Electrical transmission.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. 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) . The existing California renewables portfolio standard program (RPS program) establishes requirements for retail sellers, as defined, and local publicly owned electric utilities, as defined, to procure minimum quantities of eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, for various compliance periods. This bill would require the Independent System Operator (ISO) and the CPUC to jointly evaluate all electrical transmission facilities that have been identified in the ISO's most recently approved transmission plan and determine which of those transmission facilities are necessary or useful to interconnect eligible renewable energy resources to facilitate achievement of the procurement requirements established for retail sellers and local publicly owned electric utilities pursuant to the RPS program. The bill would require the CPUC and ISO, by March 31, 2012, to publish a report that includes a time frame for obtaining all governmental approvals for, construction of, and placement into service of, each of the transmission facilities determined to be necessary or useful to interconnect eligible renewable energy resources pursuant to the bill's requirements. The bill would require the CPUC and the ISO to coordinate the ISO's transmission planning process and identification of needed transmission facilities with the CPUC's issuance of certificates of public convenience and necessity for transmission facilities.