Two bills aiming to ease solar installations passed out of the Assembly Utilities & Commerce Committee June 16. A bill that may be legally tricky, one that affects natural gas storage, also passed. Authored by Senator Pat Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa), SB 1460 requires the California Public Utilities Commission to create a “strategy” (amended from a “program”) for tenants of multi-unit buildings to be able to participate in solar installations. Currently, building owners have little or no financial incentive to install solar systems. Another solar bill cleans up old legislation. SB 1399, by Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), overrides legislation that prevents trees from shading solar systems. It updates it to allow vegetation planted before installation of solar systems to remain standing. A bill that may be thorny due to liability concerns is SB 1700 by Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento). Basically, the legislation requires underground natural gas storage companies to take on liability if their facilities or the commodity harms the population. The state, municipalities, or individuals wouldn’t have to prove the company’s liability. “It says if you are sure that natural gas [is safe], put your money where your mouth is,” said Steinberg. The legalities of the bill are set to be discussed in Assembly Judiciary Committee. There is also a question of whether the CPUC has jurisdiction. Other bills passed out of committee this week are: -SB 312--Senator Christine Kehoe’s (D-San Diego) bill requires the CPUC to post all filings on its website. “It makes the CPUC more transparent,” Kehoe said. The CPUC opposes part of the bill, primarily the requirement to post all advice letters. The commission argues that it does not have enough web workers to carry it off on schedule. -SB 1012--Also by Kehoe, this bill supports cogeneration under the CPUC’s self-generation incentive program. Some Assemblymembers expressed concern that it would increase the use of natural gas. The consumer group, The Utility Reform Network, fears that residential consumers would be stuck with the cost of incentives. The bill exempts low-income customers in utilities’ CARE programs. -SB 1536--Senator Bob Dutton’s (R-Rancho Cucamonga) bill simply deletes legislative references to the California Power Exchange. The agency, which has been in bankruptcy since 2001, was created to manage electricity trading during deregulation. Finally, Kehoe pulled her bill, SB 1737. It would have created a California Energy Commission task force on plug-in hybrid vehicles.
