Electricity: net energy metering.

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 boards. Existing law requires every electric utility, defined to include an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, and electrical cooperative, to develop a standard contract or tariff providing for net energy metering, as defined, and to make this contract or tariff available to eligible customer-generators, as defined, on a first-come-first-served basis until the time that the total rated generating capacity used by eligible customer-generators exceeds 5% of the electric utility's aggregate customer peak demand, or, for large electrical corporations, which are electrical corporations with 100,000 or more service connections in California, until July 1, 2017, whichever is earlier. Existing law requires the entity that establishes rates for the electric utility to establish a net surplus electricity compensation valuation to compensate a net surplus customer-generator for the value of net surplus electricity generated by the customer-generator, provided that the rate does not result in a shifting of costs between eligible customer-generators and other bundled service customers. Existing law requires the commission, no later than December 31, 2015, to develop a standard contract or tariff for additional eligible customer-generators with renewable electrical generation facilities that are customers of a large electrical corporation. Existing law requires each large electrical corporation to offer this standard contract or tariff to new eligible customer-generators beginning July 1, 2017, or before that date if ordered to do so by the commission because it has reached the net energy metering program 5% limit described above. Under existing law, there is no limitation on the amount of generating capacity or number of new eligible customer-generators entitled to receive service pursuant to this standard contract or tariff. This bill would require the commission, by July 1, 2021, to develop a standard distributed generation compensation contract or tariff for an eligible customer-generator with a renewable electrical generation facility that is a customer of a large electrical corporation, as specified. The bill would require each large electrical corporation to offer the standard contract or tariff to eligible customer-generators beginning January 1, 2022. The bill would require, beginning January 1, 2022, that all new eligible customer-generators be subject to the standard contract or tariff and the applicable rules, terms, and rates developed by the commission. The bill would specify that an eligible customer-generator that has received service under a net energy metering standard contract or tariff or successor contract or tariff, as described above, that is no longer eligible to receive service pursuant to that contract or tariff is eligible to receive service pursuant to the standard contract or tariff. Under existing law, a violation of the act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because any violation of the commission's implementation of these provisions would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local 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.