Renewable energy resources.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined, while local publicly owned electric utilities, as defined, are under the direction of their governing board. The existing California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (RPS program) requires a retail seller of electricity, as defined, and local publicly owned electric utilities to purchase specified minimum quantities of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, for specified compliance periods, sufficient to ensure that the procurement of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources achieves 20% of retail sales for the period January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2013, inclusive, 25% of retail sales by December 31, 2016, and 33% of retail sales by December 31, 2020, and in all subsequent years. The RPS program, consistent with the goals of procuring the least-cost and best-fit eligible renewable energy resources that meet project viability principles, requires that all retail sellers procure a balanced portfolio of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as specified (portfolio content requirements) . The RPS program requires the PUC to adopt rules permitting retail sellers, beginning January 1, 2011, to accumulate excess procurement in one compliance period to be applied to any subsequent compliance period (banking rules) . The RPS program requires the governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility to adopt rules for banking in the same manner as the rules adopted by the PUC for retail sellers. This bill would recast the requirement that the PUC adopt banking rules and would expand the banking rules to authorize excess procurement accumulated through December 31, 2010, to be applied to subsequent compliance periods if specified conditions are met. The bill would require the governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility to adopt rules for banking in the same manner as the recast and expanded rules adopted by the PUC for retail sellers.