Electricity: emissions of greenhouse gases.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing board. Existing law prohibits any load-serving entity and any local publicly owned electric utility from entering into a long-term financial commitment for baseload generation unless that baseload generation complies with a greenhouse gases emission performance standard. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission, by February 1, 2007, through a rulemaking proceeding and in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the State Air Resources Board, to establish a greenhouse gases emission performance standard for all baseload generation of load-serving entities. Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, by June 30, 2007, at a duly noticed public hearing and in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission and the State Air Resources Board, to establish a greenhouse gases emission performance standard for all baseload generation of local publicly owned electric utilities. This bill would, on July 1, 2017, replace the greenhouse gases emission performance standards for baseload generation with greenhouse gases emission performance standards for nonpeaking generation and peaking generation. The bill would require the Public Utilities Commission, by June 30, 2017, through a rulemaking proceeding and in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the State Air Resources Board, to establish a greenhouse gases emission performance standard for all nonpeaking generation of load-serving entities, and a separate standard for peaking generation. The bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, by June 30, 2017, at a duly noticed public hearing and in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission and the State Air Resources Board, to establish a greenhouse gases emission performance standard for all nonpeaking generation of local publicly owned electric utilities, and a separate standard for peaking generation. The bill would require that, taking into consideration siting factors such as altitude, regional climate, and operating capacity, the greenhouse gases emission performance standard for nonpeaking generation and peaking generation be established at the lowest level that the respective commissions determine to be technologically feasible without putting reliability of the electrical grid and of electric service at risk and without hampering further deployment of renewable generation resources or reductions of greenhouse gases emissions. The bill would require that the commissions update their respective greenhouse gases emission performance standards every 5 years based on new technology. Existing law makes any public utility that fails to comply with any part of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission guilty of a crime. Existing law additionally makes every corporation or person other than a public utility who fails to comply with any part of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission guilty of a crime. Because this bill would require action by the Public Utilities Commission to implement its requirements with respect to a load-serving entity, and a violation of an order or decision of the Public Utilities Commission would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding what is a crime. The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and requires it to certify sufficient sites and related facilities that are required to provide a supply of electricity sufficient to accommodate projected demand for power statewide. The act grants the commission the exclusive authority to certify any stationary or floating electrical generating facility using any source of thermal energy, with a generating capacity of 50 megawatts or more, and any facilities appurtenant thereto. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) generally requires all state and local governmental lead agencies to prepare, or cause to be prepared by contract, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on any discretionary project that they propose to carry out or approve that may result in a significant effect on the environment, that is, a substantial, or potentially substantial, adverse change in the physical conditions that exist within the area that will be affected by the project. CEQA authorizes the plan or other written documentation containing environmental information of state agencies to be submitted in lieu of an otherwise required environmental impact report if the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency has certified the regulatory program in a specified manner. This bill would provide that any carbon capture and storage project associated with an application for certification is a related facility for purposes of the certification of a thermal powerplant by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and for purposes of the secretary's authority with respect to a certified regulatory program. 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.