Bills Bolster Private Utilities’ Bottom Line & Building Emission Cuts

In a last-minute rewrite with minimal transparency, lawmakers passed a bill shielding Pacific Gas & Electric shareholders from massive wildfire liability but lacked similar gusto to pass legislation allowing for a regionalization of California’s electric grid.

The grid regionalization bill, the two-year AB 813, remained stuck in the Rules Committee throughout the final two weeks of August.

The measure by Assembly Energy & Utilities Committee Chair Chris Holden (D-Pasadena) was opposed by consumer advocates, and utility employee unions, with environmental groups split. Opponents objected to California losing say over its power resources and becoming dominated by a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission with a Trump-appointed majority. They also were concerned about unknowns if California were to break from a western grid once it was in place.

The private utilities did not take a public stance, remaining focused on reducing their wildfire liability.

Also failing to pass was AB 893 by Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella). It would have required utilities to procure 3,000 MW of geothermal energy from existing and new projects. Much of the power was expected to come from plants in the geothermal rich Salton Sea area in impoverished Imperial County.

Although the meatiest energy measures passed were Senate bills, a couple of notable Assembly measures are now with the governor.

They include legislation helping utilities track and recover wildfire costs and another bill to require that all new homes be 100 percent electric.

AB 2346 by Assemblyember Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) requires the California Public Utilities Commission to authorize the private utilities to create memorandum accounts to track unreimbursed expenses related to wildfires occurring after Jan. 1, 2015. It specifies the costs that can be tracked in those accounts. Some of those costs are unknown, including those from last year’s two largest wildfires in PG&E territory.

The Aug. 30 bill analysis by the Assembly Utilities & Energy Committee warns, “Although the bill appears to be a simple accounting exercise, the results of this measure tie the hands of the CPUC, reduce public comment on the necessity of these mechanisms, and increase the likelihood of an investor-owned utility double-counting or recovering the same costs in multiple proceedings at a later date.”

AB 3232 by Assemblymember Laura Freidman (D-Burbank) requires the California Energy Commission to develop a plan aimed at ensuring all new homes and non-residential buildings be net zero energy to help the building sector cut its greenhouse gases 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. That includes evaluating swapping out natural gas fueled appliances and heating. Electrification of new buildings is estimated to cut in half the building stock's greenhouse gases by 2030.

Also approved was AB 1879 by Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles). It was in reaction to state energy regulators’ attempt to halt new hookups for natural gas lines in Southern California in response to crimped supplies following injection restrictions at the Aliso Canyon gas storage field. Southern California builders and businesses protested the CPUC’s threat of a hookup moratorium.

Other Assembly energy bills that passed both chambers include: AB 2068 by Assemblymember David Chu (D-San Francisco). It requires the private utilities to develop and submit to the CPUC reports on the feasibility and costs of establishing a discounted electric and gas rate for public schools. The CPUC is mandated to compile the utility reports and submit them to the Legislature by Jan. 1, 2020. AB 2127 by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) requires the Energy Commission to assess the amount of electric vehicle infrastructure needed to support at least five million zero-emission vehicles by 2030. AB 2145 by Assemblymember Eloise Gomez Reyes (D-San Bernardino) was largely gutted in the Senate. The approved version makes minor changes to the Air Resoruces Board's Clean Truck, Bus, & Off-Road Vehicle Program funded by the Energy Commission’s Alternative & Renewable Fuel & Vehicle Technology Program. AB 2831 by Assemblymember Monique Limon (D-Santa Barbara) seeks to increase the number of small businesses participating in ratepayer-funded demand management programs, including tapping into subsidies. The measure requires the CPUC to consult with the Office of the Small Business Advocate on strategies for promoting demand management marketing and outreach directed at small enterprises. AB 3187 by Assemblymember Timothy Grayson (D-Concord) requires the CPUC to launch a proceeding by mid-2019 that weighs options for promoting in-state production and distribution of biomethane. Bills that did not make it to the legislative finish line include: AB 1967, which would have required a state agency to develop a cost-benefit analysis when submitting requests to build or retrofit a state-owned building as zero net energy; AB 2077, which would have required Southern California Edison to work with cities in Santa Barbara County that seek to have a 100 percent renewable energy portfolio; AB 2208, which would have carved out a requirement for investing in geothermal, biomass or biogas resources when meeting higher renewable portfolio standard levels; AB 2278, which would have restricted utilities from charging local governments with small renewable generation facilities that use the power off site higher time of use rates; AB 2431, which would have allowed public schools to become bona fide intervenors in CPUC proceedings, and when providing “substantial” input to reap intervenor compensation; AB 2569, which would have allowed ratepayers who live in regions with hot summer climates to pay lower rates; AB 2604, which would have prohibited any utility employee from serving as a commissioner within 2 years after leaving the company; AB 2693, which would have mandated that the CPUC collect specific information from telecommunication companies regarding recommencing service after a wildfire or other declared natural disaster; AB 2787, which would have required the private utilities to buy up to 2,000 MW of energy storage that can discharge over eight hours; and AB 3001, which sought to increase the electrification of buildings in order to reduce greenhouse gases. — Elizabeth McCarthy

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Bills Bolster Private Utilities’ Bottom Line & Building Emission Cuts

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