California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program: irrigation districts.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities, including a district formed pursuant to the Irrigation District Law, are under the direction of their governing boards. The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires the commission to establish a renewables portfolio standard requiring all retail sellers, defined as including electrical corporations, electric service providers, and community choice aggregators, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, so that the total kilowatthours of those products sold to their retail end-use customers achieves 25% of retail sales by December 31, 2016, 33% by December 31, 2020, 44% by December 31, 2024, 52% by December 31, 2027, and 60% by December 31, 2030. The program additionally requires each local publicly owned electric utility to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources to achieve the procurement requirements established by the program. For these purposes, eligible renewable energy resources include the incremental increase in the amount of electricity generated from a hydroelectric generation facility as a result of efficiency improvements at the facility, without regard to the electrical output of the facility, if specified conditions are met. This bill would authorize a local publicly owned electric utility that is an irrigation district to elect to credit its share of the total electricity generated by the Don Pedro Hydroelectric Project, commensurate with its ownership share of that project, as meeting its renewables portfolio standard procurement requirements. The bill would require that an election by an irrigation district to apply its proportionate share of the electricity generated by the Don Pedro Hydroelectric Project to meet its renewables portfolio standard procurement requirements would be for all of its proportionate share of the generation, including any portion of the electricity that is an eligible renewable energy resource because it results from efficiency improvements at the project. The bill would prohibit any portion of that electricity to be unbundled from any renewable energy credit associated with the electricity. The bill would require an irrigation district making the election to ensure that there is no double counting for electricity that is an eligible renewable energy resource resulting from efficiency improvements at the project. If an irrigation district elects to apply any generation from the Don Pedro Hydroelectric Project to meet its renewables portfolio standard procurement requirements, the bill would (1) prohibit any quantity of eligible renewable energy resources procured under ownership or contract by the district to be resold and require that all associated renewable energy credits be retired solely on behalf of customers of the district, and (2) require the district to procure energy storage systems commensurate with 1% of the district's 2020 annual peak load, as specified, with project installation to be completed no later than December 31, 2030. The bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to report to the Legislature by February 1, 2020, and by February 1 of every year thereafter, on the progress of an irrigation district subject to these provisions towards satisfying its renewable portfolio standard obligations. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity for special legislation.