Local government renewable energy self-generation program.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law authorizes a local government, as defined, to receive a bill credit, as defined, to be applied to a designated benefiting account for electricity exported to the electrical grid by an eligible renewable generating facility, as defined, and requires the commission to adopt a rate tariff for the benefiting account. Existing law establishes the responsibilities of the affected electrical corporation to which the facility is interconnected. An eligible renewable generating facility for the purposes of these provisions is limited to a facility that has a generating capacity of no more than one megawatt. These provisions are known as the Local Government Renewable Energy Self-Generation Program. This bill would expand the definition of an eligible renewable generating facility for the purposes of the program to include a facility that has a generating capacity of no more than 5 megawatts. The bill would prohibit an electrical corporation from being required to compensate a local government for electricity generated from a facility in excess of the bill credits applied to the designated benefiting account. The bill would prohibit a local government renewable generation facility participating in the program from being eligible for any other tariff or program that requires an electrical corporation to purchase generation from that facility while participating in the program. The bill would exempt an electrical corporation with 60,000 or fewer customer accounts from the program.