Electricity: solar electricity: low-income households.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Decisions of the commission adopted the California Solar Initiative administered by the state's 3 largest electrical corporations and subject to the commission's supervision. Existing law requires the commission to ensure that not less than 10% of the funds for the California Solar Initiative are utilized for the installation of solar energy systems, as defined, on low-income residential housing, as defined. Pursuant to this requirement, the commission adopted decisions that established the Single-Family Affordable Solar Homes Program (SASH) and the Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing Program (MASH) , pursuant to which the electrical corporations provide monetary incentives for the installation of solar energy systems on low-income residential housing. The SASH and MASH programs will operate until December 31, 2016, or until funds collected for the above purposes are exhausted, whichever occurs sooner. This bill would, upon the expenditure or reservation of those funds reserved for low-income residential housing, authorize the surcharge collected by the electrical corporations for the California Solar Initiative to continue to provide funding for the administration of the SASH and MASH programs. The bill would require the commission to ensure the total amount resulting from the continued collection of the charge does not exceed $108,000,000. The bill would extend the operation of the SASH and MASH programs to December 31, 2021, or until the exhaustion of that amount, whichever occurs sooner. The bill would require the SASH and MASH programs to meet specified requirements. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations that it is the goal of the state to install solar energy systems that have a generating capacity equivalent to 50 megawatts for low-income residential housing and that the commission designs a program that maximizes the overall benefit to ratepayers. Because a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program by extending the application of a crime. This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 2851 of the Public Utilities Code proposed in AB 102, SB 72, SB 84, and SB 96, to become operative if either AB 102, SB 72, SB 84, or SB 96, or any combination of those bills, and this bill become effective on or before January 1, 2014, and this bill is enacted last. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.