The Assembly Natural Resources committee June 27 cleared three energy-related bills, two by Senator Fran Pavley (D-Santa Monica) and another by Senator Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles). The next day, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill related to tax treatment for solar systems. Pavley’s first measure, SB 454, expands the California Energy Commission’s power to enforce state energy efficiency standards. It also would bar utilities from providing energy efficiency rebates unless a licensed contractor performed the work on homes and businesses under proper permits. It passed 6-3. Her second measure, SB 679, reprograms $25 million of $50 million set aside by the state to jump start local Property Assessed Clean Energy programs that finance energy efficiency and solar energy in homes and businesses. The PACE effort has been stalled by a ruling in Washington. Through PACE, cities and counties loan money and property owners pay it back through an assessment due with their property tax bills. Pavley’s bill transfers $25 million of the money to the Energy Commission to use in its ongoing loan program, which helps local governments install solar panels and make energy efficiency retrofits at their facilities. It passed 6-2. De León’s SB 535 would reserve 10 percent of any revenue the state gets under its climate protection law, AB 32, to fund greenhouse gas and air pollution reduction programs--like installing solar panels--in environmental justice communities (low-income areas affected by pollution). It has wide support among environmental groups. It cleared the panel 6-3. In other Sacramento news, Brown June 28 signed into law ABX1 15, a bill by Assemblymember Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo). It clarifies that solar systems on new buildings or existing properties are exempt from property tax reassessments when installed under sale-leaseback arrangements until the property changes hands. It sets such systems on an equal footing with systems initially purchased instead of leased.