AB 1698: Renewable energy.

Existing decisions of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) institute an Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) that requires electric utility corporations to collect a surcharge on their ratepayers electricity bills to fund renewable energy research, development, and demonstration projects with the aim of making electricity service cheaper, safer, and more reliable for the corporations own ratepayers.

Existing law creates in the State Treasury the EPIC Fund to be administered by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and requires moneys received by the PUC for those programs the PUC has determined should be administered by the Energy Commission to be forwarded by the PUC to the Energy Commission at least quarterly for deposit in the fund.

Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the State Air Resources Board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism relative to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Existing law continuously appropriates specified portions of the annual proceeds in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to various programs related to transportation, affordable housing, and sustainable communities.

This bill would discontinue the EPIC surcharge and repeal the EPIC Fund. The bill would create the Green and Renewable Energy Enlisting New Technologies (GREEN) Fund to fund the GREEN program. The bill would transfer previously collected EPIC moneys to a specified account within the GREEN Fund. The bill would convey the Legislatures intent that the EPIC programs renewable energy research, development, and demonstration projects continue under the GREEN program. The bill would continuously appropriate $200,000,000 of the annual proceeds of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to a specified account within the GREEN Fund to fund the GREEN program.