Electricity: hydroelectric and pumped storage facilities.

Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, beginning November 1, 2003, and every 2 years thereafter, to adopt an integrated energy policy report which includes an overview of major energy trends and issues facing the state. Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, beginning November 1, 2004, and every 2 years thereafter, to prepare an energy policy review to update analyses from the integrated energy policy report or to raise energy issues that have emerged since the release of the integrated energy policy report. The Public Utilities Act imposes various duties and responsibilities on the Public Utilities Commission with respect to the purchase of electricity and requires the Public Utilities Commission to review and adopt a procurement plan and a renewable energy procurement plan for each electrical corporation, as defined, pursuant to the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program. The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish a rewewables portfolio standard requiring all retail sellers, as defined, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, at specified percentages of the total kilowatthours sold to their retail end-customers during specified compliance periods. The program additionally requires each local publicly owned electric utility, as defined, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources to achieve the targets established by the program. The program requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to perform various activities, including certification of eligible renewable energy resources, the design and implementation of an accounting system to verify compliance with the renewables portfolio standard by retail sellers and local publicly owned electric utilities, and establishing a system for tracking and verifying renewable energy credits, as defined. This bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, the Department of Water Resources, the Independent System Operator, electrical corporations, publicly owned utilities, federal power marketing authorities, and the federal Bureau of Reclamation, to perform a technical analysis of the potential use of existing hydroelectric and pumped storage facilities, as specified, to provide additional operational flexibility that could facilitate the integration of eligible renewable energy resources for the state's electrical grid. The bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to complete its technical analysis and include its analysis in an energy policy review by November 1, 2014.