AB 920: Electricity: procurement plans: integrated resource plans.

Session Year: 2017-2018
House: Assembly

Version:

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities, as defined, are under the direction of their governing boards. The Public Utilities Act requires the commission PUC to review and accept, modify, or reject a procurement plan for each electrical corporation and requires the procurement plan to include specified elements, among them a showing that it will achieve certain objectives. Existing law requires the commission PUC to identify a diverse and balanced portfolio of resources needed to ensure a reliable electricity supply that provides optimal integration of renewable energy in a cost-effective manner, and specifies the respective roles of electrical corporations and community choice aggregators in satisfying the portfolio needs for renewable integration.

This bill would specify that a diverse and balanced portfolio of resources includes an appropriate mix of renewable capacity, including peaking, dispatchable, baseload, firm, and as-available capacity. The bill would additionally require the commission PUC to assess the need for, and benefits of, existing and future renewable baseload generation, and determine whether a procurement requirement for renewable baseload generation is necessary to meet the portfolio needs for renewable integration.

Existing law requires the commission PUC to adopt a process for each load-serving entity, defined as including electrical corporations, electric service providers, and community choice aggregators, to file an integrated resource plan and a schedule for periodic updates to the plan to ensure that load-serving entities accomplish specified objectives. Existing law requires each load-serving entity to prepare and file an integrated resource plan consistent with those objectives on a time schedule directed by the commission PUC and subject to commission PUC review.

This bill would require that an integrated resource plan ensure that the load-serving entity procures a balanced resource portfolio with an appropriate mix of renewable capacity, including peaking, dispatchable, baseload, firm, and as-available capacity.

Existing law requires that the governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility with an annual electrical demand exceeding 700 gigawatthours adopt an integrated resource plan and a process for updating the plan at least once every 5 years to ensure the utility achieves specified objectives. Existing law requires that the integrated resource plan and any updates be filed with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), requires the Energy Commission to review the plans and plan updates, and, if the Energy Commission determines a plan or plan update is deficient, to provide recommendations to correct the deficiencies.

This bill would require the governing board, when reviewing the local publicly owned electric utilitys integrated resource plan, to evaluate the mix of resources in the utilitys total resource and renewable resource portfolios to ensure balanced portfolios with an appropriate mix of renewable capacity, including peaking, dispatchable, baseload, firm, and as-available capacity. The bill would require the governing board to assess the need for, and benefits of, existing and new renewable baseload generation and consider whether to procure renewable baseload generation for the utility. By placing additional requirements upon local publicly owned electric utilities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Discussed in Hearing