AB 1923: Bioenergy feed-in tariff.
- Session Year: 2015-2016
- House: Assembly
- Latest Version Date: 2016-09-26
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. 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 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. The commission refers to this requirement as the renewable feed-in tariff. 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 commission 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 electrical transmission and distribution 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. Existing law requires an electrical corporation to make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under the renewable feed-in tariff and a renewable feed-in tariff that is applicable to a local publicly owned electric utility. In addition to the 750 megawatt limitation, the renewable feed-in tariff requires the commission to direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013 (bioenergy feed-in tariff). The commission is required to undertake specific steps to implement the bioenergy feed-in tariff requirement.
This bill would, for the purposes of the bioenergy feed-in tariff, revise a generally applicable interconnection requirement for electric generation facilities, as specified. The bill would also require the commission to direct the electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with an effective capacity of up to 5 megawatts to participate in the bioenergy feed-in tariff if the facility delivers no more than 3 megawatts to the grid at any time and complies with specified interconnection requirements.
This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 1612 and SB 840 that would become operative if this bill and one or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is chaptered last.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. 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 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. The commission refers to this requirement as the renewable feed-in tariff. 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 commission 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 electrical transmission and distribution 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. Existing law requires an electrical corporation to make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under the renewable feed-in tariff and a renewable feed-in tariff that is applicable to a local publicly owned electric utility. In addition to the 750 megawatt limitation, the renewable feed-in tariff requires the commission to direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013 (bioenergy feed-in tariff). The commission is required to undertake specific steps to implement the bioenergy feed-in tariff requirement.
This bill would, for the purposes of the bioenergy feed-in tariff, revise a generally applicable interconnection requirement for electric generation facilities, as specified. The bill would also require the commission to direct the electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with an effective capacity of up to 5 megawatts to participate in the bioenergy feed-in tariff if the facility delivers no more than 3 megawatts to the grid at any time and complies with specified interconnection requirements.
This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 1612 and SB 840 that would become operative if this bill and one or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is chaptered last.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. 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 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. The commission refers to this requirement as the renewable feed-in tariff. 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 commission 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 electrical transmission and distribution 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. Existing law requires an electrical corporation to make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under the renewable feed-in tariff and a renewable feed-in tariff that is applicable to a local publicly owned electric utility. In addition to the 750 megawatt limitation, the renewable feed-in tariff requires the commission to direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013 (bioenergy feed-in tariff). The commission is required to undertake specific steps to implement the bioenergy feed-in tariff requirement.
This bill would would, for the purposes of the bioenergy feed-in tariff, revise a generally applicable interconnection requirement for electric generation facilities, as specified. The bill would also require the commission to direct the electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with a nameplate generating an effective capacity of up to 5 megawatts to participate in the bioenergy feed-in tariff if the facility delivers no more than 3 megawatts to the grid at any time and complies with specified interconnection and payment requirements.
This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 1612 and SB 840 that would become operative if this bill and one or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is chaptered last.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. 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 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. The commission refers to this requirement as the renewable feed-in tariff. 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 commission 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 electrical transmission and distribution 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. Existing law requires an electrical corporation to make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under the renewable feed-in tariff and a renewable feed-in tariff that is applicable to a local publicly owned electric utility. In addition to the 750 megawatt limitation, the renewable feed-in tariff requires the commission to direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013 (bioenergy feed-in tariff). The commission is required to undertake specific steps to implement the bioenergy feed-in tariff requirement.
This bill would require the commission to direct the electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with a nameplate generating capacity of up to 5 megawatts to participate in the bioenergy feed-in tariff if the facility delivers no more than 3 megawatts to the grid at any time and complies with specified interconnection and payment requirements.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. 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 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. The commission refers to this requirement as the renewable feed-in tariff. 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 commission 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 electrical transmission and distribution 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. Existing law requires an electrical corporation to make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under the renewable feed-in tariff and a renewable feed-in tariff that is applicable to a local publicly owned electric utility. In addition to the 750 megawatt limitation, the renewable feed-in tariff requires the commission to direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013 (bioenergy feed-in tariff). The commission is required to undertake specific steps to implement the bioenergy feed-in tariff requirement.
This bill would require the commission to direct the electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with a nameplate generating capacity of up to 5 megawatts to participate in the bioenergy feed-in tariff if the facility delivers no more than 3 megawatts to the grid in any hour at any time and complies with specified interconnection and payment requirements.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. 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 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. The commission refers to this requirement as the renewable feed-in tariff. 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 commission 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 electrical transmission and distribution 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. Existing law requires an electrical corporation to make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under the renewable feed-in tariff and a renewable feed-in tariff that is applicable to a local publicly owned electric utility. In addition to the 750 megawatt limitation, the renewable feed-in tariff requires the commission to direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013 (bioenergy feed-in tariff). The commission is required to undertake specific steps to implement the bioenergy feed-in tariff requirement.
This bill would modify the first requirement for an electric generation facility to be eligible for the renewable feed-in tariff to provide that a facility with a nameplate generating capacity of up to 5 megawatts is not made ineligible by that requirement, if it runs at a maximum of 3 megawatts.
This bill would require the commission to direct the electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with a nameplate generating capacity of up to 5 megawatts to participate in the bioenergy feed-in tariff if the facility delivers no more than 3 megawatts to the grid in any hour and complies with specified interconnection and payment requirements.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. 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 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. The commission refers to this requirement as the renewable feed-in tariff. 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 commission 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 electrical transmission and distribution 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.
This bill would modify the first requirement for an electric generation facility to be eligible for the renewable feed-in tariff to provide that a facility with a nameplate generating capacity of up to 5 megawatts is not made ineligible by that requirement, if it runs at a maximum of 3 megawatts.
(a)It is the policy of this state and the intent of the Legislature to encourage electrical generation from eligible renewable energy resources.
(b)As used in this section, electric generation facility means an electric generation facility located within the service territory of, and developed to sell electricity to, an electrical corporation that meets all of the following criteria:
(1)Has an effective capacity of not more than three megawatts, with the exception of those facilities participating in a tariff made available pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (f).
(2)Is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical transmission and distribution grid.
(3)(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers.
(B)For purposes of paragraph (2) of subdivision (f), is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers or that is interconnected to an existing transmission line.
(4)Is an eligible renewable energy resource.
(c)Every electrical corporation shall file with the commission a standard tariff for electricity purchased from an electric generation facility. The commission may modify or adjust the requirements of this section for any electrical corporation with less than 100,000 service connections, as individual circumstances merit.
(d)(1)The tariff shall 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 commission. The payment shall be the market price determined by the commission pursuant to paragraph (2) and shall include all current and anticipated environmental compliance costs, including, but not limited to, mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollution offsets associated with the operation of new generating facilities in the local air pollution control or air quality management district where the electric generation facility is located.
(2)The commission shall establish a methodology to determine the market price of electricity for terms corresponding to the length of contracts with an electric generation facility, in consideration of the following:
(A)The long-term market price of electricity for fixed price contracts, determined pursuant to an electrical corporations general procurement activities as authorized by the commission.
(B)The long-term ownership, operating, and fixed-price fuel costs associated with fixed-price electricity from new generating facilities.
(C)The value of different electricity products including baseload, peaking, and as-available electricity.
(3)The commission may adjust the payment rate to reflect the value of every kilowatthour of electricity generated on a time-of-delivery basis.
(4)The commission shall ensure, with respect to rates and charges, that ratepayers that do not receive service pursuant to the tariff are indifferent to whether a ratepayer with an electric generation facility receives service pursuant to the tariff.
(e)An electrical corporation shall provide expedited interconnection procedures to an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit, if the electrical corporation determines that the electric generation facility will not adversely affect the distribution grid. The commission shall consider and may establish a value for an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit.
(f)(1)An electrical corporation shall make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under this section and Section 399.32. The proportionate share shall be calculated based on the ratio of the electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand.
(2)By June 1, 2013, the commission shall, in addition to the 750 megawatts identified in paragraph (1), direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013. The commission shall, for each electrical corporation, allocate shares of the additional 250 megawatts based on the ratio of each electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand. In implementing this paragraph, the commission shall do all of the following:
(A)Allocate the 250 megawatts identified in this paragraph among the electrical corporations based on the following categories:
(i)For biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion, 110 megawatts.
(ii)For dairy and other agricultural bioenergy, 90 megawatts.
(iii)For bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management, 50 megawatts. Allocations under this category shall be determined based on the proportion of bioenergy that sustainable forest management providers derive from sustainable forest management in fire threat treatment areas, as designated by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(B)Direct the electrical corporations to develop standard contract terms and conditions that reflect the operational characteristics of the projects, and to provide a streamlined contracting process.
(C)Coordinate, to the maximum extent feasible, any incentive or subsidy programs for bioenergy with the agencies listed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) in order to provide maximum benefits to ratepayers and to ensure that incentives are used to reduce contract prices.
(D)The commission shall encourage gas and electrical corporations to develop and offer programs and services to facilitate development of in-state biogas for a broad range of purposes.
(E)Direct the electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with an effective capacity of up to five megawatts to participate in the tariff made available pursuant to this paragraph, if it meets the following conditions:
(i)It delivers no more than three megawatts to the grid at any time.
(ii)It complies with the electrical corporations Electric Rule 21 tariff or other distribution access tariff.
(F)Payment is made pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) and no payment is made for any electricity delivered to the grid in excess of three megawatts at any time.
(3)(A)The commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, may review the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) to determine if those allocations are appropriate.
(B)If the commission finds that the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) are not appropriate, the commission may reallocate the 250 megawatts among the categories established in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2).
(4)For the purposes of this subdivision, bioenergy means biogas and biomass.
(g)The electrical corporation may make the terms of the tariff available to owners and operators of an electric generation facility in the form of a standard contract subject to commission approval.
(h)Every kilowatthour of electricity purchased from an electric generation facility shall count toward meeting the electrical corporations renewables portfolio standard annual procurement targets for purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 399.15.
(i)The physical generating capacity of an electric generation facility shall count toward the electrical corporations resource adequacy requirement for purposes of Section 380.
(j)(1)The commission shall establish performance standards for any electric generation facility that has a capacity greater than one megawatt to ensure that those facilities are constructed, operated, and maintained to generate the expected annual net production of electricity and do not impact system reliability.
(2)The commission may reduce the three megawatt capacity limitation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) if the commission finds that a reduced capacity limitation is necessary to maintain system reliability within that electrical corporations service territory.
(k)(1)Any owner or operator of an electric generation facility that received ratepayer-funded incentives in accordance with Section 379.6 of this code, or with Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code, and participated in a net metering program pursuant to Sections 2827, 2827.9, and 2827.10 of this code prior to January 1, 2010, shall be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section.
(2)In establishing the tariffs or standard contracts pursuant to this section, the commission shall consider ratepayer-funded incentive payments previously received by the generation facility pursuant to Section 379.6 of this code or Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code. The commission shall require reimbursement of any funds received from these incentive programs to an electric generation facility, in order for that facility to be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section, unless the commission determines ratepayers have received sufficient value from the incentives provided to the facility based on how long the project has been in operation and the amount of renewable electricity previously generated by the facility.
(3)A customer that receives service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission pursuant to this section is not eligible to participate in any net metering program.
(l)An owner or operator of an electric generation facility electing to receive service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission shall continue to receive service under the tariff or contract until either of the following occurs:
(1)The owner or operator of an electric generation facility no longer meets the eligibility requirements for receiving service pursuant to the tariff or contract.
(2)The period of service established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (d) is completed.
(m)Within 10 days of receipt of a request for a tariff pursuant to this section from an owner or operator of an electric generation facility, the electrical corporation that receives the request shall post a copy of the request on its Internet Web site. The information posted on the Internet Web site shall include the name of the city in which the facility is located, but information that is proprietary and confidential, including, but not limited to, address information beyond the name of the city in which the facility is located, shall be redacted.
(n)An electrical corporation may deny a tariff request pursuant to this section if the electrical corporation makes any of the following findings:
(1)The electric generation facility does not meet the requirements of this section.
(2)The transmission or distribution grid that would serve as the point of interconnection is inadequate.
(3)The electric generation facility does not meet all applicable state and local laws and building standards and utility interconnection requirements.
(4)The aggregate of all electric generating facilities on a distribution circuit would adversely impact utility operation and load restoration efforts of the distribution system.
(o)Upon receiving a notice of denial from an electrical corporation, the owner or operator of the electric generation facility denied a tariff pursuant to this section shall have the right to appeal that decision to the commission.
(p)In order to ensure the safety and reliability of electric generation facilities, the owner of an electric generation facility receiving a tariff pursuant to this section shall provide an inspection and maintenance report to the electrical corporation at least once every other year. The inspection and maintenance report shall be prepared at the owners or operators expense by a California-licensed contractor who is not the owner or operator of the electric generation facility. A California-licensed electrician shall perform the inspection of the electrical portion of the generation facility.
(q)The contract between the electric generation facility receiving the tariff and the electrical corporation shall contain provisions that ensure that construction of the electric generating facility complies with all applicable state and local laws and building standards, and utility interconnection requirements.
(r)(1)All construction and installation of facilities of the electrical corporation, including at the point of the output meter or at the transmission or distribution grid, shall be performed only by that electrical corporation.
(2)All interconnection facilities installed on the electrical corporations side of the transfer point for electricity between the electrical corporation and the electrical conductors of the electric generation facility shall be owned, operated, and maintained only by the electrical corporation. The ownership, installation, operation, reading, and testing of revenue metering equipment for electric generating facilities shall only be performed by the electrical corporation.
SEC. 1.5.Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:399.20.(a)It is the policy of this state and the intent of the Legislature to encourage electrical generation from eligible renewable energy resources.
(b)As used in this section, electric generation facility means an electric generation facility located within the service territory of, and developed to sell electricity to, an electrical corporation that meets all of the following criteria:
(1)Has an effective capacity of not more than three megawatts, with the exception of those facilities participating in a tariff made available pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (f).
(2)Is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical transmission and distribution grid.
(3)(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers.
(B)For purposes of paragraph (2) of subdivision (f), is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers or is interconnected to an existing transmission line.
(4)Is an eligible renewable energy resource.
(c)Every electrical corporation shall file with the commission a standard tariff for electricity purchased from an electric generation facility. The commission may modify or adjust the requirements of this section for any electrical corporation with less than 100,000 service connections, as individual circumstances merit.
(d)(1)The tariff shall 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 commission. The payment shall be the market price determined by the commission pursuant to paragraph (2) and shall include all current and anticipated environmental compliance costs, including, but not limited to, mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollution offsets associated with the operation of new generating facilities in the local air pollution control or air quality management district where the electric generation facility is located.
(2)The commission shall establish a methodology to determine the market price of electricity for terms corresponding to the length of contracts with an electric generation facility, in consideration of the following:
(A)The long-term market price of electricity for fixed price contracts, determined pursuant to an electrical corporations general procurement activities as authorized by the commission.
(B)The long-term ownership, operating, and fixed-price fuel costs associated with fixed-price electricity from new generating facilities.
(C)The value of different electricity products including baseload, peaking, and as-available electricity.
(3)The commission may adjust the payment rate to reflect the value of every kilowatthour of electricity generated on a time-of-delivery basis.
(4)The commission shall ensure, with respect to rates and charges, that ratepayers that do not receive service pursuant to the tariff are indifferent to whether a ratepayer with an electric generation facility receives service pursuant to the tariff.
(e)An electrical corporation shall provide expedited interconnection procedures to an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit, if the electrical corporation determines that the electric generation facility will not adversely affect the distribution grid. The commission shall consider and may establish a value for an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit.
(f)(1)An electrical corporation shall make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under this section and Section 399.32. The proportionate share shall be calculated based on the ratio of the electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand.
(2)By June 1, 2013, the commission shall, in addition to the 750 megawatts identified in paragraph (1), direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013. The commission shall, for each electrical corporation, allocate shares of the additional 250 megawatts based on the ratio of each electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand. In implementing this paragraph, the commission shall do all of the following:
(A)Allocate the 250 megawatts identified in this paragraph among the electrical corporations based on the following categories:
(i)For biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion, 110 megawatts.
(ii)For dairy and other agricultural bioenergy, 90 megawatts.
(iii)For bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management, 50 megawatts. Allocations under this category shall be determined based on the proportion of bioenergy that sustainable forest management providers derive from sustainable forest management in fire threat treatment areas, as designated by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(B)Direct the electrical corporations to develop standard contract terms and conditions that reflect the operational characteristics of the projects, and to provide a streamlined contracting process.
(C)Coordinate, to the maximum extent feasible, any incentive or subsidy programs for bioenergy with the agencies listed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) in order to provide maximum benefits to ratepayers and to ensure that incentives are used to reduce contract prices.
(D)The commission shall encourage gas and electrical corporations to develop and offer programs and services to facilitate development of in-state biogas for a broad range of purposes.
(E)Direct the electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with an effective capacity of up to five megawatts to participate in the tariff made available pursuant to this paragraph, if it meets the following conditions:
(i)It delivers no more than three megawatts to the grid at any time.
(ii)It complies with the electrical corporations Electric Rule 21 tariff or other distribution access tariff.
(F)Payment is made pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) and no payment is made for any electricity delivered to the grid in excess of three megawatts at any time.
(3)(A)The commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, may review the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) to determine if those allocations are appropriate.
(B)If the commission finds that the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) are not appropriate, the commission may reallocate the 250 megawatts among the categories established in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2).
(4)(A)A project identified in clause (iii) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) is eligible, in regards to interconnection, for the tariff established to implement paragraph (2) or to participate in any program or auction established to implement paragraph (2), if it meets at least one of the following requirements:
(i)The project is already interconnected.
(ii)The project has been found to be eligible for interconnection pursuant to the fast track process under the relevant tariff.
(iii)A system impact study or other interconnection study has been completed for the project under the relevant tariff, and there was no determination in the study that, with the identified interconnection upgrades, if any, a condition specified in paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of subdivision (n) would exist. Such a project is not required to have a pending, active interconnection application to be eligible.
(B)For a project meeting the eligibility requirements pursuant to clause (iii) of subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, both of the following apply:
(i)The project is hereby deemed to be able to interconnect within the required time limits for the purpose of determining eligibility for the tariff.
(ii)The project shall submit a new application for interconnection within 30 days of execution of a standard contract pursuant to the tariff if it does not have a pending, active interconnection application or a completed interconnection. For those projects, the time to achieve commercial operation shall begin to run from the date when the new system impact study or other interconnection study is completed rather than from the date of execution of the standard contract.
(5)For the purposes of this subdivision, bioenergy means biogas and biomass.
(g)The electrical corporation may make the terms of the tariff available to owners and operators of an electric generation facility in the form of a standard contract subject to commission approval.
(h)Every kilowatthour of electricity purchased from an electric generation facility shall count toward meeting the electrical corporations renewables portfolio standard annual procurement targets for purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 399.15.
(i)The physical generating capacity of an electric generation facility shall count toward the electrical corporations resource adequacy requirement for purposes of Section 380.
(j)(1)The commission shall establish performance standards for any electric generation facility that has a capacity greater than one megawatt to ensure that those facilities are constructed, operated, and maintained to generate the expected annual net production of electricity and do not impact system reliability.
(2)The commission may reduce the three megawatt capacity limitation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) if the commission finds that a reduced capacity limitation is necessary to maintain system reliability within that electrical corporations service territory.
(k)(1)Any owner or operator of an electric generation facility that received ratepayer-funded incentives in accordance with Section 379.6 of this code, or with Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code, and participated in a net metering program pursuant to Sections 2827, 2827.9, and 2827.10 of this code prior to January 1, 2010, shall be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section.
(2)In establishing the tariffs or standard contracts pursuant to this section, the commission shall consider ratepayer-funded incentive payments previously received by the generation facility pursuant to Section 379.6 of this code or Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code. The commission shall require reimbursement of any funds received from these incentive programs to an electric generation facility, in order for that facility to be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section, unless the commission determines ratepayers have received sufficient value from the incentives provided to the facility based on how long the project has been in operation and the amount of renewable electricity previously generated by the facility.
(3)A customer that receives service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission pursuant to this section is not eligible to participate in any net metering program.
(l)An owner or operator of an electric generation facility electing to receive service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission shall continue to receive service under the tariff or contract until either of the following occurs:
(1)The owner or operator of an electric generation facility no longer meets the eligibility requirements for receiving service pursuant to the tariff or contract.
(2)The period of service established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (d) is completed.
(m)Within 10 days of receipt of a request for a tariff pursuant to this section from an owner or operator of an electric generation facility, the electrical corporation that receives the request shall post a copy of the request on its Internet Web site. The information posted on the Internet Web site shall include the name of the city in which the facility is located, but information that is proprietary and confidential, including, but not limited to, address information beyond the name of the city in which the facility is located, shall be redacted.
(n)An electrical corporation may deny a tariff request pursuant to this section if the electrical corporation makes any of the following findings:
(1)The electric generation facility does not meet the requirements of this section.
(2)The transmission or distribution grid that would serve as the point of interconnection is inadequate.
(3)The electric generation facility does not meet all applicable state and local laws and building standards and utility interconnection requirements.
(4)The aggregate of all electric generating facilities on a distribution circuit would adversely impact utility operation and load restoration efforts of the distribution system.
(o)Upon receiving a notice of denial from an electrical corporation, the owner or operator of the electric generation facility denied a tariff pursuant to this section shall have the right to appeal that decision to the commission.
(p)In order to ensure the safety and reliability of electric generation facilities, the owner of an electric generation facility receiving a tariff pursuant to this section shall provide an inspection and maintenance report to the electrical corporation at least once every other year. The inspection and maintenance report shall be prepared at the owners or operators expense by a California-licensed contractor who is not the owner or operator of the electric generation facility. A California-licensed electrician shall perform the inspection of the electrical portion of the generation facility.
(q)The contract between the electric generation facility receiving the tariff and the electrical corporation shall contain provisions that ensure that construction of the electric generating facility complies with all applicable state and local laws and building standards, and utility interconnection requirements.
(r)(1)All construction and installation of facilities of the electrical corporation, including at the point of the output meter or at the transmission or distribution grid, shall be performed only by that electrical corporation.
(2)All interconnection facilities installed on the electrical corporations side of the transfer point for electricity between the electrical corporation and the electrical conductors of the electric generation facility shall be owned, operated, and maintained only by the electrical corporation. The ownership, installation, operation, reading, and testing of revenue metering equipment for electric generating facilities shall only be performed by the electrical corporation.
SEC. 2.Section 1.5 of this bill incorporates amendments to Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by this bill, Assembly Bill 1612, and Senate Bill 840. It shall only become operative if (1) this bill and Assembly Bill 1612 or Senate Bill 840, or both of those bills, are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2017, (2) Assembly Bill 1612, Senate Bill 840, or both, as enacted, amend Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code, and (3) this bill is enacted last of these bills that amend Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code, in which case Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code, as amended by Assembly Bill 1612 or Senate Bill 840, shall remain operative only until the operative date of this bill, at which time Section 1.5 of this bill shall become operative, and Section 1 of this bill shall not become operative.
(a)It is the policy of this state and the intent of the Legislature to encourage electrical generation from eligible renewable energy resources.
(b)As used in this section, electric generation facility means an electric generation facility located within the service territory of, and developed to sell electricity to, an electrical corporation that meets all of the following criteria:
(1)Has an effective capacity of not more than three megawatts, with the exception of those facilities participating in a tariff made available pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (f).
(2)Is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical transmission and distribution grid.
(3)(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers.
(B)For purposes of paragraph (2) of subdivision (f), is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers or that is interconnected to an existing transmission line.
(4)Is an eligible renewable energy resource.
(c)Every electrical corporation shall file with the commission a standard tariff for electricity purchased from an electric generation facility. The commission may modify or adjust the requirements of this section for any electrical corporation with less than 100,000 service connections, as individual circumstances merit.
(d)(1)The tariff shall 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 commission. The payment shall be the market price determined by the commission pursuant to paragraph (2) and shall include all current and anticipated environmental compliance costs, including, but not limited to, mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollution offsets associated with the operation of new generating facilities in the local air pollution control or air quality management district where the electric generation facility is located.
(2)The commission shall establish a methodology to determine the market price of electricity for terms corresponding to the length of contracts with an electric generation facility, in consideration of the following:
(A)The long-term market price of electricity for fixed price contracts, determined pursuant to an electrical corporations general procurement activities as authorized by the commission.
(B)The long-term ownership, operating, and fixed-price fuel costs associated with fixed-price electricity from new generating facilities.
(C)The value of different electricity products including baseload, peaking, and as-available electricity.
(3)The commission may adjust the payment rate to reflect the value of every kilowatthour of electricity generated on a time-of-delivery basis.
(4)The commission shall ensure, with respect to rates and charges, that ratepayers that do not receive service pursuant to the tariff are indifferent to whether a ratepayer with an electric generation facility receives service pursuant to the tariff.
(e)An electrical corporation shall provide expedited interconnection procedures to an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit, if the electrical corporation determines that the electric generation facility will not adversely affect the distribution grid. The commission shall consider and may establish a value for an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit.
(f)(1)An electrical corporation shall make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under this section and Section 399.32. The proportionate share shall be calculated based on the ratio of the electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand.
(2)By June 1, 2013, the commission shall, in addition to the 750 megawatts identified in paragraph (1), direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013. The commission shall, for each electrical corporation, allocate shares of the additional 250 megawatts based on the ratio of each electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand. In implementing this paragraph, the commission shall do all of the following:
(A)Allocate the 250 megawatts identified in this paragraph among the electrical corporations based on the following categories:
(i)For biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion, 110 megawatts.
(ii)For dairy and other agricultural bioenergy, 90 megawatts.
(iii)For bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management, 50 megawatts. Allocations under this category shall be determined based on the proportion of bioenergy that sustainable forest management providers derive from sustainable forest management in fire threat treatment areas, as designated by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(B)Direct the electrical corporations to develop standard contract terms and conditions that reflect the operational characteristics of the projects, and to provide a streamlined contracting process.
(C)Coordinate, to the maximum extent feasible, any incentive or subsidy programs for bioenergy with the agencies listed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) in order to provide maximum benefits to ratepayers and to ensure that incentives are used to reduce contract prices.
(D)The commission shall encourage gas and electrical corporations to develop and offer programs and services to facilitate development of in-state biogas for a broad range of purposes.
(E)Direct the electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with an effective capacity of up to five megawatts to participate in the tariff made available pursuant to this paragraph, if it meets the following conditions:
(i)It delivers no more than three megawatts to the grid at any time.
(ii)It complies with the electrical corporations Electric Rule 21 tariff or other distribution access tariff.
(F)Payment is made pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) and no payment is made for any electricity delivered to the grid in excess of three megawatts at any time.
(3)(A)The commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, may review the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) to determine if those allocations are appropriate.
(B)If the commission finds that the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) are not appropriate, the commission may reallocate the 250 megawatts among the categories established in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2).
(4)For the purposes of this subdivision, bioenergy means biogas and biomass.
(g)The electrical corporation may make the terms of the tariff available to owners and operators of an electric generation facility in the form of a standard contract subject to commission approval.
(h)Every kilowatthour of electricity purchased from an electric generation facility shall count toward meeting the electrical corporations renewables portfolio standard annual procurement targets for purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 399.15.
(i)The physical generating capacity of an electric generation facility shall count toward the electrical corporations resource adequacy requirement for purposes of Section 380.
(j)(1)The commission shall establish performance standards for any electric generation facility that has a capacity greater than one megawatt to ensure that those facilities are constructed, operated, and maintained to generate the expected annual net production of electricity and do not impact system reliability.
(2)The commission may reduce the three megawatt capacity limitation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) if the commission finds that a reduced capacity limitation is necessary to maintain system reliability within that electrical corporations service territory.
(k)(1)Any owner or operator of an electric generation facility that received ratepayer-funded incentives in accordance with Section 379.6 of this code, or with Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code, and participated in a net metering program pursuant to Sections 2827, 2827.9, and 2827.10 of this code prior to January 1, 2010, shall be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section.
(2)In establishing the tariffs or standard contracts pursuant to this section, the commission shall consider ratepayer-funded incentive payments previously received by the generation facility pursuant to Section 379.6 of this code or Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code. The commission shall require reimbursement of any funds received from these incentive programs to an electric generation facility, in order for that facility to be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section, unless the commission determines ratepayers have received sufficient value from the incentives provided to the facility based on how long the project has been in operation and the amount of renewable electricity previously generated by the facility.
(3)A customer that receives service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission pursuant to this section is not eligible to participate in any net metering program.
(l)An owner or operator of an electric generation facility electing to receive service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission shall continue to receive service under the tariff or contract until either of the following occurs:
(1)The owner or operator of an electric generation facility no longer meets the eligibility requirements for receiving service pursuant to the tariff or contract.
(2)The period of service established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (d) is completed.
(m)Within 10 days of receipt of a request for a tariff pursuant to this section from an owner or operator of an electric generation facility, the electrical corporation that receives the request shall post a copy of the request on its Internet Web site. The information posted on the Internet Web site shall include the name of the city in which the facility is located, but information that is proprietary and confidential, including, but not limited to, address information beyond the name of the city in which the facility is located, shall be redacted.
(n)An electrical corporation may deny a tariff request pursuant to this section if the electrical corporation makes any of the following findings:
(1)The electric generation facility does not meet the requirements of this section.
(2)The transmission or distribution grid that would serve as the point of interconnection is inadequate.
(3)The electric generation facility does not meet all applicable state and local laws and building standards and utility interconnection requirements.
(4)The aggregate of all electric generating facilities on a distribution circuit would adversely impact utility operation and load restoration efforts of the distribution system.
(o)Upon receiving a notice of denial from an electrical corporation, the owner or operator of the electric generation facility denied a tariff pursuant to this section shall have the right to appeal that decision to the commission.
(p)In order to ensure the safety and reliability of electric generation facilities, the owner of an electric generation facility receiving a tariff pursuant to this section shall provide an inspection and maintenance report to the electrical corporation at least once every other year. The inspection and maintenance report shall be prepared at the owners or operators expense by a California-licensed contractor who is not the owner or operator of the electric generation facility. A California-licensed electrician shall perform the inspection of the electrical portion of the generation facility.
(q)The contract between the electric generation facility receiving the tariff and the electrical corporation shall contain provisions that ensure that construction of the electric generating facility complies with all applicable state and local laws and building standards, and utility interconnection requirements.
(r)(1)All construction and installation of facilities of the electrical corporation, including at the point of the output meter or at the transmission or distribution grid, shall be performed only by that electrical corporation.
(2)All interconnection facilities installed on the electrical corporations side of the transfer point for electricity between the electrical corporation and the electrical conductors of the electric generation facility shall be owned, operated, and maintained only by the electrical corporation. The ownership, installation, operation, reading, and testing of revenue metering equipment for electric generating facilities shall only be performed by the electrical corporation.
SEC. 1.5.Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:399.20.(a)It is the policy of this state and the intent of the Legislature to encourage electrical generation from eligible renewable energy resources.
(b)As used in this section, electric generation facility means an electric generation facility located within the service territory of, and developed to sell electricity to, an electrical corporation that meets all of the following criteria:
(1)Has an effective capacity of not more than three megawatts, with the exception of those facilities participating in a tariff made available pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (f).
(2)Is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical transmission and distribution grid.
(3)(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers.
(B)For purposes of paragraph (2) of subdivision (f), is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers or is interconnected to an existing transmission line.
(4)Is an eligible renewable energy resource.
(c)Every electrical corporation shall file with the commission a standard tariff for electricity purchased from an electric generation facility. The commission may modify or adjust the requirements of this section for any electrical corporation with less than 100,000 service connections, as individual circumstances merit.
(d)(1)The tariff shall 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 commission. The payment shall be the market price determined by the commission pursuant to paragraph (2) and shall include all current and anticipated environmental compliance costs, including, but not limited to, mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollution offsets associated with the operation of new generating facilities in the local air pollution control or air quality management district where the electric generation facility is located.
(2)The commission shall establish a methodology to determine the market price of electricity for terms corresponding to the length of contracts with an electric generation facility, in consideration of the following:
(A)The long-term market price of electricity for fixed price contracts, determined pursuant to an electrical corporations general procurement activities as authorized by the commission.
(B)The long-term ownership, operating, and fixed-price fuel costs associated with fixed-price electricity from new generating facilities.
(C)The value of different electricity products including baseload, peaking, and as-available electricity.
(3)The commission may adjust the payment rate to reflect the value of every kilowatthour of electricity generated on a time-of-delivery basis.
(4)The commission shall ensure, with respect to rates and charges, that ratepayers that do not receive service pursuant to the tariff are indifferent to whether a ratepayer with an electric generation facility receives service pursuant to the tariff.
(e)An electrical corporation shall provide expedited interconnection procedures to an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit, if the electrical corporation determines that the electric generation facility will not adversely affect the distribution grid. The commission shall consider and may establish a value for an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit.
(f)(1)An electrical corporation shall make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under this section and Section 399.32. The proportionate share shall be calculated based on the ratio of the electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand.
(2)By June 1, 2013, the commission shall, in addition to the 750 megawatts identified in paragraph (1), direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013. The commission shall, for each electrical corporation, allocate shares of the additional 250 megawatts based on the ratio of each electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand. In implementing this paragraph, the commission shall do all of the following:
(A)Allocate the 250 megawatts identified in this paragraph among the electrical corporations based on the following categories:
(i)For biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion, 110 megawatts.
(ii)For dairy and other agricultural bioenergy, 90 megawatts.
(iii)For bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management, 50 megawatts. Allocations under this category shall be determined based on the proportion of bioenergy that sustainable forest management providers derive from sustainable forest management in fire threat treatment areas, as designated by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(B)Direct the electrical corporations to develop standard contract terms and conditions that reflect the operational characteristics of the projects, and to provide a streamlined contracting process.
(C)Coordinate, to the maximum extent feasible, any incentive or subsidy programs for bioenergy with the agencies listed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) in order to provide maximum benefits to ratepayers and to ensure that incentives are used to reduce contract prices.
(D)The commission shall encourage gas and electrical corporations to develop and offer programs and services to facilitate development of in-state biogas for a broad range of purposes.
(E)Direct the electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with an effective capacity of up to five megawatts to participate in the tariff made available pursuant to this paragraph, if it meets the following conditions:
(i)It delivers no more than three megawatts to the grid at any time.
(ii)It complies with the electrical corporations Electric Rule 21 tariff or other distribution access tariff.
(F)Payment is made pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) and no payment is made for any electricity delivered to the grid in excess of three megawatts at any time.
(3)(A)The commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, may review the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) to determine if those allocations are appropriate.
(B)If the commission finds that the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) are not appropriate, the commission may reallocate the 250 megawatts among the categories established in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2).
(4)(A)A project identified in clause (iii) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) is eligible, in regards to interconnection, for the tariff established to implement paragraph (2) or to participate in any program or auction established to implement paragraph (2), if it meets at least one of the following requirements:
(i)The project is already interconnected.
(ii)The project has been found to be eligible for interconnection pursuant to the fast track process under the relevant tariff.
(iii)A system impact study or other interconnection study has been completed for the project under the relevant tariff, and there was no determination in the study that, with the identified interconnection upgrades, if any, a condition specified in paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of subdivision (n) would exist. Such a project is not required to have a pending, active interconnection application to be eligible.
(B)For a project meeting the eligibility requirements pursuant to clause (iii) of subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, both of the following apply:
(i)The project is hereby deemed to be able to interconnect within the required time limits for the purpose of determining eligibility for the tariff.
(ii)The project shall submit a new application for interconnection within 30 days of execution of a standard contract pursuant to the tariff if it does not have a pending, active interconnection application or a completed interconnection. For those projects, the time to achieve commercial operation shall begin to run from the date when the new system impact study or other interconnection study is completed rather than from the date of execution of the standard contract.
(5)For the purposes of this subdivision, bioenergy means biogas and biomass.
(g)The electrical corporation may make the terms of the tariff available to owners and operators of an electric generation facility in the form of a standard contract subject to commission approval.
(h)Every kilowatthour of electricity purchased from an electric generation facility shall count toward meeting the electrical corporations renewables portfolio standard annual procurement targets for purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 399.15.
(i)The physical generating capacity of an electric generation facility shall count toward the electrical corporations resource adequacy requirement for purposes of Section 380.
(j)(1)The commission shall establish performance standards for any electric generation facility that has a capacity greater than one megawatt to ensure that those facilities are constructed, operated, and maintained to generate the expected annual net production of electricity and do not impact system reliability.
(2)The commission may reduce the three megawatt capacity limitation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) if the commission finds that a reduced capacity limitation is necessary to maintain system reliability within that electrical corporations service territory.
(k)(1)Any owner or operator of an electric generation facility that received ratepayer-funded incentives in accordance with Section 379.6 of this code, or with Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code, and participated in a net metering program pursuant to Sections 2827, 2827.9, and 2827.10 of this code prior to January 1, 2010, shall be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section.
(2)In establishing the tariffs or standard contracts pursuant to this section, the commission shall consider ratepayer-funded incentive payments previously received by the generation facility pursuant to Section 379.6 of this code or Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code. The commission shall require reimbursement of any funds received from these incentive programs to an electric generation facility, in order for that facility to be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section, unless the commission determines ratepayers have received sufficient value from the incentives provided to the facility based on how long the project has been in operation and the amount of renewable electricity previously generated by the facility.
(3)A customer that receives service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission pursuant to this section is not eligible to participate in any net metering program.
(l)An owner or operator of an electric generation facility electing to receive service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission shall continue to receive service under the tariff or contract until either of the following occurs:
(1)The owner or operator of an electric generation facility no longer meets the eligibility requirements for receiving service pursuant to the tariff or contract.
(2)The period of service established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (d) is completed.
(m)Within 10 days of receipt of a request for a tariff pursuant to this section from an owner or operator of an electric generation facility, the electrical corporation that receives the request shall post a copy of the request on its Internet Web site. The information posted on the Internet Web site shall include the name of the city in which the facility is located, but information that is proprietary and confidential, including, but not limited to, address information beyond the name of the city in which the facility is located, shall be redacted.
(n)An electrical corporation may deny a tariff request pursuant to this section if the electrical corporation makes any of the following findings:
(1)The electric generation facility does not meet the requirements of this section.
(2)The transmission or distribution grid that would serve as the point of interconnection is inadequate.
(3)The electric generation facility does not meet all applicable state and local laws and building standards and utility interconnection requirements.
(4)The aggregate of all electric generating facilities on a distribution circuit would adversely impact utility operation and load restoration efforts of the distribution system.
(o)Upon receiving a notice of denial from an electrical corporation, the owner or operator of the electric generation facility denied a tariff pursuant to this section shall have the right to appeal that decision to the commission.
(p)In order to ensure the safety and reliability of electric generation facilities, the owner of an electric generation facility receiving a tariff pursuant to this section shall provide an inspection and maintenance report to the electrical corporation at least once every other year. The inspection and maintenance report shall be prepared at the owners or operators expense by a California-licensed contractor who is not the owner or operator of the electric generation facility. A California-licensed electrician shall perform the inspection of the electrical portion of the generation facility.
(q)The contract between the electric generation facility receiving the tariff and the electrical corporation shall contain provisions that ensure that construction of the electric generating facility complies with all applicable state and local laws and building standards, and utility interconnection requirements.
(r)(1)All construction and installation of facilities of the electrical corporation, including at the point of the output meter or at the transmission or distribution grid, shall be performed only by that electrical corporation.
(2)All interconnection facilities installed on the electrical corporations side of the transfer point for electricity between the electrical corporation and the electrical conductors of the electric generation facility shall be owned, operated, and maintained only by the electrical corporation. The ownership, installation, operation, reading, and testing of revenue metering equipment for electric generating facilities shall only be performed by the electrical corporation.
SEC. 2.Section 1.5 of this bill incorporates amendments to Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by this bill, Assembly Bill 1612, and Senate Bill 840. It shall only become operative if (1) this bill and Assembly Bill 1612 or Senate Bill 840, or both of those bills, are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2017, (2) Assembly Bill 1612, Senate Bill 840, or both, as enacted, amend Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code, and (3) this bill is enacted last of these bills that amend Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code, in which case Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code, as amended by Assembly Bill 1612 or Senate Bill 840, shall remain operative only until the operative date of this bill, at which time Section 1.5 of this bill shall become operative, and Section 1 of this bill shall not become operative.
(a)It is the policy of this state and the intent of the Legislature to encourage electrical generation from eligible renewable energy resources.
(b)As used in this section, electric generation facility means an electric generation facility located within the service territory of, and developed to sell electricity to, an electrical corporation that meets all of the following criteria:
(1)Has an effective capacity of not more than three megawatts, with the exception of those facilities participating in a tariff made available pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (f).
(2)Is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical transmission and distribution grid.
(3)Is (A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers.
(B)For purposes of paragraph (2) of subdivision (f), is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers or that is interconnected to an existing transmission line.
(4)Is an eligible renewable energy resource.
(c)Every electrical corporation shall file with the commission a standard tariff for electricity purchased from an electric generation facility. The commission may modify or adjust the requirements of this section for any electrical corporation with less than 100,000 service connections, as individual circumstances merit.
(d)(1)The tariff shall 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 commission. The payment shall be the market price determined by the commission pursuant to paragraph (2) and shall include all current and anticipated environmental compliance costs, including, but not limited to, mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollution offsets associated with the operation of new generating facilities in the local air pollution control or air quality management district where the electric generation facility is located.
(2)The commission shall establish a methodology to determine the market price of electricity for terms corresponding to the length of contracts with an electric generation facility, in consideration of the following:
(A)The long-term market price of electricity for fixed price contracts, determined pursuant to an electrical corporations general procurement activities as authorized by the commission.
(B)The long-term ownership, operating, and fixed-price fuel costs associated with fixed-price electricity from new generating facilities.
(C)The value of different electricity products including baseload, peaking, and as-available electricity.
(3)The commission may adjust the payment rate to reflect the value of every kilowatthour of electricity generated on a time-of-delivery basis.
(4)The commission shall ensure, with respect to rates and charges, that ratepayers that do not receive service pursuant to the tariff are indifferent to whether a ratepayer with an electric generation facility receives service pursuant to the tariff.
(e)An electrical corporation shall provide expedited interconnection procedures to an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit, if the electrical corporation determines that the electric generation facility will not adversely affect the distribution grid. The commission shall consider and may establish a value for an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit.
(f)(1)An electrical corporation shall make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under this section and Section 399.32. The proportionate share shall be calculated based on the ratio of the electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand.
(2)By June 1, 2013, the commission shall, in addition to the 750 megawatts identified in paragraph (1), direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013. The commission shall, for each electrical corporation, allocate shares of the additional 250 megawatts based on the ratio of each electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand. In implementing this paragraph, the commission shall do all of the following:
(A)Allocate the 250 megawatts identified in this paragraph among the electrical corporations based on the following categories:
(i)For biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion, 110 megawatts.
(ii)For dairy and other agricultural bioenergy, 90 megawatts.
(iii)For bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management, 50 megawatts. Allocations under this category shall be determined based on the proportion of bioenergy that sustainable forest management providers derive from sustainable forest management in fire threat treatment areas, as designated by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(B)Direct the electrical corporations to develop standard contract terms and conditions that reflect the operational characteristics of the projects, and to provide a streamlined contracting process.
(C)Coordinate, to the maximum extent feasible, any incentive or subsidy programs for bioenergy with the agencies listed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) in order to provide maximum benefits to ratepayers and to ensure that incentives are used to reduce contract prices.
(D)The commission shall encourage gas and electrical corporations to develop and offer programs and services to facilitate development of in-state biogas for a broad range of purposes.
(E)Direct the electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with a nameplate generating an effective capacity of up to five megawatts to participate in the tariff made available pursuant to this paragraph, if it meets the following conditions:
(i)It delivers no more than three megawatts to the grid at any time.
(ii)It complies with the electrical corporations Electric Rule 21 tariff or other distribution access tariff.
(iii)
(F)Payment is made pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) and no payment is made for any electricity delivered to the grid in excess of three megawatts at any time.
(3)(A)The commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, may review the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) to determine if those allocations are appropriate.
(B)If the commission finds that the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) are not appropriate, the commission may reallocate the 250 megawatts among the categories established in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2).
(4)For the purposes of this subdivision, bioenergy means biogas and biomass.
(g)The electrical corporation may make the terms of the tariff available to owners and operators of an electric generation facility in the form of a standard contract subject to commission approval.
(h)Every kilowatthour of electricity purchased from an electric generation facility shall count toward meeting the electrical corporations renewables portfolio standard annual procurement targets for purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 399.15.
(i)The physical generating capacity of an electric generation facility shall count toward the electrical corporations resource adequacy requirement for purposes of Section 380.
(j)(1)The commission shall establish performance standards for any electric generation facility that has a capacity greater than one megawatt to ensure that those facilities are constructed, operated, and maintained to generate the expected annual net production of electricity and do not impact system reliability.
(2)The commission may reduce the three megawatt capacity limitation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) if the commission finds that a reduced capacity limitation is necessary to maintain system reliability within that electrical corporations service territory.
(k)(1)Any owner or operator of an electric generation facility that received ratepayer-funded incentives in accordance with Section 379.6 of this code, or with Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code, and participated in a net metering program pursuant to Sections 2827, 2827.9, and 2827.10 of this code prior to January 1, 2010, shall be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section.
(2)In establishing the tariffs or standard contracts pursuant to this section, the commission shall consider ratepayer-funded incentive payments previously received by the generation facility pursuant to Section 379.6 of this code or Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code. The commission shall require reimbursement of any funds received from these incentive programs to an electric generation facility, in order for that facility to be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section, unless the commission determines ratepayers have received sufficient value from the incentives provided to the facility based on how long the project has been in operation and the amount of renewable electricity previously generated by the facility.
(3)A customer that receives service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission pursuant to this section is not eligible to participate in any net metering program.
(l)An owner or operator of an electric generation facility electing to receive service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission shall continue to receive service under the tariff or contract until either of the following occurs:
(1)The owner or operator of an electric generation facility no longer meets the eligibility requirements for receiving service pursuant to the tariff or contract.
(2)The period of service established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (d) is completed.
(m)Within 10 days of receipt of a request for a tariff pursuant to this section from an owner or operator of an electric generation facility, the electrical corporation that receives the request shall post a copy of the request on its Internet Web site. The information posted on the Internet Web site shall include the name of the city in which the facility is located, but information that is proprietary and confidential, including, but not limited to, address information beyond the name of the city in which the facility is located, shall be redacted.
(n)An electrical corporation may deny a tariff request pursuant to this section if the electrical corporation makes any of the following findings:
(1)The electric generation facility does not meet the requirements of this section.
(2)The transmission or distribution grid that would serve as the point of interconnection is inadequate.
(3)The electric generation facility does not meet all applicable state and local laws and building standards and utility interconnection requirements.
(4)The aggregate of all electric generating facilities on a distribution circuit would adversely impact utility operation and load restoration efforts of the distribution system.
(o)Upon receiving a notice of denial from an electrical corporation, the owner or operator of the electric generation facility denied a tariff pursuant to this section shall have the right to appeal that decision to the commission.
(p)In order to ensure the safety and reliability of electric generation facilities, the owner of an electric generation facility receiving a tariff pursuant to this section shall provide an inspection and maintenance report to the electrical corporation at least once every other year. The inspection and maintenance report shall be prepared at the owners or operators expense by a California-licensed contractor who is not the owner or operator of the electric generation facility. A California-licensed electrician shall perform the inspection of the electrical portion of the generation facility.
(q)The contract between the electric generation facility receiving the tariff and the electrical corporation shall contain provisions that ensure that construction of the electric generating facility complies with all applicable state and local laws and building standards, and utility interconnection requirements.
(r)(1)All construction and installation of facilities of the electrical corporation, including at the point of the output meter or at the transmission or distribution grid, shall be performed only by that electrical corporation.
(2)All interconnection facilities installed on the electrical corporations side of the transfer point for electricity between the electrical corporation and the electrical conductors of the electric generation facility shall be owned, operated, and maintained only by the electrical corporation. The ownership, installation, operation, reading, and testing of revenue metering equipment for electric generating facilities shall only be performed by the electrical corporation.
SEC. 1.5.Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:399.20.(a)It is the policy of this state and the intent of the Legislature to encourage electrical generation from eligible renewable energy resources.
(b)As used in this section, electric generation facility means an electric generation facility located within the service territory of, and developed to sell electricity to, an electrical corporation that meets all of the following criteria:
(1)Has an effective capacity of not more than three megawatts. megawatts, with the exception of those facilities participating in a tariff made available pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (f).
(2)Is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical transmission and distribution grid.
(3)Is (A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers.
(B)For purposes of paragraph (2) of subdivision (f), is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers or is interconnected to an existing transmission line.
(4)Is an eligible renewable energy resource.
(c)Every electrical corporation shall file with the commission a standard tariff for electricity purchased from an electric generation facility. The commission may modify or adjust the requirements of this section for any electrical corporation with less than 100,000 service connections, as individual circumstances merit.
(d)(1)The tariff shall 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 commission. The payment shall be the market price determined by the commission pursuant to paragraph (2) and shall include all current and anticipated environmental compliance costs, including, but not limited to, mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollution offsets associated with the operation of new generating facilities in the local air pollution control or air quality management district where the electric generation facility is located.
(2)The commission shall establish a methodology to determine the market price of electricity for terms corresponding to the length of contracts with an electric generation facility, in consideration of the following:
(A)The long-term market price of electricity for fixed price contracts, determined pursuant to an electrical corporations general procurement activities as authorized by the commission.
(B)The long-term ownership, operating, and fixed-price fuel costs associated with fixed-price electricity from new generating facilities.
(C)The value of different electricity products including baseload, peaking, and as-available electricity.
(3)The commission may adjust the payment rate to reflect the value of every kilowatthour of electricity generated on a time-of-delivery basis.
(4)The commission shall ensure, with respect to rates and charges, that ratepayers that do not receive service pursuant to the tariff are indifferent to whether a ratepayer with an electric generation facility receives service pursuant to the tariff.
(e)An electrical corporation shall provide expedited interconnection procedures to an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit, if the electrical corporation determines that the electric generation facility will not adversely affect the distribution grid. The commission shall consider and may establish a value for an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit.
(f)(1)An electrical corporation shall make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under this section and Section 387.6. 399.32. The proportionate share shall be calculated based on the ratio of the electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand.
(2)By June 1, 2013, the commission shall, in addition to the 750 megawatts identified in paragraph (1), direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013. The commission shall, for each electrical corporation, allocate shares of the additional 250 megawatts based on the ratio of each electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand. In implementing this paragraph, the commission shall do all of the following:
(A)Allocate the 250 megawatts identified in this paragraph among the electrical corporations based on the following categories:
(i)For biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion, 110 megawatts.
(ii)For dairy and other agricultural bioenergy, 90 megawatts.
(iii)For bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management, 50 megawatts. Allocations under this category shall be determined based on the proportion of bioenergy that sustainable forest management providers derive from sustainable forest management in fire threat treatment areas, as designated by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(B)Direct the electrical corporations to develop standard contract terms and conditions that reflect the operational characteristics of the projects, and to provide a streamlined contracting process.
(C)Coordinate, to the maximum extent feasible, any incentive or subsidy programs for bioenergy with the agencies listed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) in order to provide maximum benefits to ratepayers and to ensure that incentives are used to reduce contract prices.
(D)The commission shall encourage gas and electrical corporations to develop and offer programs and services to facilitate development of in-state biogas for a broad range of purposes.
(E)Direct the electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with an effective capacity of up to five megawatts to participate in the tariff made available pursuant to this paragraph, if it meets the following conditions:
(i)It delivers no more than three megawatts to the grid at any time.
(ii)It complies with the electrical corporations Electric Rule 21 tariff or other distribution access tariff.
(F)Payment is made pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) and no payment is made for any electricity delivered to the grid in excess of three megawatts at any time.
(3)(A)The commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, may review the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) to determine if those allocations are appropriate.
(B)If the commission finds that the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) are not appropriate, the commission may reallocate the 250 megawatts among the categories established in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2).
(4)(A)A project identified in clause (iii) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) is eligible, in regards to interconnection, for the tariff established to implement paragraph (2) or to participate in any program or auction established to implement paragraph (2), if it meets at least one of the following requirements:
(i)The project is already interconnected.
(ii)The project has been found to be eligible for interconnection pursuant to the fast track process under the relevant tariff.
(iii)A system impact study or other interconnection study has been completed for the project under the relevant tariff, and there was no determination in the study that, with the identified interconnection upgrades, if any, a condition specified in paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of subdivision (n) would exist. Such a project is not required to have a pending, active interconnection application to be eligible.
(B)For a project meeting the eligibility requirements pursuant to clause (iii) of subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, both of the following apply:
(i)The project is hereby deemed to be able to interconnect within the required time limits for the purpose of determining eligibility for the tariff.
(ii)The project shall submit a new application for interconnection within 30 days of execution of a standard contract pursuant to the tariff if it does not have a pending, active interconnection application or a completed interconnection. For those projects, the time to achieve commercial operation shall begin to run from the date when the new system impact study or other interconnection study is completed rather than from the date of execution of the standard contract.
(4)
(5)For the purposes of this subdivision, bioenergy means biogas and biomass.
(g)The electrical corporation may make the terms of the tariff available to owners and operators of an electric generation facility in the form of a standard contract subject to commission approval.
(h)Every kilowatthour of electricity purchased from an electric generation facility shall count toward meeting the electrical corporations renewables portfolio standard annual procurement targets for purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 399.15.
(i)The physical generating capacity of an electric generation facility shall count toward the electrical corporations resource adequacy requirement for purposes of Section 380.
(j)(1)The commission shall establish performance standards for any electric generation facility that has a capacity greater than one megawatt to ensure that those facilities are constructed, operated, and maintained to generate the expected annual net production of electricity and do not impact system reliability.
(2)The commission may reduce the three megawatt capacity limitation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) if the commission finds that a reduced capacity limitation is necessary to maintain system reliability within that electrical corporations service territory.
(k)(1)Any owner or operator of an electric generation facility that received ratepayer-funded incentives in accordance with Section 379.6 of this code, or with Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code, and participated in a net metering program pursuant to Sections 2827, 2827.9, and 2827.10 of this code prior to January 1, 2010, shall be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section.
(2)In establishing the tariffs or standard contracts pursuant to this section, the commission shall consider ratepayer-funded incentive payments previously received by the generation facility pursuant to Section 379.6 of this code or Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code. The commission shall require reimbursement of any funds received from these incentive programs to an electric generation facility, in order for that facility to be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section, unless the commission determines ratepayers have received sufficient value from the incentives provided to the facility based on how long the project has been in operation and the amount of renewable electricity previously generated by the facility.
(3)A customer that receives service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission pursuant to this section is not eligible to participate in any net metering program.
(l)An owner or operator of an electric generation facility electing to receive service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission shall continue to receive service under the tariff or contract until either of the following occurs:
(1)The owner or operator of an electric generation facility no longer meets the eligibility requirements for receiving service pursuant to the tariff or contract.
(2)The period of service established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (d) is completed.
(m)Within 10 days of receipt of a request for a tariff pursuant to this section from an owner or operator of an electric generation facility, the electrical corporation that receives the request shall post a copy of the request on its Internet Web site. The information posted on the Internet Web site shall include the name of the city in which the facility is located, but information that is proprietary and confidential, including, but not limited to, address information beyond the name of the city in which the facility is located, shall be redacted.
(n)An electrical corporation may deny a tariff request pursuant to this section if the electrical corporation makes any of the following findings:
(1)The electric generation facility does not meet the requirements of this section.
(2)The transmission or distribution grid that would serve as the point of interconnection is inadequate.
(3)The electric generation facility does not meet all applicable state and local laws and building standards and utility interconnection requirements.
(4)The aggregate of all electric generating facilities on a distribution circuit would adversely impact utility operation and load restoration efforts of the distribution system.
(o)Upon receiving a notice of denial from an electrical corporation, the owner or operator of the electric generation facility denied a tariff pursuant to this section shall have the right to appeal that decision to the commission.
(p)In order to ensure the safety and reliability of electric generation facilities, the owner of an electric generation facility receiving a tariff pursuant to this section shall provide an inspection and maintenance report to the electrical corporation at least once every other year. The inspection and maintenance report shall be prepared at the owners or operators expense by a California-licensed contractor who is not the owner or operator of the electric generation facility. A California-licensed electrician shall perform the inspection of the electrical portion of the generation facility.
(q)The contract between the electric generation facility receiving the tariff and the electrical corporation shall contain provisions that ensure that construction of the electric generating facility complies with all applicable state and local laws and building standards, and utility interconnection requirements.
(r)(1)All construction and installation of facilities of the electrical corporation, including at the point of the output meter or at the transmission or distribution grid, shall be performed only by that electrical corporation.
(2)All interconnection facilities installed on the electrical corporations side of the transfer point for electricity between the electrical corporation and the electrical conductors of the electric generation facility shall be owned, operated, and maintained only by the electrical corporation. The ownership, installation, operation, reading, and testing of revenue metering equipment for electric generating facilities shall only be performed by the electrical corporation.
SEC. 2.Section 1.5 of this bill incorporates amendments to Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by this bill, Assembly Bill 1612, and Senate Bill 840. It shall only become operative if (1) this bill and Assembly Bill 1612 or Senate Bill 840, or both of those bills, are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2017, (2) Assembly Bill 1612, Senate Bill 840, or both, as enacted, amend Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code, and (3) this bill is enacted last of these bills that amend Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code, in which case Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code, as amended by Assembly Bill 1612 or Senate Bill 840, shall remain operative only until the operative date of this bill, at which time Section 1.5 of this bill shall become operative, and Section 1 of this bill shall not become operative.
(a)It is the policy of this state and the intent of the Legislature to encourage electrical generation from eligible renewable energy resources.
(b)As used in this section, electric generation facility means an electric generation facility located within the service territory of, and developed to sell electricity to, an electrical corporation that meets all of the following criteria:
(1)Has an effective capacity of not more than three megawatts, with the exception of those facilities participating in a tariff made available pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (f).
(2)Is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical transmission and distribution grid.
(3)Is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers.
(4)Is an eligible renewable energy resource.
(c)Every electrical corporation shall file with the commission a standard tariff for electricity purchased from an electric generation facility. The commission may modify or adjust the requirements of this section for any electrical corporation with less than 100,000 service connections, as individual circumstances merit.
(d)(1)The tariff shall 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 commission. The payment shall be the market price determined by the commission pursuant to paragraph (2) and shall include all current and anticipated environmental compliance costs, including, but not limited to, mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollution offsets associated with the operation of new generating facilities in the local air pollution control or air quality management district where the electric generation facility is located.
(2)The commission shall establish a methodology to determine the market price of electricity for terms corresponding to the length of contracts with an electric generation facility, in consideration of the following:
(A)The long-term market price of electricity for fixed price contracts, determined pursuant to an electrical corporations general procurement activities as authorized by the commission.
(B)The long-term ownership, operating, and fixed-price fuel costs associated with fixed-price electricity from new generating facilities.
(C)The value of different electricity products including baseload, peaking, and as-available electricity.
(3)The commission may adjust the payment rate to reflect the value of every kilowatthour of electricity generated on a time-of-delivery basis.
(4)The commission shall ensure, with respect to rates and charges, that ratepayers that do not receive service pursuant to the tariff are indifferent to whether a ratepayer with an electric generation facility receives service pursuant to the tariff.
(e)An electrical corporation shall provide expedited interconnection procedures to an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit, if the electrical corporation determines that the electric generation facility will not adversely affect the distribution grid. The commission shall consider and may establish a value for an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit.
(f)(1)An electrical corporation shall make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under this section and Section 399.32. The proportionate share shall be calculated based on the ratio of the electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand.
(2)By June 1, 2013, the commission shall, in addition to the 750 megawatts identified in paragraph (1), direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013. The commission shall, for each electrical corporation, allocate shares of the additional 250 megawatts based on the ratio of each electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand. In implementing this paragraph, the commission shall do all of the following:
(A)Allocate the 250 megawatts identified in this paragraph among the electrical corporations based on the following categories:
(i)For biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion, 110 megawatts.
(ii)For dairy and other agricultural bioenergy, 90 megawatts.
(iii)For bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management, 50 megawatts. Allocations under this category shall be determined based on the proportion of bioenergy that sustainable forest management providers derive from sustainable forest management in fire threat treatment areas, as designated by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(B)Direct the electrical corporations to develop standard contract terms and conditions that reflect the operational characteristics of the projects, and to provide a streamlined contracting process.
(C)Coordinate, to the maximum extent feasible, any incentive or subsidy programs for bioenergy with the agencies listed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) in order to provide maximum benefits to ratepayers and to ensure that incentives are used to reduce contract prices.
(D)The commission shall encourage gas and electrical corporations to develop and offer programs and services to facilitate development of in-state biogas for a broad range of purposes.
(E)Direct the electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with a nameplate generating capacity of up to five megawatts to participate in the tariff made available pursuant to this paragraph, if it meets the following conditions:
(i)It delivers no more than three megawatts to the grid at any time.
(ii)It complies with the electrical corporations Electric Rule 21 tariff or other distribution access tariff.
(iii)Payment is made pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) and no payment is made for any electricity exported delivered to the grid in excess of three megawatts in any hour. at any time.
(3)(A)The commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, may review the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) to determine if those allocations are appropriate.
(B)If the commission finds that the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) are not appropriate, the commission may reallocate the 250 megawatts among the categories established in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2).
(4)For the purposes of this subdivision, bioenergy means biogas and biomass.
(g)The electrical corporation may make the terms of the tariff available to owners and operators of an electric generation facility in the form of a standard contract subject to commission approval.
(h)Every kilowatthour of electricity purchased from an electric generation facility shall count toward meeting the electrical corporations renewables portfolio standard annual procurement targets for purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 399.15.
(i)The physical generating capacity of an electric generation facility shall count toward the electrical corporations resource adequacy requirement for purposes of Section 380.
(j)(1)The commission shall establish performance standards for any electric generation facility that has a capacity greater than one megawatt to ensure that those facilities are constructed, operated, and maintained to generate the expected annual net production of electricity and do not impact system reliability.
(2)The commission may reduce the three megawatt capacity limitation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) if the commission finds that a reduced capacity limitation is necessary to maintain system reliability within that electrical corporations service territory.
(k)(1)Any owner or operator of an electric generation facility that received ratepayer-funded incentives in accordance with Section 379.6 of this code, or with Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code, and participated in a net metering program pursuant to Sections 2827, 2827.9, and 2827.10 of this code prior to January 1, 2010, shall be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section.
(2)In establishing the tariffs or standard contracts pursuant to this section, the commission shall consider ratepayer-funded incentive payments previously received by the generation facility pursuant to Section 379.6 of this code or Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code. The commission shall require reimbursement of any funds received from these incentive programs to an electric generation facility, in order for that facility to be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section, unless the commission determines ratepayers have received sufficient value from the incentives provided to the facility based on how long the project has been in operation and the amount of renewable electricity previously generated by the facility.
(3)A customer that receives service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission pursuant to this section is not eligible to participate in any net metering program.
(l)An owner or operator of an electric generation facility electing to receive service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission shall continue to receive service under the tariff or contract until either of the following occurs:
(1)The owner or operator of an electric generation facility no longer meets the eligibility requirements for receiving service pursuant to the tariff or contract.
(2)The period of service established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (d) is completed.
(m)Within 10 days of receipt of a request for a tariff pursuant to this section from an owner or operator of an electric generation facility, the electrical corporation that receives the request shall post a copy of the request on its Internet Web site. The information posted on the Internet Web site shall include the name of the city in which the facility is located, but information that is proprietary and confidential, including, but not limited to, address information beyond the name of the city in which the facility is located, shall be redacted.
(n)An electrical corporation may deny a tariff request pursuant to this section if the electrical corporation makes any of the following findings:
(1)The electric generation facility does not meet the requirements of this section.
(2)The transmission or distribution grid that would serve as the point of interconnection is inadequate.
(3)The electric generation facility does not meet all applicable state and local laws and building standards and utility interconnection requirements.
(4)The aggregate of all electric generating facilities on a distribution circuit would adversely impact utility operation and load restoration efforts of the distribution system.
(o)Upon receiving a notice of denial from an electrical corporation, the owner or operator of the electric generation facility denied a tariff pursuant to this section shall have the right to appeal that decision to the commission.
(p)In order to ensure the safety and reliability of electric generation facilities, the owner of an electric generation facility receiving a tariff pursuant to this section shall provide an inspection and maintenance report to the electrical corporation at least once every other year. The inspection and maintenance report shall be prepared at the owners or operators expense by a California-licensed contractor who is not the owner or operator of the electric generation facility. A California-licensed electrician shall perform the inspection of the electrical portion of the generation facility.
(q)The contract between the electric generation facility receiving the tariff and the electrical corporation shall contain provisions that ensure that construction of the electric generating facility complies with all applicable state and local laws and building standards, and utility interconnection requirements.
(r)(1)All construction and installation of facilities of the electrical corporation, including at the point of the output meter or at the transmission or distribution grid, shall be performed only by that electrical corporation.
(2)All interconnection facilities installed on the electrical corporations side of the transfer point for electricity between the electrical corporation and the electrical conductors of the electric generation facility shall be owned, operated, and maintained only by the electrical corporation. The ownership, installation, operation, reading, and testing of revenue metering equipment for electric generating facilities shall only be performed by the electrical corporation.
(a)It is the policy of this state and the intent of the Legislature to encourage electrical generation from eligible renewable energy resources.
(b)As used in this section, electric generation facility means an electric generation facility located within the service territory of, and developed to sell electricity to, an electrical corporation that meets all of the following criteria:
(1)Has an effective capacity of not more than three megawatts. megawatts, with the exception of those facilities participating in a tariff made available pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (f).
(2)Is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical transmission and distribution grid.
(3)Is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers.
(4)Is an eligible renewable energy resource.
(c)Every electrical corporation shall file with the commission a standard tariff for electricity purchased from an electric generation facility. The commission may modify or adjust the requirements of this section for any electrical corporation with less than 100,000 service connections, as individual circumstances merit.
(d)(1)The tariff shall 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 commission. The payment shall be the market price determined by the commission pursuant to paragraph (2) and shall include all current and anticipated environmental compliance costs, including, but not limited to, mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollution offsets associated with the operation of new generating facilities in the local air pollution control or air quality management district where the electric generation facility is located.
(2)The commission shall establish a methodology to determine the market price of electricity for terms corresponding to the length of contracts with an electric generation facility, in consideration of the following:
(A)The long-term market price of electricity for fixed price contracts, determined pursuant to an electrical corporations general procurement activities as authorized by the commission.
(B)The long-term ownership, operating, and fixed-price fuel costs associated with fixed-price electricity from new generating facilities.
(C)The value of different electricity products including baseload, peaking, and as-available electricity.
(3)The commission may adjust the payment rate to reflect the value of every kilowatthour of electricity generated on a time-of-delivery basis.
(4)The commission shall ensure, with respect to rates and charges, that ratepayers that do not receive service pursuant to the tariff are indifferent to whether a ratepayer with an electric generation facility receives service pursuant to the tariff.
(e)An electrical corporation shall provide expedited interconnection procedures to an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit, if the electrical corporation determines that the electric generation facility will not adversely affect the distribution grid. The commission shall consider and may establish a value for an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit.
(f)(1)An electrical corporation shall make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under this section and Section 399.32. The proportionate share shall be calculated based on the ratio of the electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand.
(2)By June 1, 2013, the commission shall, in addition to the 750 megawatts identified in paragraph (1), direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013. The commission shall, for each electrical corporation, allocate shares of the additional 250 megawatts based on the ratio of each electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand. In implementing this paragraph, the commission shall do all of the following:
(A)Allocate the 250 megawatts identified in this paragraph among the electrical corporations based on the following categories:
(i)For biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion, 110 megawatts.
(ii)For dairy and other agricultural bioenergy, 90 megawatts.
(iii)For bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management, 50 megawatts. Allocations under this category shall be determined based on the proportion of bioenergy that sustainable forest management providers derive from sustainable forest management in fire threat treatment areas, as designated by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(B)Direct the electrical corporations to develop standard contract terms and conditions that reflect the operational characteristics of the projects, and to provide a streamlined contracting process.
(C)Coordinate, to the maximum extent feasible, any incentive or subsidy programs for bioenergy with the agencies listed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) in order to provide maximum benefits to ratepayers and to ensure that incentives are used to reduce contract prices.
(D)The commission shall encourage gas and electrical corporations to develop and offer programs and services to facilitate development of in-state biogas for a broad range of purposes.
(E)Direct the electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with a nameplate generating capacity of up to five megawatts to participate in the tariff made available pursuant to this paragraph, if it meets the following conditions:
(i)It delivers no more than three megawatts to the grid in an hour. at any time.
(ii)It complies with the electrical corporations Electric Rule 21 tariff or other distribution access tariff.
(iii)Payment is made pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) and no payment is made for any generation electricity exported to the grid in excess of three megawatts in any hour.
(3)(A)The commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, may review the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) to determine if those allocations are appropriate.
(B)If the commission finds that the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) are not appropriate, the commission may reallocate the 250 megawatts among the categories established in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2).
(4)For the purposes of this subdivision, bioenergy means biogas and biomass.
(g)The electrical corporation may make the terms of the tariff available to owners and operators of an electric generation facility in the form of a standard contract subject to commission approval.
(h)Every kilowatthour of electricity purchased from an electric generation facility shall count toward meeting the electrical corporations renewables portfolio standard annual procurement targets for purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 399.15.
(i)The physical generating capacity of an electric generation facility shall count toward the electrical corporations resource adequacy requirement for purposes of Section 380.
(j)(1)The commission shall establish performance standards for any electric generation facility that has a capacity greater than one megawatt to ensure that those facilities are constructed, operated, and maintained to generate the expected annual net production of electricity and do not impact system reliability.
(2)The commission may reduce the three megawatt capacity limitation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) if the commission finds that a reduced capacity limitation is necessary to maintain system reliability within that electrical corporations service territory.
(k)(1)Any owner or operator of an electric generation facility that received ratepayer-funded incentives in accordance with Section 379.6 of this code, or with Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code, and participated in a net metering program pursuant to Sections 2827, 2827.9, and 2827.10 of this code prior to January 1, 2010, shall be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section.
(2)In establishing the tariffs or standard contracts pursuant to this section, the commission shall consider ratepayer-funded incentive payments previously received by the generation facility pursuant to Section 379.6 of this code or Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code. The commission shall require reimbursement of any funds received from these incentive programs to an electric generation facility, in order for that facility to be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section, unless the commission determines ratepayers have received sufficient value from the incentives provided to the facility based on how long the project has been in operation and the amount of renewable electricity previously generated by the facility.
(3)A customer that receives service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission pursuant to this section is not eligible to participate in any net metering program.
(l)An owner or operator of an electric generation facility electing to receive service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission shall continue to receive service under the tariff or contract until either of the following occurs:
(1)The owner or operator of an electric generation facility no longer meets the eligibility requirements for receiving service pursuant to the tariff or contract.
(2)The period of service established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (d) is completed.
(m)Within 10 days of receipt of a request for a tariff pursuant to this section from an owner or operator of an electric generation facility, the electrical corporation that receives the request shall post a copy of the request on its Internet Web site. The information posted on the Internet Web site shall include the name of the city in which the facility is located, but information that is proprietary and confidential, including, but not limited to, address information beyond the name of the city in which the facility is located, shall be redacted.
(n)An electrical corporation may deny a tariff request pursuant to this section if the electrical corporation makes any of the following findings:
(1)The electric generation facility does not meet the requirements of this section.
(2)The transmission or distribution grid that would serve as the point of interconnection is inadequate.
(3)The electric generation facility does not meet all applicable state and local laws and building standards and utility interconnection requirements.
(4)The aggregate of all electric generating facilities on a distribution circuit would adversely impact utility operation and load restoration efforts of the distribution system.
(o)Upon receiving a notice of denial from an electrical corporation, the owner or operator of the electric generation facility denied a tariff pursuant to this section shall have the right to appeal that decision to the commission.
(p)In order to ensure the safety and reliability of electric generation facilities, the owner of an electric generation facility receiving a tariff pursuant to this section shall provide an inspection and maintenance report to the electrical corporation at least once every other year. The inspection and maintenance report shall be prepared at the owners or operators expense by a California-licensed contractor who is not the owner or operator of the electric generation facility. A California-licensed electrician shall perform the inspection of the electrical portion of the generation facility.
(q)The contract between the electric generation facility receiving the tariff and the electrical corporation shall contain provisions that ensure that construction of the electric generating facility complies with all applicable state and local laws and building standards, and utility interconnection requirements.
(r)(1)All construction and installation of facilities of the electrical corporation, including at the point of the output meter or at the transmission or distribution grid, shall be performed only by that electrical corporation.
(2)All interconnection facilities installed on the electrical corporations side of the transfer point for electricity between the electrical corporation and the electrical conductors of the electric generation facility shall be owned, operated, and maintained only by the electrical corporation. The ownership, installation, operation, reading, and testing of revenue metering equipment for electric generating facilities shall only be performed by the electrical corporation.
(a)It is the policy of this state and the intent of the Legislature to encourage electrical generation from eligible renewable energy resources.
(b)As used in this section, electric generation facility means an electric generation facility located within the service territory of, and developed to sell electricity to, an electrical corporation that meets all of the following criteria:
(1)Has an effective operating capacity of not more than three megawatts. An electric generation facility with a nameplate generating capacity of up to five megawatts is not made ineligible by this requirement, if it runs at a maximum of three megawatts.
(2)Is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical transmission and distribution grid.
(3)Is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers.
(4)Is an eligible renewable energy resource.
(c)Every electrical corporation shall file with the commission a standard tariff for electricity purchased from an electric generation facility. The commission may modify or adjust the requirements of this section for any electrical corporation with less than 100,000 service connections, as individual circumstances merit.
(d)(1)The tariff shall 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 commission. The payment shall be the market price determined by the commission pursuant to paragraph (2) and shall include all current and anticipated environmental compliance costs, including, but not limited to, mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollution offsets associated with the operation of new generating facilities in the local air pollution control or air quality management district where the electric generation facility is located.
(2)The commission shall establish a methodology to determine the market price of electricity for terms corresponding to the length of contracts with an electric generation facility, in consideration of the following:
(A)The long-term market price of electricity for fixed price contracts, determined pursuant to an electrical corporations general procurement activities as authorized by the commission.
(B)The long-term ownership, operating, and fixed-price fuel costs associated with fixed-price electricity from new generating facilities.
(C)The value of different electricity products including baseload, peaking, and as-available electricity.
(3)The commission may adjust the payment rate to reflect the value of every kilowatthour of electricity generated on a time-of-delivery basis.
(4)The commission shall ensure, with respect to rates and charges, that ratepayers that do not receive service pursuant to the tariff are indifferent to whether a ratepayer with an electric generation facility receives service pursuant to the tariff.
(e)An electrical corporation shall provide expedited interconnection procedures to an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit, if the electrical corporation determines that the electric generation facility will not adversely affect the distribution grid. The commission shall consider and may establish a value for an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit.
(f)(1)An electrical corporation shall make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under this section and Section 387.6. 399.32. The proportionate share shall be calculated based on the ratio of the electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand.
(2)By June 1, 2013, the commission shall, in addition to the 750 megawatts identified in paragraph (1), direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013. The commission shall, for each electrical corporation, allocate shares of the additional 250 megawatts based on the ratio of each electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand. In implementing this paragraph, the commission shall do all of the following:
(A)Allocate the 250 megawatts identified in this paragraph among the electrical corporations based on the following categories:
(i)For biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion, 110 megawatts.
(ii)For dairy and other agricultural bioenergy, 90 megawatts.
(iii)For bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management, 50 megawatts. Allocations under this category shall be determined based on the proportion of bioenergy that sustainable forest management providers derive from sustainable forest management in fire threat treatment areas, as designated by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(B)Direct the electrical corporations to develop standard contract terms and conditions that reflect the operational characteristics of the projects, and to provide a streamlined contracting process.
(C)Coordinate, to the maximum extent feasible, any incentive or subsidy programs for bioenergy with the agencies listed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) in order to provide maximum benefits to ratepayers and to ensure that incentives are used to reduce contract prices.
(D)The commission shall encourage gas and electrical corporations to develop and offer programs and services to facilitate development of in-state biogas for a broad range of purposes.
(E)Direct the electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with a nameplate generating capacity of up to five megawatts to participate in the tariff made available pursuant to this paragraph, if it meets the following conditions:
(i)It delivers no more than three megawatts to the grid in an hour.
(ii)It complies with the electrical corporations Electric Rule 21 tariff or other distribution access tariff.
(iii)Payment is made pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) and no payment is made for any generation in excess of three megawatts in any hour.
(3)(A)The commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, may review the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) to determine if those allocations are appropriate.
(B)If the commission finds that the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) are not appropriate, the commission may reallocate the 250 megawatts among the categories established in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2).
(4)For the purposes of this subdivision, bioenergy means biogas and biomass.
(g)The electrical corporation may make the terms of the tariff available to owners and operators of an electric generation facility in the form of a standard contract subject to commission approval.
(h)Every kilowatthour of electricity purchased from an electric generation facility shall count toward meeting the electrical corporations renewables portfolio standard annual procurement targets for purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 399.15.
(i)The physical generating capacity of an electric generation facility shall count toward the electrical corporations resource adequacy requirement for purposes of Section 380.
(j)(1)The commission shall establish performance standards for any electric generation facility that has a capacity greater than one megawatt to ensure that those facilities are constructed, operated, and maintained to generate the expected annual net production of electricity and do not impact system reliability.
(2)The commission may reduce the three megawatt capacity limitation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) if the commission finds that a reduced capacity limitation is necessary to maintain system reliability within that electrical corporations service territory.
(k)(1)Any owner or operator of an electric generation facility that received ratepayer-funded incentives in accordance with Section 379.6 of this code, or with Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code, and participated in a net metering program pursuant to Sections 2827, 2827.9, and 2827.10 of this code prior to January 1, 2010, shall be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section.
(2)In establishing the tariffs or standard contracts pursuant to this section, the commission shall consider ratepayer-funded incentive payments previously received by the generation facility pursuant to Section 379.6 of this code or Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code. The commission shall require reimbursement of any funds received from these incentive programs to an electric generation facility, in order for that facility to be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section, unless the commission determines ratepayers have received sufficient value from the incentives provided to the facility based on how long the project has been in operation and the amount of renewable electricity previously generated by the facility.
(3)A customer that receives service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission pursuant to this section is not eligible to participate in any net metering program.
(l)An owner or operator of an electric generation facility electing to receive service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission shall continue to receive service under the tariff or contract until either of the following occurs:
(1)The owner or operator of an electric generation facility no longer meets the eligibility requirements for receiving service pursuant to the tariff or contract.
(2)The period of service established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (d) is completed.
(m)Within 10 days of receipt of a request for a tariff pursuant to this section from an owner or operator of an electric generation facility, the electrical corporation that receives the request shall post a copy of the request on its Internet Web site. The information posted on the Internet Web site shall include the name of the city in which the facility is located, but information that is proprietary and confidential, including, but not limited to, address information beyond the name of the city in which the facility is located, shall be redacted.
(n)An electrical corporation may deny a tariff request pursuant to this section if the electrical corporation makes any of the following findings:
(1)The electric generation facility does not meet the requirements of this section.
(2)The transmission or distribution grid that would serve as the point of interconnection is inadequate.
(3)The electric generation facility does not meet all applicable state and local laws and building standards and utility interconnection requirements.
(4)The aggregate of all electric generating facilities on a distribution circuit would adversely impact utility operation and load restoration efforts of the distribution system.
(o)Upon receiving a notice of denial from an electrical corporation, the owner or operator of the electric generation facility denied a tariff pursuant to this section shall have the right to appeal that decision to the commission.
(p)In order to ensure the safety and reliability of electric generation facilities, the owner of an electric generation facility receiving a tariff pursuant to this section shall provide an inspection and maintenance report to the electrical corporation at least once every other year. The inspection and maintenance report shall be prepared at the owners or operators expense by a California-licensed contractor who is not the owner or operator of the electric generation facility. A California-licensed electrician shall perform the inspection of the electrical portion of the generation facility.
(q)The contract between the electric generation facility receiving the tariff and the electrical corporation shall contain provisions that ensure that construction of the electric generating facility complies with all applicable state and local laws and building standards, and utility interconnection requirements.
(r)(1)All construction and installation of facilities of the electrical corporation, including at the point of the output meter or at the transmission or distribution grid, shall be performed only by that electrical corporation.
(2)All interconnection facilities installed on the electrical corporations side of the transfer point for electricity between the electrical corporation and the electrical conductors of the electric generation facility shall be owned, operated, and maintained only by the electrical corporation. The ownership, installation, operation, reading, and testing of revenue metering equipment for electric generating facilities shall only be performed by the electrical corporation.
(a)It is the policy of this state and the intent of the Legislature to encourage electrical generation from eligible renewable energy resources.
(b)As used in this section, electric generation facility means an electric generation facility located within the service territory of, and developed to sell electricity to, an electrical corporation that meets all of the following criteria:
(1)Has an effective operating capacity of not more than three megawatts. An electric generation facility with a nameplate generating capacity of up to five megawatts is not made ineligible by this requirement, if it runs at a maximum of three megawatts.
(2)Is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical transmission and distribution grid.
(3)Is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers.
(4)Is an eligible renewable energy resource.
(c)Every electrical corporation shall file with the commission a standard tariff for electricity purchased from an electric generation facility. The commission may modify or adjust the requirements of this section for any electrical corporation with less than 100,000 service connections, as individual circumstances merit.
(d)(1)The tariff shall 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 commission. The payment shall be the market price determined by the commission pursuant to paragraph (2) and shall include all current and anticipated environmental compliance costs, including, but not limited to, mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollution offsets associated with the operation of new generating facilities in the local air pollution control or air quality management district where the electric generation facility is located.
(2)The commission shall establish a methodology to determine the market price of electricity for terms corresponding to the length of contracts with an electric generation facility, in consideration of the following:
(A)The long-term market price of electricity for fixed price contracts, determined pursuant to an electrical corporations general procurement activities as authorized by the commission.
(B)The long-term ownership, operating, and fixed-price fuel costs associated with fixed-price electricity from new generating facilities.
(C)The value of different electricity products including baseload, peaking, and as-available electricity.
(3)The commission may adjust the payment rate to reflect the value of every kilowatthour of electricity generated on a time-of-delivery basis.
(4)The commission shall ensure, with respect to rates and charges, that ratepayers that do not receive service pursuant to the tariff are indifferent to whether a ratepayer with an electric generation facility receives service pursuant to the tariff.
(e)An electrical corporation shall provide expedited interconnection procedures to an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit, if the electrical corporation determines that the electric generation facility will not adversely affect the distribution grid. The commission shall consider and may establish a value for an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit.
(f)(1)An electrical corporation shall make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under this section and Section 387.6. The proportionate share shall be calculated based on the ratio of the electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand.
(2)By June 1, 2013, the commission shall, in addition to the 750 megawatts identified in paragraph (1), direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013. The commission shall, for each electrical corporation, allocate shares of the additional 250 megawatts based on the ratio of each electrical corporations peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand. In implementing this paragraph, the commission shall do all of the following:
(A)Allocate the 250 megawatts identified in this paragraph among the electrical corporations based on the following categories:
(i)For biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion, 110 megawatts.
(ii)For dairy and other agricultural bioenergy, 90 megawatts.
(iii)For bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management, 50 megawatts. Allocations under this category shall be determined based on the proportion of bioenergy that sustainable forest management providers derive from sustainable forest management in fire threat treatment areas, as designated by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(B)Direct the electrical corporations to develop standard contract terms and conditions that reflect the operational characteristics of the projects, and to provide a streamlined contracting process.
(C)Coordinate, to the maximum extent feasible, any incentive or subsidy programs for bioenergy with the agencies listed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) in order to provide maximum benefits to ratepayers and to ensure that incentives are used to reduce contract prices.
(D)The commission shall encourage gas and electrical corporations to develop and offer programs and services to facilitate development of in-state biogas for a broad range of purposes.
(3)(A)The commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, may review the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) to determine if those allocations are appropriate.
(B)If the commission finds that the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) are not appropriate, the commission may reallocate the 250 megawatts among the categories established in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2).
(4)For the purposes of this subdivision, bioenergy means biogas and biomass.
(g)The electrical corporation may make the terms of the tariff available to owners and operators of an electric generation facility in the form of a standard contract subject to commission approval.
(h)Every kilowatthour of electricity purchased from an electric generation facility shall count toward meeting the electrical corporations renewables portfolio standard annual procurement targets for purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 399.15.
(i)The physical generating capacity of an electric generation facility shall count toward the electrical corporations resource adequacy requirement for purposes of Section 380.
(j)(1)The commission shall establish performance standards for any electric generation facility that has a capacity greater than one megawatt to ensure that those facilities are constructed, operated, and maintained to generate the expected annual net production of electricity and do not impact system reliability.
(2)The commission may reduce the three megawatt capacity limitation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) if the commission finds that a reduced capacity limitation is necessary to maintain system reliability within that electrical corporations service territory.
(k)(1)Any owner or operator of an electric generation facility that received ratepayer-funded incentives in accordance with Section 379.6 of this code, or with Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code, and participated in a net metering program pursuant to Sections 2827, 2827.9, and 2827.10 of this code prior to January 1, 2010, shall be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section.
(2)In establishing the tariffs or standard contracts pursuant to this section, the commission shall consider ratepayer-funded incentive payments previously received by the generation facility pursuant to Section 379.6 of this code or Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code. The commission shall require reimbursement of any funds received from these incentive programs to an electric generation facility, in order for that facility to be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section, unless the commission determines ratepayers have received sufficient value from the incentives provided to the facility based on how long the project has been in operation and the amount of renewable electricity previously generated by the facility.
(3)A customer that receives service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission pursuant to this section is not eligible to participate in any net metering program.
(l)An owner or operator of an electric generation facility electing to receive service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission shall continue to receive service under the tariff or contract until either of the following occurs:
(1)The owner or operator of an electric generation facility no longer meets the eligibility requirements for receiving service pursuant to the tariff or contract.
(2)The period of service established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (d) is completed.
(m)Within 10 days of receipt of a request for a tariff pursuant to this section from an owner or operator of an electric generation facility, the electrical corporation that receives the request shall post a copy of the request on its Internet Web site. The information posted on the Internet Web site shall include the name of the city in which the facility is located, but information that is proprietary and confidential, including, but not limited to, address information beyond the name of the city in which the facility is located, shall be redacted.
(n)An electrical corporation may deny a tariff request pursuant to this section if the electrical corporation makes any of the following findings:
(1)The electric generation facility does not meet the requirements of this section.
(2)The transmission or distribution grid that would serve as the point of interconnection is inadequate.
(3)The electric generation facility does not meet all applicable state and local laws and building standards and utility interconnection requirements.
(4)The aggregate of all electric generating facilities on a distribution circuit would adversely impact utility operation and load restoration efforts of the distribution system.
(o)Upon receiving a notice of denial from an electrical corporation, the owner or operator of the electric generation facility denied a tariff pursuant to this section shall have the right to appeal that decision to the commission.
(p)In order to ensure the safety and reliability of electric generation facilities, the owner of an electric generation facility receiving a tariff pursuant to this section shall provide an inspection and maintenance report to the electrical corporation at least once every other year. The inspection and maintenance report shall be prepared at the owners or operators expense by a California-licensed contractor who is not the owner or operator of the electric generation facility. A California-licensed electrician shall perform the inspection of the electrical portion of the generation facility.
(q)The contract between the electric generation facility receiving the tariff and the electrical corporation shall contain provisions that ensure that construction of the electric generating facility complies with all applicable state and local laws and building standards, and utility interconnection requirements.
(r)(1)All construction and installation of facilities of the electrical corporation, including at the point of the output meter or at the transmission or distribution grid, shall be performed only by that electrical corporation.
(2)All interconnection facilities installed on the electrical corporations side of the transfer point for electricity between the electrical corporation and the electrical conductors of the electric generation facility shall be owned, operated, and maintained only by the electrical corporation. The ownership, installation, operation, reading, and testing of revenue metering equipment for electric generating facilities shall only be performed by the electrical corporation.
|
Date
|
Status
|
|---|---|
| May 5, 2016 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. |
| Sep 7, 2016 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 12 p.m. |
| Aug 29, 2016 | Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 80. Noes 0. Page 6341.). |
| Aug 29, 2016 | Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. |
| Aug 24, 2016 | In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 26 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77. |
| Aug 23, 2016 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 5297.). |
| Aug 23, 2016 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. |
| Aug 22, 2016 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
| Aug 19, 2016 | Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. |
| Aug 2, 2016 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
| Aug 1, 2016 | From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. |
| Jun 21, 2016 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (June 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Jun 8, 2016 | In committee: Hearing postponed by committee. |
| Jun 2, 2016 | From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on E., U., & C. |
| May 12, 2016 | Referred to Com. on E., U., & C. |
| May 5, 2016 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 4684.) |
| Feb 11, 2016 | Read first time. To print. |
| May 5, 2016 | In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. |
| Apr 28, 2016 | Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. |
| Apr 27, 2016 | From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 19. Noes 0.) (April 27). |
| Apr 20, 2016 | In committee: Hearing postponed by committee. |
| Apr 18, 2016 | Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Apr 14, 2016 | From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. Read second time and amended. |
| Apr 13, 2016 | In committee: Hearing postponed by committee. |
| Apr 6, 2016 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
| Apr 6, 2016 | Re-referred to Com. on APPR. pursuant to Joint Rule 10.5. |
| Apr 5, 2016 | Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. |
| Apr 5, 2016 | Read second time and amended. |
| Apr 4, 2016 | From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (March 30). |
| Mar 9, 2016 | In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. |
| Feb 25, 2016 | Referred to Com. on U. & C. |
| Feb 12, 2016 | From printer. May be heard in committee March 13. |
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Date
|
Description
|
Location
|
Votes
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 29, 2016 | AB 1923 WOOD Concurrence in Senate Amendments | Assembly Floor |
Passed |
|
| Aug 23, 2016 | Assembly 3rd Reading AB1923 Wood By Gaines | Senate Floor |
Passed |
|
| Jun 21, 2016 | Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] | Senate Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications |
Passed |
|
| May 5, 2016 | AB 1923 WOOD Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session | Assembly Floor |
Passed |
|
| Apr 27, 2016 | Do pass. To Consent Calendar. | Assembly Standing Committee on Appropriations |
Passed |
|
| Mar 30, 2016 | Do pass as amended. | Assembly Standing Committee on Utilities and Commerce |
Passed |
This list shows positions taken on this bill by organizations on the date displayed, which is linked to the original source.
Positions by individuals are not included.
|
Organization
|
Position
|
Date
|
|---|---|---|
| Association Of California Water Agencies | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Calaveras County Water District | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Calaveras County Water District, if amended | ** Support | Jun 21, 2016 |
| City of Fortuna | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Humboldt County Board of Supervisors | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Humbolt County Board of Supervisors | ** Support | Jun 21, 2016 |
| League of California Cities Redwood Empire Division | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Pacific Gas and Electric | * Indeterminate | Mar 30, 2016 |
| Placer Land Trust | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Several Individual | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Sierra Business Council | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Sierra Foothill Conservancy | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Sierra Institute for Community and Environment | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| The Watershed Research and Training Center | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Truckee Land Trust | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| University of California Berkeley | * Support | Mar 30, 2016 |
| University of California Cooperative Extension Program | * Support | Mar 30, 2016 |
| Utica Water | * Support | Mar 30, 2016 |
| West Biofuels | ** Against | Aug 23, 2016 |
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
CSA1 Bill Id:AB 1923
Author:(Wood)
As Amended Ver:August 19, 2016
Majority vote
ASSEMBLY: | 79-0 | (May 5, 2016) | SENATE: | 39-0 | (August 23, 2016) |
Original Committee Reference: U. & C.
SUMMARY: Increases the maximum capacity of a renewable electric generation facility allowed to enter into a must-take contract with a local electrical corporation, as specified. Specifically, this bill increases the maximum capacity of a renewable electric generation from three megawatts (MWs) to five MWs if the effective capacity is no more than three MWs net of site load.
The Senate amendments are technical in nature and make no substantive changes.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS:
- Author's Statement: "The current 3 MW restriction makes it difficult for small biomass companies in Humboldt County to be competitive in the renewable energy market. 3 MW generators are expensive products and used 3 MW generators are difficult to purchase as opposed to used 5 MW generators. These facilities utilize organic solid waste from sawmilling activities within the surrounding areas to produce usable electricity. Dead and decaying trees in heavy forested areas, such as my district, are left to rot and provide dangerous kindling for the next wildfire, which can be prevented if these woody matters can be taken in as biomass. AB 1923 allows a 5 MW generator to be used it if operates at a maximum of 3 MW."
- Background: Feed-in-tariffs (FITs) are a popular means of rapidly growing the market for renewable energy almost everywhere in the world. A FIT is a contract that provides a guaranteed fixed payment for the energy produced using a standard contract. AB 1969 (Yee), Chapter 731, Statutes of 2006, established California's first FIT program authorizing the purchase of up to 480 MWs of renewable generating capacity from renewable facilities smaller than 1.5 MWs. The AB 1969 FIT program set the price paid to small generators at a price comparable to the price of electricity generated using natural gas plus the value of some environmental attributes.
In 2009, SB 32 (Negrete-McLeod), Chapter 328, allowed FIT contracts for small renewable generation facilities (less than 3 MWs) because the structure of RPS solicitations generally excluded smaller projects, smaller facilities could be located within communities close to where the electricity would be used, and could be connected to the utilities local electric distribution system (rather than the statewide electric transmission system).
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) established SB 32's price for electricity contracts based on three FIT product types: baseload, peaking as-available, and non-peaking as-available. The CPUC also adopted a two-month price adjustment mechanism that may increase or decrease the price for each product type every two months based on the market response, and allows each accepted project to be paid a time-of-delivery adjustment based on the generator's actual energy delivery profile and the individual utility's time-of-delivery factors.
- Interconnection Rule 21: The CPUC requires the investor owned utilities to implement a rule for how generation facilities connect to the electric distribution system to ensure that the electric distribution system can be operated safely and reliably, with no adverse effects to electricity consumers or utility workers. This rule is known as "Rule 21." The maximum size of a generation facility that can interconnect under Rule 21 without triggering additional study for safety and reliability is when the aggregate Generating Facility capacity on the Line Section is less than 15% of Line Section peak load for all line sections bounded by automatic sectionalizing devices.
Distribution lines generally have a capacity of 20 MWs. SB 32 set the maximum size of the generating facility at three MWs, which is 15% of the distribution line capacity and consistent with Rule 21 maximum allowable size without triggering additional study.
This bill specifies that projects subject to the five MWs cap be allocated from the 50 MWs already set aside for biomass projects and:
- The facility delivers no more than three MWs in any hour.
- The facility will follow the relevant utility's Rule 21 tariff or distribution access tariff.
- No payment shall be made to the facility for any generation delivered to the grid in excess of three MWs at any time.
Analysis Prepared by: Sue Kateley / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083 FN: 0004871
Office of Senate Floor Analyses (916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) 327-4478 | AB |
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1923
:
SENATE ENERGY, U. & C. COMMITTEE: 10-0, 6/21/16
AYES: Hueso, Morrell, Cannella, Gaines, Hertzberg, Lara, Leyva, McGuire, Pavley, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hill
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 5/5/16 (Consent) - See last page for vote
SOURCE: Humboldt County Board of Supervisors
DIGEST: This bill increases, from three megawatts (MW) to five MW, the limit on the nameplate capacity of a bioenergy electric generation facility that may participate in the investor-owned utilities’ (IOU) bioenergy feed-in-tariff programs, so long as the generation facility delivers no more than three MW to the grid at any time.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/19/16 clarify that the modification to the 250 MW bioenergy feed-in tariff (FIT) program apply only to that program, and not to the larger 750 MW FIT program; and also make technical amendments to avoid chaptering conflicts.
Existing law:
- Requires all IOUs and publicly owned utilities (POUs) that serve more than 75,000 retail customers to develop a standard contract or tariff (aka feed-in-tariff or FIT) available for renewable energy facilities up to three MW. Statewide participation is capped at 750 MW. (Public Utilities Code §§399.20 and 387.8)
- Requires IOUs to offer FITs for facilities up to three MW, capped at 250 MW statewide and allocated as follows:
- For biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion, 110 MW.
- For dairy and other agricultural bioenergy, 90 MW.
- For bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management, 50 MW. Allocations under this category shall be determined based on the proportion of bioenergy that sustainable forest management providers derive from sustainable forest management in fire threat treatment areas, as designated by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. (Public Utilities Code §399.20)
- Directs the electrical corporations to develop standard contract terms and conditions that reflect the operational characteristics of the projects, and to provide a streamlined contracting process. (Public Utilities Code §399.20)
- Counts renewable energy generation FIT contracts to qualify for credit toward and IOUs Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) goals and resource adequacy requirements. (Public Utilities Code §399.20)
This bill:
- Increases, from three MW to five MW, the limit on the nameplate capacity of a bioenergy electric generation facility that may participate in the IOU’s bioenergy FIT programs.
- Conditions the exception described in 1), as follows:
- The bioenergy electric generation facility delivers no more than three MW to the grid at any time.
- It complies with the IOU’s Electric Rule 21 tariff or other distribution access tariff.
- Payment is made pursuant to FIT program rules and no payment is made for any electricity delivered to the grid in excess of three MW at any time.
- The facility is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers or is interconnected to an existing transmission line.
Background
Feed-in tariffs and California’s bioenergy feed-in tariff, in particular. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a FIT offers a guarantee of payments to renewable energy developers for the electricity they produce. NREL reports that FITs are used in many U.S. states and around the world.
California, too, offers a FIT program. State law requires all IOUs and POUs that serve more than 75,000 retail customers to develop a standard FIT contract available to renewable energy facilities up to three MW. Statewide participation is capped at 750 MW.
In addition, state law requires the IOUs to procure another 250 MW of renewable FIT electricity from small-scale bioenergy projects from each of three categories of bioenergy:
- Biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion – 110 MW.
- Dairy and other agricultural bioenergy – 90 MW.
- Bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management – 50 MW.
This is known as the bioenergy FIT program. While the bioenergy FIT program is new, program participation to date has been anemic: the CPUC reports that, to date, only one bioenergy FIT contract has been signed, it for two MW of power generated from an eligible facility using biogas.
This bill proposes a minor modification to the bioenergy FIT program. Specifically, it increases, from three MW to five MW, the limit on the nameplate capacity of a bioenergy electric generation facility that may participate in the IOU’s bioenergy FIT programs, so long as it delivers no more than three MW to the grid at any time. It is questionable how much this will help the bioenergy FIT program.
Related/Prior Legislation
AB 1979 (Bigelow, 2016) makes an exception to the FIT program three-MW limit on the generating capacity of an eligible electric generation facility to newly allow participation by a conduit hydroelectric facility with a nameplate generating capacity of up to four MW that meets certain conditions. The bill is pending consideration by the full Senate.
SB 1112 (Rubio, Chapter 612, Statutes of 2012) required an additional 250 MW of renewable FIT procurement from small-scale bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013.
SB 32 (Negrete-McLeod, Chapter 328, Statutes of 2009) increased the FIT program limit from 480 MW to 750 MW and increased from 1.5 MW effective capacity to three MW effective capacity the limit on electric generating facilities eligible to participate in the FIT program.
AB 1969 (Yee, Chapter 731, Statutes of 2006) authorized the state’s first FIT program, which authorized the state’s largest IOU’s to purchase up to 480 MW of renewable generating capacity from renewable facilities with an effective capacity of not more than 1.5 MW.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:
Humboldt County Board of Supervisors (source)
Association of California Water Agencies
Calaveras County Water District
City of Fortuna
League of California Cities Redwood Empire Division
NLine Energy, Inc.
Placer Land Trust
Sierra Business Council
Sierra Foothill Conservancy
Sierra Institute for Community and Environment
The Watershed Research and Training Center
Truckee Land Trust
Several Individual
OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/19/16)
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
West Biofuels
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author:
Current regulations make it cost-prohibitive to invest in this renewable energy [biomass energy]. Generators under five MW, in particular three-MW generators, are not common and extremely expensive to purchase. AB 1923 allows electric generation facilities to be eligible for the renewable feed-in tariff if it has a nameplate generating capacity of up to five MWs, if it runs at a maximum of three MW. This will allow small sawmill investors to purchase affordable, used five MW generators and export energy at three MW.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: According to the opponents, this bill is intended to expand the Biomass Market Adjusting Tariff program to allow for more projects to participate and to lower the overall cost of the program, but as written, will not accomplish these goals and will actively hinder the success of the program.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 5/5/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Beth Gaines
8/22/16 22:10:21
**** END ****
Office of Senate Floor Analyses (916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) 327-4478 | AB |
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1923
:
SENATE ENERGY, U. & C. COMMITTEE: 10-0, 6/21/16
AYES: Hueso, Morrell, Cannella, Gaines, Hertzberg, Lara, Leyva, McGuire, Pavley, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hill
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 5/5/16 (Consent) - See last page for vote
SOURCE: Humboldt County Board of Supervisors
DIGEST: This bill increases, from three megawatts (MW) to five MW, the limit on the nameplate capacity of a bioenergy electric generation facility that may participate in the investor-owned utilities’ (IOU) bioenergy feed-in-tariff programs, so long as the generation facility delivers no more than three MW to the grid at any time.
Existing law:
- Requires all IOUs and publicly owned utilities (POUs) that serve more than 75,000 retail customers to develop a standard contract or tariff (aka feed-in-tariff or FIT) available for renewable energy facilities up to three MW. Statewide participation is capped at 750 MW. (Public Utilities Code §§399.20 and 387.8)
- Requires IOUs to offer FITs for facilities up to three MW, capped at 250 MW statewide and allocated as follows:
- For biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion, 110 MW.
- For dairy and other agricultural bioenergy, 90 MW.
- For bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management, 50 MW. Allocations under this category shall be determined based on the proportion of bioenergy that sustainable forest management providers derive from sustainable forest management in fire threat treatment areas, as designated by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. (Public Utilities Code §399.20)
- Directs the electrical corporations to develop standard contract terms and conditions that reflect the operational characteristics of the projects, and to provide a streamlined contracting process. (Public Utilities Code §399.20)
- Counts renewable energy generation FIT contracts to qualify for credit toward and IOUs Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) goals and resource adequacy requirements. (Public Utilities Code §399.20)
This bill:
- Increases, from three MW to five MW, the limit on the nameplate capacity of a bioenergy electric generation facility that may participate in the IOU’s bioenergy FIT programs.
- Conditions the exception described in 1), as follows:
- The bioenergy electric generation facility delivers no more than three MW to the grid at any time.
- It complies with the IOU’s Electric Rule 21 tariff or other distribution access tariff.
- Payment is made pursuant to FIT program rules and no payment is made for any electricity delivered to the grid in excess of three MW at any time.
Background
Feed-in tariffs and California’s bioenergy feed-in tariff, in particular. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a FIT offers a guarantee of payments to renewable energy developers for the electricity they produce. NREL reports that FITs are used in many U.S. states and around the world.
California, too, offers a FIT program. State law requires all IOUs and POUs that serve more than 75,000 retail customers to develop a standard FIT contract available to renewable energy facilities up to three MW. Statewide participation is capped at 750 MW.
In addition, state law requires the IOUs to procure another 250 MW of renewable FIT electricity from small-scale bioenergy projects from each of three categories of bioenergy:
- Biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion – 110 MW.
- Dairy and other agricultural bioenergy – 90 MW.
- Bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management – 50 MW.
This is known as the bioenergy FIT program. While the bioenergy FIT program is new, program participation to date has been anemic: the CPUC reports that, to date, only one bioenergy FIT contract has been signed, it for two MW of power generated from an eligible facility using biogas.
This bill proposes a minor modification to the bioenergy FIT program. Specifically, it increases, from three MW to five MW, the limit on the nameplate capacity of a bioenergy electric generation facility that may participate in the IOU’s bioenergy FIT programs, so long as it delivers no more than three MW to the grid at any time. It is questionable how much this will help the bioenergy FIT program.
Related/Prior Legislation
AB 1979 (Bigelow, 2016) makes an exception to the FIT program three-MW limit on the generating capacity of an eligible electric generation facility to newly allow participation by a conduit hydroelectric facility with a nameplate generating capacity of up to four MW that meets certain conditions.
SB 1112 (Rubio, Chapter 612, Statutes of 2012) required an additional 250 MW of renewable FIT procurement from small-scale bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013.
SB 32 (Negrete-McLeod, Chapter 328, Statutes of 2009) increased the FIT program limit from 480 MW to 750 MW and increased from 1.5 MW effective capacity to three MW effective capacity the limit on electric generating facilities eligible to participate in the FIT program.
AB 1969 (Yee, Chapter 731, Statutes of 2006) authorized the state’s first FIT program, which authorized the state’s largest IOU’s to purchase up to 480 MW of renewable generating capacity from renewable facilities with an effective capacity of not more than 1.5 MW.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:
Humboldt County Board of Supervisors (source)
Association of California Water Agencies
Calaveras County Water District
City of Fortuna
League of California Cities Redwood Empire Division
NLine Energy, Inc.
Placer Land Trust
Sierra Business Council
Sierra Foothill Conservancy
Sierra Institute for Community and Environment
The Watershed Research and Training Center
Truckee Land Trust
Several Individual
OPPOSITION: (Verified 7/28/16)
West Biofuels
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author:
Current regulations make it cost-prohibitive to invest in this renewable energy [biomass energy]. Generators under five MW, in particular three-MW generators, are not common and extremely expensive to purchase. AB 1923 allows electric generation facilities to be eligible for the renewable feed-in tariff if it has a nameplate generating capacity of up to five MWs, if it runs at a maximum of three MW. This will allow small sawmill investors to purchase affordable, used five MW generators and export energy at three MW.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: According to the opponents, this bill is intended to expand the Biomass Market Adjusting Tariff program to allow for more projects to participate and to lower the overall cost of the program, but as written, will not accomplish these goals and will actively hinder the success of the program.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 5/5/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Beth Gaines
8/4/16 14:18:23
**** END ****
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS
Senator Ben Hueso, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1923 Hearing Date: 6/21/2016
Author: | Wood | ||
Version: | 6/2/2016 As Amended | ||
Urgency: | No | Fiscal: | Yes |
Consultant: | Jay Dickenson | ||
SUBJECT: Bioenergy feed-in tariff
DIGEST: This bill increases, from three megawatts (MW) to five MW, the limit on the capacity of a bioenergy electric generation facility that may participate in the investor-owned utilities’ (IOU) bioenergy feed-in-tariff programs.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
- Requires all investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and publicly owned utilities (POUs) that serve more than 75,000 retail customers, to develop a standard contract or tariff (aka feed-in-tariff or FIT) available for renewable energy facilities up to three MW. Statewide participation is capped at 750 MW. (Public Utilities Code §§399.20 and 387.8)
- Requires IOUs to offer FITs for facilities up to three MW, capped at 250 MW statewide and allocated as follows:
- For biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion, 110 MW.
- For dairy and other agricultural bioenergy, 90 MW.
- For bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management, 50 MW. Allocations under this category shall be determined based on the proportion of bioenergy that sustainable forest management providers derive from sustainable forest management in fire threat treatment areas, as designated by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. (Public Utilities Code §399.20)
- Directs the electrical corporations to develop standard contract terms and conditions that reflect the operational characteristics of the projects, and to provide a streamlined contracting process. (Public Utilities Code §399.20)
- Counts renewable energy generation FIT contracts to qualify for credit toward and IOUs Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) goals and resource adequacy requirements. (Public Utilities Code §399.20)
This bill:
- Increases, from three MW to five MW, the limit on the nameplate capacity of a bioenergy electric generation facility that may participate in the IOU’s bioenergy FIT programs.
- Conditions the exception described in 1), as follows:
- The bioenergy electric generation facility delivers no more than three MW to the grid at any time.
- It complies with the IOU’s Electric Rule 21 tariff or other distribution access tariff.
- Payment is made pursuant to FIT program rules and no payment is made for any electricity delivered to the grid in excess of three MW at any time.
Background
Feed-in tariffs and California’s bioenergy feed-in tariff, in particular. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a FIT offers a guarantee of payments to renewable energy developers for the electricity they produce. NREL reports that FITs are used in many U.S. states and around the world.[1]
California, too, offers a FIT program to renewable resources. In 2006, legislation[2] authorized the state’s first FIT program, which authorized the state’s largest IOU’s to purchase up to 480 MW of renewable generating capacity from renewable facilities with an “effective capacity” of not more than 1.5 MW. The FIT program set the price paid to small generators, on a first-come, first-served basis, at a price comparable to the price of electricity generated using natural gas plus the value of some environmental attributes.
Legislation expanded the state’s FIT program in 2009.[3] First, the program limit was increased from 480 MW to 750 MW. Second, the cap on the size of an electric generation facility eligible to participate in the FIT program was increased from 1.5 MW effective capacity to three MW effective capacity. This bill notes that the Legislature finds and declares that small projects of less than three MW that are otherwise eligible renewable energy resources may face difficulties in participating in competitive solicitations under the RPS program.
Bioenergy FIT. Subsequent legislation[4] further modified the FIT program to require an additional 250 MW of renewable FIT procurement from small-scale bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013. The modified program, known as the bioenergy FIT program, requires the IOUs to each procure set amounts, in MW, of generation from each of three categories of bioenergy:
- Biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion – 110 MW.
- Dairy and other agricultural bioenergy – 90 MW.
- Bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management – 50 MW.
The bioenergy FIT program has just begun. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved the IOU’s program tariffs and other rules in September of 2015.[5] Nonetheless, program participation to date has been anemic: the CPUC reports that, to date, only one bioenergy FIT contract has been signed, it for two MW of power generated from an eligible facility using biogas.
Is this really a fix? This bill proposes a minor modification to the bioenergy FIT program. Specifically, it increases, from three MW to five MW, the limit on the nameplate capacity of a bioenergy electric generation facility that may participate in the IOU’s bioenergy FIT programs, so long as it delivers no more than three MW to the grid at any time. It is questionable how much this will help the bioenergy FIT program. Bill proponents contend that biomass generators with a nameplate capacity of less than five MW are uncommon and expensive to purchase. That may be case; while bill proponents have not substantiated their assertions, the thus-far very low level of program participation does not contradict their claim. And this bill’s proposed statutory change seems harmless enough. Still, it is doubtful there are many bioenergy generating facilities with a nameplate generating capacity of not more than five MW that will never export more than three MW of energy to the grid. And, according to the CPUC, there are few practical ways to ensure a facility does not export electricity to the grid above an arbitrary, below-nameplate amount, and certainly no ways to do so that are not costly. Of course, any such cost would add to a project’s overall costs, thereby counteracting the intent of bill.
It may be that the bioenergy FIT program needs more of a fix than the one offered by this bill.
Effective capacity versus nameplate capacity. As described above, existing statute limits participation in the FIT program to electric generation facilities with and “effective capacity” of three MW. This bill conditionally expands the bioenergy FIT program limit from three MW “effective capacity” to five MW “nameplate capacity.” So, what’s the difference between effective capacity and nameplate capacity? The practical answer: there is none. The CPUC determined, in Decision 12-05-035, that the three-MW limitation corresponds to the nameplate capacity of the facility, meaning the capacity stamped on the metal nameplate attached to the generation facility by the manufacturer.
Prior/Related Legislation
AB 1969 (Yee, Chapter 731, Statutes of 2006) authorized the state’s first FIT program, which authorized the state’s largest IOU’s to purchase up to 480 MW of renewable generating capacity from renewable facilities with an effective capacity of not more than 1.5 MW.
SB 32 (Negrete-McLeod, Chapter 328, Statutes of 2009) increased the FIT program limit from 480 MW to 750 MW and increased from 1.5 MW effective capacity to three MW effective capacity the limit on electric generating facilities eligible to participate in the FIT program.
SB 1112 (Rubio, Chapter 612, Statutes of 2012) required an additional 250 MW of renewable FIT procurement from small-scale bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013.
AB 1979 (Bigelow, 2016) would make an exception to the FIT program three-MW limit on the generating capacity of an eligible electric generation facility to newly allow participation by a conduit hydroelectric facility with a nameplate generating capacity of up to four MW that meets certain conditions. The bill is pending consideration by this committee.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No
SUPPORT:
Humbolt County Board of Supervisors (Source)
Association of California Water Agencies
Calaveras County Water District, if amended
City of Fortuna
League of California Cities Redwood Empire Division
NLine Energy, Inc.
Sierra Institute for Community and Environment
The Watershed Research and Training Center
Several Individual
OPPOSITION:
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (prior version)
West Biofuels
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author:
Current regulations make it cost-prohibitive to invest in this renewable energy [biomass energy]. Generators under five MW, in particular three-MW generators, are not common and extremely expensive to purchase. AB 1923 allows electric generation facilities to be eligible for the renewable feed-in tariff if it has a nameplate generating capacity of up to five MWs, if it runs at a maximum of three MW. This will allow small sawmill investors to purchase affordable, used five MW generators and export energy at three MW.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: According to the opponents, this bill is intended to expand the Biomass Market Adjusting Tariff program to allow for more projects to participate and to lower the overall cost of the program, but as written, will not accomplish these goals and will actively hinder the success of the program.
-- END --
Date of Hearing: April 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1923
Author:(Wood) – As Amended Ver:April 14, 2016
Policy Committee: | Utilities and Commerce | Vote: | 15 - 0 |
|
|
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to direct electrical corporations to authorize a bioenergy electric generation facility with a nameplate (total possible output) generating capacity of up to 5 MW to participate in the bioenergy feed-in tariff, if the facility delivers no more than 3 MW to the grid at any time and complies with specified interconnection and payment requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT:
One-time, short-term increased PUC workload absorbable within existing resources. However, this increased workload may potentially delay implementation of other RPS programs and policies.
COMMENTS:
- Purpose. According to the author, the current 3 MW restriction makes it difficult for small biomass companies in Humboldt County to compete in the renewable energy market. New 3MW generators are expensive products and used 3 MW generators are difficult to purchase as opposed to used 5 MW generators. This bill allows a 5 MW generator to be used if it operates at a maximum of 3 MW.
- Background. A Feed-in Tariff (FIT) is a contract that provides a guaranteed fixed payment for the energy produced. All investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and publicly owned utilities (POUs) that serve more than 75,000 retail customers are required to develop a standard contract or tariff available for renewable energy facilities up to 3 MWs capped at 250 MWs statewide allocated as follows:
- 110 MWs for biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion;
- 90 MWs for dairy and other agricultural bioenergy; and
- 50 MWs for bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management (biomass)
This bill limits the 5MW capacity to projects from the 50MW set-aside for biomass.
Analysis Prepared by: Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
Date of Hearing: March 30, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE
Mike Gatto, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1923 (
Author:Wood) – As Introduced Ver:February 11, 2016
SUBJECT: Renewable feed-in tariff
SUMMARY: Increases the maximum capacity of a renewable electric generation facility allowed to enter into a must-take contract with a local electrical corporation, as specified. Specifically, this bill increases the maximum capacity of a renewable electric generation from 3 megawatts (MWs) to 5 MWs if the effective capacity is no more than 3 MWs net of site load.
EXISTING LAW:
- Requires all investor owned utilities (IOUs) and publicly owned utilities (POUs) that serve more than 75,000 retail customers, to develop a standard contract or tariff (aka feed-in-tariff or FIT) available for renewable energy facilities up to 3 MWs. Statewide participation is capped at 750 MWs. (Public Utilities Code Sections 399.20 and 387.8)
- Requires IOUs to offer FITs for facilities up to 3 MWs, capped at 250 MWs statewide and allocated as follows:
- For biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion, 110 megawatts.
- For dairy and other agricultural bioenergy, 90 megawatts.
- For bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management, 50 megawatts. Allocations under this category shall be determined based on the proportion of bioenergy that sustainable forest management providers derive from sustainable forest management in fire threat treatment areas, as designated by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. (Public Utilities Code Section 399.20)
- Directs the electrical corporations to develop standard contract terms and conditions that reflect the operational characteristics of the projects, and to provide a streamlined contracting process. (Public Utilities Code Section 399.20)
- Counts renewable energy generation FIT contracts to qualify for credit toward and IOUs Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) goals and resource adequacy requirements. (Public Utilities Code Section 399.20)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
- Author's Statement: "The current 3 MW restriction makes it difficult for small biomass companies in Humboldt County to be competitive in the renewable energy market. 3 MW generators are expensive products and used 3 MW generators are difficult to purchase as opposed to used 5 MW generators. These facilities utilize organic solid waste from sawmilling activities within the surrounding areas to produce usable electricity. Dead and decaying trees in heavy forested areas, such as my district, are left to rot and provide dangerous kindling for the next wildfire, which can be prevented if these woody matters can be taken in as biomass. AB 1923 allows a 5 MW generator to be used it if operates at a maximum of 3 MW.
"In the Governor's Emergency Proclamation on October 10, 2015, the Governor encourages woody biomass-energy technology development and directs agencies to work together on removing wood waste to be processed into biomass energy. AB 1923 furthers the Governor's goal by allowing biomass investors to operate their used, affordable 5 MW nameplate generator, while still adhering to the 3 MW cap, to remove dead and decaying trees from our forests."
- Background: FITs are a popular means of rapidly growing the market for renewable energy almost everywhere in the world. A FIT is a contract that provides a guaranteed fixed payment for the energy produced using a standard contract. AB 1969 (Yee), Chapter 731, Statutes of 2006, established California's first FIT program authorizing the purchase of up to 480 MWs of renewable generating capacity from renewable facilities smaller than 1.5 MWs. The AB 1969 FIT program set the price paid to small generators at a price comparable to the price of electricity generated using natural gas plus the value of some environmental attributes.
In 2009, SB 32 (Negrete-McLeod), Chapter 328, allowed FIT contracts for small renewable generation facilities (less than 3 MWs) because the structure of RPS solicitations generally excluded smaller projects, smaller facilities could be located within communities close to where the electricity would be used, and could be connected to the utilities local electric distribution system (rather than the statewide electric transmission system).
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) established SB 32's price for electricity contracts based on three FIT product types: baseload, peaking as-available, and non-peaking as-available. The CPUC also adopted a two-month price adjustment mechanism that may increase or decrease the price for each product type every two months based on the market response, and allows each accepted project to be paid a time-of-delivery adjustment based on the generator's actual energy delivery profile and the individual utility's time-of-delivery factors.
- Interconnection Rule 21: The CPUC requires the IOUs to implement a rule for how generation facilities connect to the electric distribution system to ensure that the electric distribution system can be operated safely and reliably, with no adverse effects to electricity consumers or utility workers. This rule is known as "Rule 21." The maximum size of a generation facility that can interconnect under Rule 21 without triggering additional study for safety and reliability is when the aggregate Generating Facility capacity on the Line Section is less than 15% of Line Section peak load for all line sections bounded by automatic sectionalizing devices.
Distribution lines generally have a capacity of 20 MWs. SB 32 set the maximum size of the generating facility at 3 MWs, which is 15% of the distribution line capacity and consistent with Rule 21 maximum allowable size without triggering additional study.
The author may wish to consider amendments that limit the applicability of this provision to specify that projects subject to the 5 MWs cap be allocated from the 50 MWs already set aside for biomass projects and:
- The facility delivers no more than three megawatts in any hour.
- The facility will follow the relevant utility’s Rule 21 tariff or distribution access tariff.
- No payment shall be made to the facility for any generation in excess of three megawatts in any hour.
- Support and Opposition: Supporters state that biomass is a carbon-neutral resource that can be used to generate electricity with the potential to offset fossil fuel use and aid in removing diseased or pest-infested trees that would otherwise be burned in piles or incorporated into solid waste streams.
- Suggested amendments:
SECTION 1.
Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
399.20. (a) It is the policy of this state and the intent of the Legislature to encourage electrical generation from eligible renewable energy resources.
(b) As used in this section, “electric generation facility” means an electric generation facility located within the service territory of, and developed to sell electricity to, an electrical corporation that meets all of the following criteria:
(1) Has an effective operating capacity of not more than three megawatts. An electric generation facility with a nameplate generating capacity of up to five megawatts is not made ineligible by this requirement, if it runs at a maximum of three megawatts.
(2) Is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical transmission and distribution grid.
(3) Is strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers.
(4) Is an eligible renewable energy resource.
(c) Every electrical corporation shall file with the commission a standard tariff for electricity purchased from an electric generation facility. The commission may modify or adjust the requirements of this section for any electrical corporation with less than 100,000 service connections, as individual circumstances merit.
(d) (1) The tariff shall 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 commission. The payment shall be the market price determined by the commission pursuant to paragraph (2) and shall include all current and anticipated environmental compliance costs, including, but not limited to, mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollution offsets associated with the operation of new generating facilities in the local air pollution control or air quality management district where the electric generation facility is located.
(2) The commission shall establish a methodology to determine the market price of electricity for terms corresponding to the length of contracts with an electric generation facility, in consideration of the following:
(A) The long-term market price of electricity for fixed price contracts, determined pursuant to an electrical corporation’s general procurement activities as authorized by the commission.
(B) The long-term ownership, operating, and fixed-price fuel costs associated with fixed-price electricity from new generating facilities.
(C) The value of different electricity products including baseload, peaking, and as-available electricity.
(3) The commission may adjust the payment rate to reflect the value of every kilowatthour of electricity generated on a time-of-delivery basis.
(4) The commission shall ensure, with respect to rates and charges, that ratepayers that do not receive service pursuant to the tariff are indifferent to whether a ratepayer with an electric generation facility receives service pursuant to the tariff.
(e) An electrical corporation shall provide expedited interconnection procedures to an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit, if the electrical corporation determines that the electric generation facility will not adversely affect the distribution grid. The commission shall consider and may establish a value for an electric generation facility located on a distribution circuit that generates electricity at a time and in a manner so as to offset the peak demand on the distribution circuit.
(f) (1) An electrical corporation shall make the tariff available to the owner or operator of an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of a statewide cap of 750 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity served under this section and Section 387.6. The proportionate share shall be calculated based on the ratio of the electrical corporation’s peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand.
(2) By June 1, 2013, the commission shall, in addition to the 750 megawatts identified in paragraph (1), direct the electrical corporations to collectively procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013. The commission shall, for each electrical corporation, allocate shares of the additional 250 megawatts based on the ratio of each electrical corporation’s peak demand compared to the total statewide peak demand. In implementing this paragraph, the commission shall do all of the following:
(A) Allocate the 250 megawatts identified in this paragraph among the electrical corporations based on the following categories:
(i) For biogas from wastewater treatment, municipal organic waste diversion, food processing, and codigestion, 110 megawatts.
(ii) For dairy and other agricultural bioenergy, 90 megawatts.
(iii) For bioenergy using byproducts of sustainable forest management, 50 megawatts. Allocations under this category shall be determined based on the proportion of bioenergy that sustainable forest management providers derive from sustainable forest management in fire threat treatment areas, as designated by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(B) Direct the electrical corporations to develop standard contract terms and conditions that reflect the operational characteristics of the projects, and to provide a streamlined contracting process.
(C) Coordinate, to the maximum extent feasible, any incentive or subsidy programs for bioenergy with the agencies listed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) in order to provide maximum benefits to ratepayers and to ensure that incentives are used to reduce contract prices.
(D) The commission shall encourage gas and electrical corporations to develop and offer programs and services to facilitate development of in-state biogas for a broad range of purposes.
(E) A bioenergy electric generation facility with a nameplate generating capacity of up to five megawatts can participate in this category subject to the following conditions:
(i) The facility delivers no more than three megawatts in any hour.
(ii)The facility will follow the relevant utility’s Rule 21 tariff or distribution access tariff.
(iii) Payment to the facility is pursuant to 399.20(d)(1) and no payment shall be made to the facility for any generation in excess of three megawatts in any hour.
(iv) The electrical generation facility qualifies as a bioenergy facility as defined herein.
(3) (A) The commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, may review the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) to determine if those allocations are appropriate.
(B) If the commission finds that the allocations of the 250 additional megawatts identified in paragraph (2) are not appropriate, the commission may reallocate the 250 megawatts among the categories established in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2).
(4) For the purposes of this subdivision, “bioenergy” means biogas and biomass.
(g) The electrical corporation may make the terms of the tariff available to owners and operators of an electric generation facility in the form of a standard contract subject to commission approval.
(h) Every kilowatthour of electricity purchased from an electric generation facility shall count toward meeting the electrical corporation’s renewables portfolio standard annual procurement targets for purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 399.15.
(i) The physical generating capacity of an electric generation facility shall count toward the electrical corporation’s resource adequacy requirement for purposes of Section 380.
(j) (1) The commission shall establish performance standards for any electric generation facility that has a capacity greater than one megawatt to ensure that those facilities are constructed, operated, and maintained to generate the expected annual net production of electricity and do not impact system reliability.
(2) The commission may reduce the three megawatt capacity limitation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) if the commission finds that a reduced capacity limitation is necessary to maintain system reliability within that electrical corporation’s service territory.
(k) (1) Any owner or operator of an electric generation facility that received ratepayer-funded incentives in accordance with Section 379.6 of this code, or with Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code, and participated in a net metering program pursuant to Sections 2827, 2827.9, and 2827.10 of this code prior to January 1, 2010, shall be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section.
(2) In establishing the tariffs or standard contracts pursuant to this section, the commission shall consider ratepayer-funded incentive payments previously received by the generation facility pursuant to Section 379.6 of this code or Section 25782 of the Public Resources Code. The commission shall require reimbursement of any funds received from these incentive programs to an electric generation facility, in order for that facility to be eligible for a tariff or standard contract filed by an electrical corporation pursuant to this section, unless the commission determines ratepayers have received sufficient value from the incentives provided to the facility based on how long the project has been in operation and the amount of renewable electricity previously generated by the facility.
(3) A customer that receives service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission pursuant to this section is not eligible to participate in any net metering program.
(l) An owner or operator of an electric generation facility electing to receive service under a tariff or contract approved by the commission shall continue to receive service under the tariff or contract until either of the following occurs:
(1) The owner or operator of an electric generation facility no longer meets the eligibility requirements for receiving service pursuant to the tariff or contract.
(2) The period of service established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (d) is completed.
(m) Within 10 days of receipt of a request for a tariff pursuant to this section from an owner or operator of an electric generation facility, the electrical corporation that receives the request shall post a copy of the request on its Internet Web site. The information posted on the Internet Web site shall include the name of the city in which the facility is located, but information that is proprietary and confidential, including, but not limited to, address information beyond the name of the city in which the facility is located, shall be redacted.
(n) An electrical corporation may deny a tariff request pursuant to this section if the electrical corporation makes any of the following findings:
(1) The electric generation facility does not meet the requirements of this section.
(2) The transmission or distribution grid that would serve as the point of interconnection is inadequate.
(3) The electric generation facility does not meet all applicable state and local laws and building standards and utility interconnection requirements.
(4) The aggregate of all electric generating facilities on a distribution circuit would adversely impact utility operation and load restoration efforts of the distribution system.
(o) Upon receiving a notice of denial from an electrical corporation, the owner or operator of the electric generation facility denied a tariff pursuant to this section shall have the right to appeal that decision to the commission.
(p) In order to ensure the safety and reliability of electric generation facilities, the owner of an electric generation facility receiving a tariff pursuant to this section shall provide an inspection and maintenance report to the electrical corporation at least once every other year. The inspection and maintenance report shall be prepared at the owner’s or operator’s expense by a California-licensed contractor who is not the owner or operator of the electric generation facility. A California-licensed electrician shall perform the inspection of the electrical portion of the generation facility.
(q) The contract between the electric generation facility receiving the tariff and the electrical corporation shall contain provisions that ensure that construction of the electric generating facility complies with all applicable state and local laws and building standards, and utility interconnection requirements.
(r) (1) All construction and installation of facilities of the electrical corporation, including at the point of the output meter or at the transmission or distribution grid, shall be performed only by that electrical corporation.
(2) All interconnection facilities installed on the electrical corporation’s side of the transfer point for electricity between the electrical corporation and the electrical conductors of the electric generation facility shall be owned, operated, and maintained only by the electrical corporation. The ownership, installation, operation, reading, and testing of revenue metering equipment for electric generating facilities shall only be performed by the electrical corporation.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Fortuna, City of
Humboldt, County of
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by: Sue Kateley / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083
Discussed in Hearing
1MIN
Assembly Floor
1MIN
Senate Floor
3MIN
Senate Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications
13MIN
Assembly Standing Committee on Utilities and Commerce
Bill Author
Bill Co-Author(s):