California Clean Energy Curriculum and Training Initiative of 2009.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. A decision of the PUC adopted the California Solar Initiative, an electrical corporation program to provide incentives for solar energy systems funded through rates paid by the electrical corporation ratepayers. Existing law requires local publicly owned electric utilities to initiate a public proceeding to fund a solar energy program to support the goal of installing 3,000 megawatts of photovoltaic solar energy in the state. Existing law establishes the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, which is responsible for coordinating labor and employment policy, services, and programs for workers and businesses through its various component agencies. This bill would require the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development , in collaboration with the major stakeholders, including appropriate state agencies, building trades unions, education, and the clean energy industry, to create by July 1, 2010, the California Clean Energy Curriculum and Training Initiative of 2009 to establish standardized curriculum for use at schools and provide outreach, assistance, and guidance to schools on creating clean energy training programs. The initiative would be implemented when the Legislature makes an appropriation of moneys for that purpose. This bill also would establish the California Clean Energy Curriculum and Training Initiative Subaccount within the Labor and Workforce Development Fund within the State Treasury. The bill would require that, upon the appropriation of moneys by the Legislature to implement the initiative, the PUC order electrical corporations that have collected moneys for research, development, and demonstration for allocation by the PUC pursuant to a specified provision, to transfer an amount of those moneys, equivalent to the amount of the appropriation, to the subaccount for purposes of the initiative. By requiring moneys collected by electrical corporations to be transferred to the subaccount, a bill making such an appropriation also would impose a state tax.