Green electrolytic hydrogen.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The state board is required to approve a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020 and to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030. The act requires the state board to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and to update the scoping plan at least once every 5 years. This bill would require the state board, by December 31, 2022, as a part of the scoping plan, to prepare a strategic plan for accelerating the production and use of green electrolytic hydrogen in California and an analysis of how curtailed power could be better utilized to help meet the state's greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) 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 the PUC and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to undertake specified actions to advance the state's clean energy and pollution reduction objectives, including, where feasible, cost effective, and consistent with other state policy objectives, increasing the use of large- and small-scale energy storage with a variety of technologies. Existing law specifies that green electrolytic hydrogen, as defined, is one of these energy storage technologies to be targeted for increased use and requires the PUC, state board, and Energy Commission to consider green electrolytic hydrogen an eligible form of energy storage, and to consider other potential uses of green electrolytic hydrogen. Existing law requires the PUC to identify a diverse and balanced portfolio of resources needed to ensure a reliable electricity supply that provides optimal integration of renewable energy resources in a cost-effective manner. Existing law requires that the portfolio rely upon zero carbon-emitting resources to the maximum extent reasonable and be designed to achieve any statewide limit on emissions of greenhouse gases established by the state board pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. This bill would require the PUC to consider green electrolytic hydrogen to be a zero carbon-emitting resource for purposes of identifying a diverse and balanced portfolio of resources needed to ensure a reliable electricity supply that provides optimal integration of renewable energy resources in a cost-effective manner. Existing law establishes a policy of the state that eligible renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources supply 100% of retail sales of electricity to California end-use customers and 100% of electricity procured to serve all state agencies by December 31, 2045. Existing law requires the PUC, Energy Commission, and state board to utilize programs authorized under existing statutes to achieve this policy. This bill would require that the PUC, state board, and Energy Commission consider green electrolytic hydrogen to be a zero-carbon resource for these purposes.