 2020, the transfer of the public goods charge collected for renewable energy to the Renewable Resource Trust Fund. The bill would provide that moneys in the Renewable Resource Trust Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be expended for the purposes of the program. (4)Decisions of the PUC adopted the California Solar Initiative (CSI). Existing law requires the PUC to undertake certain steps in implementing the CSI. Existing law requires the PUC to ensure that the total cost of the CSI over the duration of the program does not exceed $3,350,000,000, including $400,000,000 from the Emerging Renewable Resources Account within the Renewable Resource Trust Fund, for programs for the installation of solar energy systems, as defined, on new construction administered by the Energy Commission (New Solar Homes Partnership). This bill would provide that the $400,000,000 referenced above be subject to supervision by the PUC. The bill would require the Energy Commission to revise its guidelines applicable to the New Solar Homes Partnership so that the program accomplishes specified matter. (5)The bill would not become operative unless SB 870 of the 2011–12 Regular Session of the Legislature is enacted on or before January 1, 2012. (6)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. (7)This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Hide

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including gas corporations, as defined. The Public Utilities Act authorizes the commission to ascertain and fix just and reasonable standards, classifications, regulations, practices, measurements, or services to be furnished, imposed, observed, and followed by specified public utilities, including gas corporations. Existing federal law requires the United States Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to adopt minimum safety standards for pipeline transportation and for pipeline facilities, including an interstate gas pipeline facility and intrastate gas pipeline facility, as defined. Existing law authorizes the United States Secretary of Transportation to prescribe or enforce safety standards and practices for an intrastate pipeline facility or intrastate pipeline transportation to the extent that the safety standards and practices are regulated by a state authority that annually submits to the secretary a certification for the facilities and transportation or, alternatively, authorizes the secretary to make an agreement with a state authority authorizing it to take necessary action to meet certain pipeline safety requirements. Existing law prohibits a state authority from adopting or continuing in force safety standards for interstate pipeline facilities or interstate pipeline transportation. Existing law authorizes a state authority that has submitted a current certification to adopt additional or more stringent safety standards for intrastate pipeline facilities and intrastate pipeline transportation only if those standards are compatible with the minimum standards prescribed by the PHMSA. The bill would require the commission, unless it determines that doing so is preempted under federal law, to require the installation of automatic shutoff or remote controlled sectionalized block valves on certain intrastate transmission lines that are located in a high consequence area, as defined, or that traverse an active seismic earthquake fault. The bill would require the owner or operator of a commission-regulated gas pipeline facility that is an intrastate transmission line to provide the commission with a valve location plan, along with any recommendations for valve locations, and would authorize the commission to make modifications to the valve location plan. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, 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. Hide

(1)The federal Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) requires every state regulatory authority with respect to each electric utility, as defined, for which it has ratemaking authority, to determine whether to adopt certain federal standards if consistent with otherwise applicable state law. The federal standards include that no electric utility may recover from any person other than the shareholders or other owners of the utility, any direct or indirect expenditure by the electric utility for promotional or political advertising, as defined. This bill would require the commission to institute a rulemaking proceeding by March 1, 2012, for the purpose of considering and adopting a code of conduct, associated rules, and enforcement procedures, to govern the conduct of an electrical corporation relative to the consideration, formation, and implementation of community choice aggregation programs and to implement the code of conduct, associated rules, and enforcement procedures by January 1, 2013. The bill would require the code of conduct, associated rules, and enforcement procedures to do the following: (A) ensure that an electrical corporation does not market against a community choice aggregation program, except through an independent marketing division that is funded exclusively by the electrical corporation’s shareholders, (B) limit the electrical corporation’s independent marketing division’s use of support services from the electrical corporation’s ratepayer funded divisions, (C) ensure that the electrical corporation’s independent marketing division does not have access to competitively sensitive information, (D) incorporate rules that the commission finds to be necessary or convenient in order to facilitate the development of community choice aggregation programs, to foster fair competition, and to protect against cross-subsidization paid by ratepayers, and (E) provide for other matters that the commission determines to be necessary or advisable to protect a ratepayer’s right to be free from forced speech or to implement that portion of PURPA that establishes the federal standard that no electric utility may recover from any person other than the shareholders or other owners of the utility, any direct or indirect expenditure by the electric utility for promotional or political advertising. (2)Existing law authorizes a community choice aggregator to aggregate the electrical load of interested electricity consumers within its boundaries and requires a community choice aggregator to file an implementation plan with the commission. Existing law requires an electrical corporation to cooperate fully with any community choice aggregator that investigates, pursues, or implements community choice aggregation programs, including providing appropriate billing and electrical load data. This bill would expand the entities that are permitted to undertake community choice aggregation. The bill would require that the electrical load data to be supplied by an electrical corporation as part of its duty to cooperate fully with any community choice aggregator, include electrical consumption data, as defined. The bill would, if the commission finds that an electrical corporation has violated the requirement to cooperate fully with a community choice aggregator, require that the commission consider the impact of the violation upon community choice aggregators. The bill would revise certain resource adequacy requirements as they relate to community choice aggregators. The bill would require that any program funded through a nonbypassable charge be administered on a nondiscriminatory basis so that the electric service customers of a community choice aggregator may participate in the program on an equal basis with the customers of an electrical corporation. The bill would require the commission to authorize a community choice aggregator to elect to become a 3rd-party administrator of funds collected from the aggregator’s electric service customer and collected through a nonbypassable charge authorized by the commission for cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation programs, except those funds collected for broader statewide and regional programs authorized by the commission. The bill would require the governing body of a community choice aggregator to adopt a policy that expressly prohibits the dissemination by the community choice aggregator of any statement relating to the community choice aggregator’s rates or terms and conditions of service that is untrue or misleading, and that is known, or that, by the exercise of reasonable care, should be known, to be untrue or misleading. (3)The bill would provide that nothing in Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, which includes the Public Utilities Act, prohibits payment pursuant to an agreement authorized by the National Labor Relations Act or federal Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978 or restricts the use permitted by federal law of money paid pursuant to those acts. (4)Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because this bill would expand the duties owed by an electrical corporation pursuant to the act, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime or expanding the definition of an existing 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. Hide

(1)Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law requires the PUC to require the state’s 3 largest electrical corporations, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison, to identify a separate electrical rate component to fund programs that enhance system reliability and provide in-state benefits. This rate component is a nonbypassable element of local distribution and collected on the basis of usage. Existing PUC resolutions refer to the nonbypassable rate component as a “public goods charge.” The public goods charge moneys are collected to support cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation activities, public interest research and development not adequately provided by competitive and regulated markets, and renewable energy resources. The existing Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission). The act requires the commission to certify sufficient sites and related facilities that are required to provide a supply of electric power sufficient to accommodate projected demand for power statewide. The act requires the commission to transmit a copy of an application for certification of a site and related facility to, among other entities, each federal and state agency having jurisdiction or special interest in matters pertinent to the proposed site and related facilities and to the Attorney General. This bill would require an applicant to inform the United States Department of Defense of a proposed project and that an application will be filed with the commission if the site and related facility specified in the application are proposed to be located within 1,000 feet of a military installation, or lie within special use airspace or beneath a low-level flight path, as defined. Existing law establishes the Renewable Resource Trust Fund as a fund that is continuously appropriated, with certain exceptions for administrative expenses, in the State Treasury, and requires that certain moneys collected to support renewable energy resources through the public goods charge are deposited into the fund and authorizes the Energy Commission to expend the moneys pursuant to the Renewable Energy Resources Program. The program states the intent of the Legislature to increase the amount of electricity generated from eligible renewable energy resources per year so that amount equals at least 20% of total retail sales of electricity in California per year by December 31, 2010. This bill would revise the Renewable Energy Resources Program to state the intent of the Legislature to increase the amount of electricity generated from eligible renewable energy resources per year, so that amount equals at least 33% of total retail sales of electricity in California per year by December 31, 2020. The bill would revise certain terms used in the program, and revise certain eligibility criteria for a renewable electrical generation facility, as defined, pursuant to the program. (2)Existing law expresses the intent of the Legislature, in establishing the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (RPS program), to increase the amount of electricity generated per year from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, to an amount that equals at least 20% of the total electricity sold to retail customers in California per year by December 31, 2010. The RPS program requires that a retail seller of electricity, including electrical corporations, community choice aggregators, and electric service providers, purchase a specified minimum percentage of electricity generated by eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, in any given year as a specified percentage of total kilowatthours sold to retail end-use customers each calendar year. The RPS program requires the PUC to implement annual procurement targets for each retail seller to increase its total procurement of electricity generated by eligible renewable energy resources by at least an additional 1% of retail sales per year so that 20% of its retail sales of electricity are procured from eligible renewable energy resources no later than December 31, 2010. Existing law requires the PUC to make a determination of the existing market cost for electricity, which PUC decisions call the market price referent, and to limit an electrical corporation’s obligation to procure electricity from eligible renewable energy resources, that exceeds the market price referent, by a specified amount. This bill would express the intent that the amount of electricity generated per year from eligible renewable energy resources be increased to an amount that equals at least 20% of the total electricity sold to retail customers in California per year by December 31, 2013, and 33% by December 31, 2020. The bill would require the PUC, by January 1, 2012, to establish the quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources to be procured by each retail seller for specified compliance periods, sufficient to ensure that the procurement of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources achieves 25% of retail sales by December 31, 2016, and 33% of retail sales by December 31, 2020, and that retail sellers procure not less than 33% of retail sales in all subsequent years. The bill, consistent with the goals of procuring the least-cost and best-fit eligible renewable energy resources that meet project viability principles, would require that all retail sellers procure a balanced portfolio of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as specified. The bill would require the PUC to waive enforcement of the renewables portfolio standard procurement requirement if the PUC finds that the retail seller has demonstrated certain conditions exist that are beyond the control of the retail seller and will prevent compliance, and has taken all reasonable actions under its control to achieve compliance. The bill would require the PUC to direct each electrical corporation to annually prepare a renewable energy procurement plan containing specified matters and require, to the extent feasible, that the plan be proposed, reviewed, and adopted by the PUC as part of, and pursuant to, a general procurement plan process. The bill would require the PUC to direct all retail sellers to prepare and submit an annual compliance report. The bill would delete the existing market price referent provisions, and instead require the PUC to establish a limitation for each electrical corporation on the procurement expenditures for all eligible renewable energy resources used to comply with the renewables portfolio standard. The bill would require that by January 1, 2016, the PUC report to the Legislature assessing whether each electrical corporation can achieve a 33% renewables portfolio standard by December 31, 2020, and maintain that level thereafter, within the cost limitations. The bill would provide that, if the cost limitation for an electrical corporation is insufficient to support the projected costs of meeting the renewables portfolio standard procurement requirements, the electrical corporation is authorized to refrain from entering into new contracts or constructing facilities beyond the quantity that can be procured within the limitation, unless eligible renewable energy resources can be procured without exceeding a de minimis increase in rates, consistent with the electrical corporation’s general procurement plan. The bill would delete an existing requirement that the PUC adopt flexible rules for compliance for retail sellers. The bill would revise the definitions of certain terms for purposes of the RPS program, would recast certain provisions applicable only to an electrical corporation with 60,000 or fewer customer accounts in California that serves retail end-use customers outside of California, and would add provisions applicable to certain smaller electrical corporations. The bill would authorize an electrical corporation to apply to the PUC for approval to construct, own, and operate an eligible renewable energy resource, and would require the PUC to approve the application if certain conditions are met, until electrical corporation owned and operated resources provide 8.25% of the corporation’s anticipated retail sales. 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 provisions of this bill are within the act and require action by the PUC to implement its requirements, a violation of these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of a crime. (3)Under existing law, the governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility is responsible for implementing and enforcing a renewables portfolio standard for the utility that recognizes the intent of the Legislature to encourage renewable resources, while taking into consideration the effect of the standard on rates, reliability, and financial resources and the goal of environmental improvement. This bill would repeal this provision, and instead generally make the requirements of the RPS program applicable to local publicly owned electric utilities, except that the utility’s governing board would be responsible for implementation of those requirements, instead of the PUC, and certain enforcement authority with respect to local publicly owned electric utilities would be given to the Energy Commission and State Air Resources Board, instead of the PUC. By placing additional requirements upon local publicly owned electric utilities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4)Existing law requires the Energy Commission to certify eligible renewable energy resources, to design and implement an accounting system to verify compliance with the RPS requirements by retail sellers, and to develop tracking, accounting, verification, and enforcement mechanisms for renewable energy credits, as defined. This bill would require the Energy Commission to design and implement an accounting system to verify compliance with the RPS requirements by retail sellers and local publicly owned electric utilities. The bill would require the Energy Commission, among other things, to adopt regulations by July 1, 2011, specifying procedures for enforcement of the RPS requirements that include a public process under which the Energy Commission is authorized to issue a notice of violation and correction with respect to a local publicly owned electric utility and for referral to the State Air Resources Board for penalties imposed pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 or other laws if that act is suspended or repealed. This bill would revise the definition of renewable energy credit. The bill would require the Energy Commission, by June 30, 2011, to study and provide a report to the Legislature that analyzes run-of-river hydroelectric generating facilities, as defined, in British Columbia, including whether these facilities are, or should be, included as renewable electrical generation facilities for purposes of the Renewable Energy Resources Program administered by the Energy Commission or eligible renewable energy resources for purposes of the RPS program. (5)Existing law requires the PUC, by February 1 of each year, to prepare and submit to the Governor and the Legislature a written report on the costs of programs and activities conducted by an electrical corporation or gas corporation that have more than a specified number of customers in California. This bill would require the PUC, by February 1 of each year, to prepare and submit to the policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a report on (A) all electrical corporation revenue requirement increases associated with meeting the renewables portfolio standard, (B) all cost savings experienced, or costs avoided, by electrical corporations as a result of meeting the renewables portfolio standard, (C) all costs incurred by electrical corporations for incentives for distributed and renewable generation, (D) all cost savings experienced, or costs avoided, by electrical corporations as a result of incentives for distributed generation and renewable generation, (E) specified costs for which an electrical corporation is seeking recovery in rates that are pending determination or approval by the PUC, (F) the decision number of each PUC decision in the prior year authorizing an electrical corporation to recover costs incurred in rates, (G) any changes in the prior year in load serviced by an electrical corporation, and (H) the efforts each electrical corporation is taking to recruit and train employees to ensure an adequately trained and available workforce. (6)The bill would require the PUC, by July 1, 2011, to determine the effective load carrying capacity of wind and solar energy resources on the electrical grid. The bill would require the PUC to use those values in establishing the contribution of those resources toward meeting specified resource adequacy requirements. (7)The Public Utilities Act prohibits any electrical corporation from beginning the construction of, among other things, a line, plant, or system, or of any extension thereof, without having first obtained from the PUC a certificate that the present or future public convenience and necessity require or will require that construction, termed a certificate of public convenience and necessity. This bill would require the PUC to issue a decision on an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity within 18 months of the filing of a completed application under specified circumstances. (8)Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Game in the Natural Resources Agency, and generally charges the department with the administration and enforcement of the Fish and Game Code. This bill would require the department to establish an internal division with the primary purpose of performing comprehensive planning and environmental compliance services with priority given to projects involving the building of eligible renewable energy resources. (9)The existing restructuring of the electrical industry within the Public Utilities Act provides for the establishment of an Independent System Operator (ISO). Existing law requires the ISO to ensure efficient use and reliable operation of the transmission grid consistent with achieving planning and operating reserve criteria no less stringent than those established by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. Pursuant to existing law, the ISO’s tariffs are required to be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This bill would require the ISO and other California balancing authorities to work cooperatively to integrate and interconnect eligible renewable energy resources to the transmission grid by the most efficient means possible with the goal of minimizing the impact and cost of new transmission facilities needed to meet both reliability needs and the renewables portfolio standard procurement requirements, and to accomplish this in a manner that respects the ownership, business, and dispatch models for transmission facilities owned by electrical corporations, local publicly owned electric utilities, joint power agencies, and independent transmission companies. (10)This bill would appropriate $322,000 from the Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account to the PUC for additional staffing to identify, review, and approve transmission lines reasonably necessary or appropriate to facilitate achievement of the renewables portfolio standard. (11)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. Hide

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. The Public Utilities Act imposes various duties and responsibilities on the commission with respect to the purchase of electricity by electrical corporations and requires the commission to review and adopt a procurement plan and a renewable energy procurement plan for each electrical corporation pursuant to the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program. The program requires that a retail seller of electricity, including electrical corporations, purchase a specified minimum percentage of electricity generated by eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, in any given year as a specified percentage of total kilowatthours sold to retail end-use customers each calendar year (renewables portfolio standard). Existing law requires every electrical corporation to file with the commission a standard tariff for electricity generated by an electric generation facility, as defined, that is owned and operated by a retail customer of the electrical corporation. Existing law requires, among other things, that the electric generation facility have an effective capacity of not more than 1.5 megawatts and be located on property owned or under the control of the customer. This bill would instead require that the electric generation facility have an effective capacity of not more than 10 megawatts and be located on property owned or under the control of the customer. The bill would also allow the commission to increase the 10 megawatt capacity limitation up to, and including, a capacity of 15 megawatts. Hide

The California Alternative and Renewable Fuel, Vehicle Technology, Clean Air, and Carbon Reduction Act of 2007 establishes the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, which is administered by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission. The program is required to provide, upon appropriation by the Legislature, competitive grants, revolving loans, loan guarantees, or other appropriate funding measures to public agencies, vehicle and technology entities, businesses and projects, public-private partnerships, workforce training partnerships and collaboratives, fleet owners, consumers, recreational boaters, and academic institutions to develop and deploy innovative technologies that transform the state’s fuel and vehicle types to help attain the state’s climate change policies. The commission is authorized, until January 1, 2012, to contract with the Treasurer to expend funds through programs implemented by the Treasurer, if that expenditure is consistent with all of the requirements of the act. This bill would extend this authorization to contract with the Treasurer indefinitely, and would also authorize the commission to contract with small business financial development corporations established by the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency to expend funds through the Small Business Loan Guarantee Program, if the expenditure is consistent with all of the requirements of the program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 44272 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by SB 1340 that would become operative only if SB 1340 is enacted and this bill is enacted after SB 1340. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Hide

Existing law requires the State Water Resources Control Board to formulate and adopt state policy for water quality control. California regional water quality control boards are required to establish water quality objectives in water quality control plans. Under existing law, a local agency, by ordinance, may limit the availability, or prohibit the installation, of residential water softening or conditioning appliances that discharge to the community sewer system if the local agency makes certain findings and includes them in the ordinance. This bill would authorize any local agency that owns or operates a community sewer system or water recycling facility, within specified areas of the state, to take action, by ordinance or resolution, after a public hearing on the matter, to control salinity inputs from residential self-regenerating water softeners to protect the quality of the waters of the state, if the appropriate regional board makes a finding that the control of residential salinity input will contribute to the achievement of water quality objectives. The bill would state related findings and declarations of the Legislature, including findings and declarations concerning the need for special legislation. Hide

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations to require the reporting and verification of emissions of greenhouse gases and to monitor and enforce compliance with the reporting and verification program, and requires the state board to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020. The act requires the state board to adopt rules and regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reductions. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. The act authorizes the state board to adopt a schedule of fees to be paid by the sources of greenhouse gas emissions regulated pursuant to the act, and requires the revenues collected pursuant to that fee to be deposited into the Air Pollution Control Fund and be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of carrying out the act. This bill would establish the California Climate Change Community Benefits Fund, and would require a minimum of 10% of revenues generated for the state each year from the state sale of compliance instruments for market-based compliance mechanisms pursuant to the act, other than revenues collected for administrative purposes, to be deposited into that fund. The moneys in the fund would be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, in the most impacted and disadvantaged communities, as defined, to fund programs or projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or mitigate direct health, or environmental, impacts of climate change through competitive grants, loans, or other funding mechanisms. The Secretary for Environmental Protection would be required to administer moneys appropriated from the fund and would be required to establish criteria and procedures, and meet other requirements in connection with implementation, as provided. Hide

Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, in consultation with specified entities, to establish eligibility criteria for solar energy systems receiving ratepayer funded incentives including, among other things, that the solar energy system be located on the same premises of the end-use consumer where the consumer’s own electricity demand is located. This bill would expand the eligibility to include a solar energy system that is located on a near-site location to the end-use consumer. Hide

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. The existing Public Utilities Act requires the CPUC to review and adopt a procurement plan for each electrical corporation in accordance with specified elements, incentive mechanisms, and objectives. The existing California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (RPS program) requires the CPUC to implement annual procurement targets for the procurement of eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, for all retail sellers, including electrical corporations, community choice aggregators, and electric service providers, but not including local publicly owned electric utilities, to achieve the targets and goals of the program. The existing Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), and requires it to undertake a continuing assessment of trends in the consumption of electricity and other forms of energy and to analyze the social, economic, and environmental consequences of those trends and to collect from electric utilities, gas utilities, and fuel producers and wholesalers and other sources, forecasts of future supplies and consumption of all forms of energy. Existing law requires the CPUC, in consultation with the Independent System Operator (ISO), to establish resource adequacy requirements for all load-serving entities, as defined, in accordance with specified objectives. The definition of a “load-serving entity” excludes a local publicly owned electric utility. That law further requires each load-serving entity to maintain physical generating capacity adequate to meet its load requirements, including peak demand and planning and operating reserves, deliverable to locations and at times as may be necessary to provide reliable electric service. Other existing law requires that 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. That law additionally requires the utility, upon request, to provide the Energy Commission with any information the Energy Commission determines is necessary to evaluate the progress made by the local publicly owned electric utility in meeting those planning requirements, and requires the Energy Commission to report the progress made by each utility to the Legislature, to be included in the integrated energy policy reports. Under existing law, the governing body of a local publicly owned electric utility is responsible for implementing and enforcing a renewables portfolio standard for the utility that recognizes the intent of the Legislature to encourage renewable resources, while taking into consideration the effect of the standard on rates, reliability, and financial resources and the goal of environmental improvement. This bill would require the CPUC, by March 1, 2012, to open a proceeding to determine appropriate targets, if any, for each load-serving entity to procure viable and cost-effective energy storage systems and, by October 1, 2013, to adopt an energy storage system procurement target, if determined to be appropriate, to be achieved by each load-serving entity by December 31, 2015, and a 2nd target to be achieved by December 31, 2020. The bill would require the governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility, by March 1, 2012, to open a proceeding to determine appropriate targets, if any, for the utility to procure viable and cost-effective energy storage systems and, by October 1, 2014, to adopt an energy storage system procurement target, if determined to be appropriate, to be achieved by the utility by December 31, 2016, and a 2nd target to be achieved by December 31, 2021. The bill would require each load-serving entity and local publicly owned electric utility to report certain information to the CPUC, for a load-serving entity, or to the Energy Commission, for a local publicly owned electric utility. The bill would make other technical, nonsubstantive revisions to existing law. The bill would exempt from these requirements an electrical corporation that has 60,000 or fewer customers within California and a public utility district that receives all of its electricity pursuant to a preference right adopted and authorized by the United States Congress pursuant to a specified law. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the CPUC is a crime. Because certain of the provisions of this bill require action by the CPUC to implement, a violation of these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. Because certain of the bill’s requirements are applicable to local publicly owned electric utilities, 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. Hide

(1)Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law requires every electrical corporation to file with the CPUC a standard tariff for electricity generated by an electric generation facility, as defined, that qualifies for the tariff, is owned and operated by a retail customer of the electrical corporation, and is located within the service territory of, and developed to sell electricity to, the electrical corporation. Existing law requires that, in order to qualify for the tariff, the electric generation facility: (1) have an effective capacity of not more than 3 megawatts, subject to the authority of the CPUC to reduce this megawatt limitation, (2) be interconnected and operate in parallel with the electric transmission and distribution grid, (3) be strategically located and interconnected to the electric transmission system in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers, and (4) meet the definition of an eligible renewable energy resource under the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (RPS program). Existing law requires that the tariff provide for payment for every kilowatthour of electricity purchased from an electric generation facility for a period of 10, 15, or 20 years, as authorized by the CPUC, and requires that the payment be the market price referent established by the CPUC pursuant to the RPS program and requires the price to include all current and anticipated environmental compliance costs. Existing decisions of the CPUC refer to a tariff adopted pursuant to these requirements as a feed-in tariff. Existing law requires a local publicly owned electric utility that sells electricity at retail to 75,000 or more customers to adopt and implement a feed-in tariff for electricity purchased from an electric generation facility meeting certain size, deliverability, and interconnection requirements and to consider certain factors. This bill would require a state agency, as defined, generating electricity from an electric generation facility that operates under a feed-in tariff adopted pursuant to these requirements, and that is owned by, operated by, or on property under the control of, the state agency, to take the total annual amount of kilowatthours exported to the grid into consideration when determining whether the state agency has achieved the policy goals and objectives established by law or executive order for the state agency. (2)Decisions of the CPUC adopted the California Solar Initiative. Existing law requires the CPUC to undertake certain steps in implementing the California Solar Initiative including the requirement that the CPUC authorize the award of monetary incentives for up to the first megawatt of alternating current generated by solar energy systems, as defined, that meet the eligibility criteria established by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission). This bill, until January 1, 2013, would require the CPUC to authorize the award of monetary incentives for up to 5 megawatts of alternating current generated by an eligible state solar energy system, as defined. The bill would require the CPUC to limit any incentives provided for eligible state solar energy systems to an aggregate of 26 megawatts of alternating current. Hide

The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to adopt those regulations that are necessary to carry out the act. The act also requires the commission, after one or more public hearings, to prescribe, by regulation, standards for minimum levels of operating efficiency and prescribe other measures, such as energy and water consumption labeling not preempted by federal labeling law, to promote the use of energy and water efficient appliances that do not result in any added total costs for consumers over the designed life of the appliances concerned. This bill would provide that the television product labeling regulations adopted by the commission would not be effective until July 1, 2011, and would be effective on that date only if a United States Federal Trade Commission labeling rule for those products is not effective on or before July 1, 2011. The bill also would provide that those regulations would remain in effect only until a Federal Trade Commission labeling rule for television products becomes effective. Hide

(1)Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law requires the PUC to require the state’s 3 largest electrical corporations, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison, to identify a separate electrical rate component to fund programs that enhance system reliability and provide in-state benefits. This rate component is a nonbypassable element of local distribution and collected on the basis of usage. Existing PUC resolutions refer to the nonbypassable rate component as a “public goods charge.” The public goods charge moneys are collected to support cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation activities, public interest research and development not adequately provided by competitive and regulated markets, and renewable energy resources. The existing Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission). Existing law establishes the Renewable Resource Trust Fund as a fund that is continuously appropriated, with certain exceptions for administrative expenses, in the State Treasury and requires that certain moneys collected to support renewable energy resources through the public goods charge are deposited into the fund and authorizes the Energy Commission to expend the moneys pursuant to the Renewable Energy Resources Program. The program states the intent of the Legislature to increase the amount of electricity generated from eligible renewable energy resources per year so that amount equals at least 20% of total retail sales of electricity in California per year by December 31, 2010. This bill would revise the Renewable Energy Resources Program to state the intent of the Legislature to increase the amount of electricity generated from eligible renewable energy resources per year, so that amount equals at least 33% of total retail sales of electricity in California per year by December 31, 2020. The bill would revise certain terms used in the program and revise certain eligibility criteria for a renewable electrical generation facility, as defined, pursuant to the program. The bill would require the Energy Commission, by May 31, 2010, to report to the Legislature whether out-of-state, run-of-river hydroelectric generating facilities should be considered renewable electric generating facilities, as defined. (2)Existing law expresses the intent of the Legislature, in establishing the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (RPS program), to increase the amount of electricity generated per year from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, to an amount that equals at least 20% of the total electricity sold to retail customers in California per year by December 31, 2010. This bill would express the intent that the amount of electricity generated per year from eligible renewable energy resources be increased to an amount that equals at least 20% of the total electricity sold to retail customers in California per year by December 31, 2013, and 33% by December 31, 2020. (3)The Public Utilities Act imposes various duties and responsibilities on the PUC with respect to the purchase of electricity and requires the PUC to review and adopt a procurement plan and a renewable energy procurement plan for each electrical corporation, as defined, pursuant to the RPS program. The RPS program requires that a retail seller of electricity, including electrical corporations, community choice aggregators, and electric service providers, but not including local publicly owned electric utilities, purchase a specified minimum percentage of electricity generated by eligible renewable energy resources in any given year as a specified percentage of total kilowatthours sold to retail end-use customers each calendar year. The RPS program requires the PUC to implement annual procurement targets for each retail seller to increase its total procurement of electricity generated by eligible renewable energy resources by at least an additional 1% of retail sales per year so that 20% of its retail sales of electricity are procured from eligible renewable energy resources no later than December 31, 2010. Existing law requires the PUC to make a determination of the existing market cost for electricity, which PUC decisions call the market price referent, and to limit an electrical corporation’s obligation to procure electricity from eligible renewable energy resources, that exceeds the market price referent, to an amount collected through the renewable energy public goods charge. This bill would instead require the PUC to require that a retail seller procure the following percentages of electricity from eligible renewable energy resources by the following dates: (A) Until December 31, 2012, the same percentage as actually achieved by the retail seller during 2009; (B) 20% by December 31, 2013; (C) 25% by December 31, 2016; and (D) 33% by December 31, 2020. The bill would authorize the PUC to permit a retail seller to delay compliance with (B) or (C) procurement levels when specified circumstances are present, but would not authorize the PUC to permit a retail seller to delay compliance with the (D) procurement level. The bill would delete the existing market price referent provisions and instead require the PUC to establish a methodology to determine the market price of electricity for terms corresponding to the length of contracts with eligible renewable energy resources, in consideration of, and reflecting, certain matters. The bill would require the PUC to establish a limitation on the annual expenditures made above the market price, by an electrical corporation, in order to achieve the procurement levels established by the PUC. The bill would require the PUC to permit an electrical corporation to limit its procurement of electricity from eligible renewable energy resources to that quantity that can be procured at or below the market prices established by the PUC, up to the limitation. The bill would delete an existing requirement that the PUC adopt flexible rules for compliance for retail sellers. 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 provisions of this bill are within the act and require action by the PUC to implement its requirements, a violation of these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of a crime. (4)Under existing law, the governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility is responsible for implementing and enforcing a renewables portfolio standard for the utility that recognizes the intent of the Legislature to encourage renewable resources, while taking into consideration the effect of the standard on rates, reliability, and financial resources and the goal of environmental improvement. This bill would repeal this provision and instead make certain of the requirements of the RPS program, as discussed below, applicable to local publicly owned electric utilities. By placing additional requirements upon local publicly owned electric utilities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5)Existing law requires the Energy Commission to certify eligible renewable energy resources, to design and implement an accounting system to verify compliance with the RPS requirements by retail sellers, and to develop tracking, accounting, verification, and enforcement mechanisms for renewable energy credits, as defined. This bill would require the Energy Commission to design and implement an accounting system to verify compliance with the RPS requirements by retail sellers and local publicly owned electric utilities. The bill would require the Energy Commission, among other things, to adopt regulations specifying procedures for enforcement of the RPS requirements that include a public process under which the Energy Commission is authorized to issue a notice of violation and correction with respect to a local publicly owned electric utility and for referral to the State Air Resources Board for penalties imposed pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The bill would require that the RPS established for a local publicly owned electric utility require it to procure the following percentages of electricity from eligible renewable energy resources by the following dates: (A) Until December 31, 2012, the same percentage as actually achieved by the utility during 2009; (B) 20% by December 31, 2013; (C) 25% by December 31, 2016; and (D) 33% by December 31, 2020. The bill would provide that the local publicly owned electric utility retains discretion with respect to certain matters in complying with the RPS, would require that certain notices be given by the utility when adopting and periodically revising its procurement plan, and would require the utility to report certain information relative to RPS compliance to the Energy Commission and its customers. (6)Existing law requires the PUC to prepare and submit to the Governor and the Legislature a written report annually before February 1 of each year on the costs of programs and activities conducted by an electrical corporation or gas corporation that have more than a specified number of customers in California. The bill would require the PUC to prepare and submit to the policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, annually before February 1 of each year, a report on (A) all electrical corporation revenue requirement increases associated with meeting the renewables portfolio standard, (B) all cost savings experienced, or costs avoided, by electrical corporations as a result of meeting the renewables portfolio standard, (C) all costs incurred by electrical corporations for incentives for distributed and renewable generation, (D) all cost savings experienced, or costs avoided, by electrical corporations as a result of incentives for distributed generation and renewable generation, (E) specified costs for which an electrical corporation is seeking recovery in rates that are pending determination or approval by the PUC, (F) the decision number of each PUC decision in the prior year authorizing an electrical corporation to recover costs incurred in rates, and (G) any changes in the prior year in load serviced by an electrical corporation. (7)This bill would appropriate $322,000 from the Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account to the PUC for additional staffing to identify, review, and approve transmission lines reasonably necessary or appropriate to facilitate achievement of the renewables portfolio standard. (8)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. Hide

(1)Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations, as defined. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. This bill would prohibit the commission from requiring or permitting an electrical corporation to do any of the following: (A) employ mandatory or default time-variant pricing, as defined, with or without bill protection, as defined, for residential customers prior to January 1, 2013, (B) employ mandatory or default time-variant pricing, without bill protection, for residential customers prior to January 1, 2014, or (C) employ mandatory or default real-time pricing, without bill protection, for residential customers prior to January 1, 2020. The bill would authorize the commission to authorize an electrical corporation to offer residential customers the option of receiving service pursuant to time-variant pricing and to participate in other demand response programs. The bill would require the commission to only approve an electrical corporation’s use of default time-variant pricing for residential customers, beginning January 1, 2014, if those residential customers have the option to not receive service pursuant to time-variant pricing and incur no additional charges, as specified, as a result of the exercise of that option. The bill would exempt certain customers from being subject to default time-variant pricing. (2)Existing law requires the commission to establish a program of assistance to low-income electric and gas customers, referred to as the California Alternate Rates for Energy or CARE program, and prohibits the cost to be borne solely by any single class of customer. This bill would require the commission to establish the CARE program to provide assistance to low-income electric and gas customers with annual household incomes that are no greater than 200% of the federal poverty guideline levels, and require that the cost of the program, with respect to electrical corporations, be recovered on an equal cents-per-kilowatthour basis from all classes of customers that were subject to the surcharge that funded the CARE program on January 1, 2008. For a public utility that is both an electrical corporation and a gas corporation, the bill would require that the cost of the program be recovered on an equal cents-per-kilowatthour or per-therm basis from all classes of customers that were subject to the surcharge that funded the CARE program on January 1, 2008. (3)Existing law relative to electrical restructuring requires that the electrical corporations and gas corporations that participate in the CARE program administer low-income energy efficiency and rate assistance programs described in specified statutes, and undertake certain actions in administering specified energy efficiency and weatherization programs. This bill would require that electrical corporations, in administering the specified energy efficiency and weatherization programs, target energy efficiency and solar programs to upper-tier and multifamily customers in a manner that will result in long-term permanent reductions in electricity usage at the dwelling units and develop programs that specifically target nonprofit affordable housing providers, including programs that promote weatherization of existing dwelling units and replacement of inefficient appliances. The bill would require the commission, by not later than December 31, 2020, to ensure that all eligible low-income electricity and gas customers are given the opportunity to participate in low-income energy efficiency programs, including customers occupying apartment houses or similar multiunit residential structures, and would require the commission and electrical corporations and gas corporations to expend all reasonable efforts to coordinate ratepayer-funded programs with other energy conservation and efficiency programs and to obtain additional federal funding to support actions undertaken pursuant to this requirement. (4)Existing law relative to electrical restructuring requires the commission to authorize and facilitate direct transactions between electricity suppliers and retail end-use customers. Existing law requires the commission to designate a baseline quantity of electricity and gas necessary for a significant portion of the reasonable energy needs of the average residential customer, and requires that electrical and gas corporations file rates and charges, to be approved by the commission, providing baseline rates and requires the commission, in establishing baseline rates, to avoid excessive rate increases for residential customers. Existing law, enacted during the energy crisis of 2000–01, authorized the Department of Water Resources, until January 1, 2003, to enter into contracts for the purchase of electricity, and to sell electricity to retail end-use customers and, with specified exceptions, local publicly owned electric utilities, at not more than the department’s acquisition costs and to recover those costs through the issuance of bonds to be repaid by ratepayers. That law provides that the department is entitled to recover certain expenses resulting from its purchases and sales of electricity and authorizes the commission to enter into an agreement with the department relative to cost recovery. That law prohibits the commission from increasing the electricity charges in effect on February 1, 2001, for residential customers for existing baseline quantities or usage by those customers of up to 130% of then existing baseline quantities, until the department has recovered the costs of electricity it procured for electrical corporation retail end-use customers. That law also suspends the right of retail end-use customers, other than community choice aggregators and a qualifying direct transaction customer, to acquire service through a direct transaction until the Department of Water Resources no longer supplies electricity under that law. This bill would delete the prohibition that the commission not increase the electricity charges in effect on February 1, 2001, for residential customers for existing baseline quantities or usage by those customers of up to 130% of then existing baseline quantities. The bill would authorize the commission to increase the rates charged residential customers for electricity usage up to 130% of the baseline quantities by the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index from the prior year plus 1%, but not less than 3% and not more than 5% per year. This authorization would be subject to the limitation that rates charged residential customers for electricity usage up to the baseline quantities, including any customer charge revenues, not exceed 90% of the system average rate, as defined. The bill would authorize the commission to increase the rates for participants in the CARE program, subject to certain limitations. The bill would delete the existing suspension of direct transactions in the Water Code that was adopted during the energy crisis of 2000–01, and would instead require the commission to authorize direct transactions subject to a reopening schedule that commences immediately and will phase in over a period of not less than 3 years and not more than 5 years, and subject to an annual maximum allowable total kilowatthour limit established, as specified, for each electrical corporation. The bill would continue the suspension of direct transactions except as expressly authorized, until the Legislature, by statute, repeals the suspension or otherwise authorizes direct transactions. (5)Existing law requires the commission to prepare and submit to the Governor and the Legislature a written report on an annual basis before February 1 of each year on the costs of programs and activities conducted by an electrical corporation or gas corporation that has more than a specified number of customers in California. This bill would change the reporting date to April 1 of each year. The bill would require that by May 1, 2010, and by May 1 of each year thereafter, the commission also report to the Governor and Legislature with its recommendations for actions that can be undertaken during the upcoming year to limit utility cost and rate increases, consistent with the state’s energy and environmental goals, including the state’s goals for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. The bill would require the commission to annually require electrical and gas corporations to study and report to the commission on measures that they recommend be undertaken to limit costs and rate increases. (6)Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because certain of the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. (7)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. (8)This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Hide