Energy: State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission authority: transmission lines: certification: energy policy.

Existing law gives the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) the exclusive power to certify thermal powerplants and electric transmission lines. A person proposing to construct a thermal powerplant or an electric transmission line is required to obtain a certificate from the Energy Commission. Existing law defines "electric transmission line" to be an electric powerline that carries electricity from a thermal powerplant located within the state to a point of junction with an interconnected transmission system. The findings of the Energy Commission in its certification process are binding on the Public Utilities Commission in the process for the issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity of the thermal powerplant and electric transmission lines. Existing law requires a person to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Public Utilities Commission prior to the construction of an electric powerline rated at 50 kilovolts or above. This bill would expand "electric transmission line" to include an electric powerline that carries electricity from any powerplant located in the state to a point of junction with an interconnected transmission system, an electric powerline that is rated at 200 kilovolts or above, and an electric powerline that is rated between 50 kilovolts and 200 kilovolts that is needed to support the stability and reliability of the interconnected transmission line, thereby giving the Energy Commission the exclusive power to certify these electric powerlines. The bill would exempt from the certification requirement an electric transmission line for which an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity has been submitted to the Public Utilities Commission before January 1, 2010. The bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission and other relevant agencies, to represent the state in all federal proceedings as the representative of the state's energy policy.