The Assembly Appropriations Committee July 16 amended, kept alive, but also slowed down three energy bills by holding them. SB 1012--It allows combined heat and power systems (cogeneration) to qualify for the California Public Utilities Commission’s self-generation subsidy program--but they have to meet a greenhouse gas standard developed by the California Energy Commission. The bill by Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) aims to allow expanded use of efficient combined heat and power units to meet peak demand and curb emissions. It’s been expanded to extend the California Public Utilities Commission’s self generation incentive program sunset date to 2013. It also now includes some fuel cell projects. SB 1714--Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Chino) seeks to increase the size of renewable systems eligible for feed-in tariffs from 1.5 MW to 4 MW partly to promote large-scale solar projects in her sunny district. It codifies the renewable feed-in tariff approved by the California Public Utilities Commission earlier this year, but requires all private and public utilities in the state to adopt similar feed-in tariffs. It also allows the tariff to exceed the renewable benchmark price set by the CPUC. Now, the bill bans customers who already qualify for other subsidies, like self-generation. SB 1754--Kehoe’s bill allows the state to decrease the cost of building on-site renewable power projects via the use of prepaid bonds. The 1980s-era California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority is expected to be used to enter into alternative power purchase agreements with public and private entities.
