Electrical transmission: renewable energy resources.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law, the Public Utilities Act, prohibits any electrical corporation from beginning the construction of, among other things, a line, plant, or system, or of any extension thereof, without having first obtained from the CPUC a certificate that the present or future public convenience and necessity require or will require that construction (certificate of public convenience and necessity) . Existing law requires the CPUC, in acting upon an application by an electrical corporation for a certificate of public convenience and necessity, to deem new transmission facilities necessary to the provision of electric service if the CPUC finds that new transmission facilities are necessary to facilitate achievement of the renewable power goals established under the renewables portfolio standard. That law additionally requires the CPUC, upon finding that new transmission facilities are necessary to facilitate achievement of the renewable power goals established under the renewables portfolio standard, to take all feasible actions to ensure that the transmission rates established by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are fully reflected in any retail rates established by the commission. This bill would provide that an application by an electrical corporation for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for new transmission facilities is necessary to the provision of electric service if the CPUC finds that the new transmission facility is necessary to facilitate achievement of the renewables portfolio standard. The bill would authorize the CPUC to approve the recovery in retail rates by an electrical corporation of certain costs for transmission facilities that are incurred in certain circumstances if not approved for recovery in transmission rates by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This bill would revise and recast certain of the definitions applicable to the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program, and would revise certain requirements applicable to the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission for certifying when an eligible renewable energy resource may earn a renewable energy credit. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 399.12 of the Public Utilities Code, proposed by SB 722, to be operative only if SB 722 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2011, and this bill is chaptered last.