California Assembly Bill AB2700 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 2700INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Salas FEBRUARY 19, 2016 An act to amend Section 454.51 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2700, as introduced, Salas. Electrical corporation: procurement plans. Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to review and accept, modify, or reject a procurement plan for each electrical corporation in accordance with specified elements, incentive mechanisms, and objectives. The act requires the commission to (1) identify a diverse and balanced portfolio of resources needed to ensure a reliable electricity supply that provides optimal integration of renewable energy resources in a cost-effective manner, (2) direct each electrical corporation to include, as part of its proposed procurement plan, a strategy for procuring best-fit and least-cost resources to satisfy the portfolio needs identified by the commission, (3) ensure that the net costs of any incremental renewable energy integration resources procured by an electrical corporation to satisfy the need identified by the commission are allocated on a fully nonbypassable basis, and (4) permit community choice aggregators to submit proposals for satisfying their portion of the renewable energy resource integration needs identified by the commission. This bill would make nonsubstantive revisions to the above-described requirements of the commission relative to integration of renewable energy resources to ensure a reliable electricity supply through the procurement plan process. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 454.51 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read: 454.51. The commission shall do all of the following: (a) Identify a diverse and balanced portfolio of resources needed to ensure a reliable electricity supply that provides optimal integration of renewable energy  resources  in a cost-effective manner. The portfolio shall rely upon zero carbon-emitting resources to the maximum extent reasonable and be designed to achieve any statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit established pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code) or any successor legislation. (b) Direct each electrical corporation to include, as part of its proposed procurement plan, a strategy for procuring best-fit and least-cost resources to satisfy the portfolio needs identified by the commission pursuant to subdivision (a). (c) Ensure that the net costs of any incremental renewable energy integration resources procured by an electrical corporation to satisfy the need identified in subdivision (a) are allocated on a fully nonbypassable basis consistent with the treatment of costs identified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 365.1. (d) Permit community choice aggregators to submit proposals for satisfying their portion of the renewable  energy resource  integration need identified in subdivision (a). If the commission finds this need is best met through long-term procurement commitments for resources, community choice aggregators shall also be required to make long-term commitments for resources. The commission shall approve proposals pursuant to this subdivision if it finds all of the following: (1) The resources proposed by a community choice aggregator will provide equivalent integration of renewable  energy.   energy resources.  (2) The resources proposed by a community choice aggregator will promote the efficient achievement of state energy policy objectives, including reductions in  emissions of  greenhouse  gas emissions.   gases.  (3) Bundled customers of an electrical corporation will be indifferent from the approval of the community choice aggregator proposals. (4) All costs resulting from nonperformance will be borne by the electrical corporation or community choice aggregator responsible for them.