Existing law establishes and vests in the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) various responsibilities with respect to developing and implementing the state's energy policies. Existing law authorizes persons proposing specified electrical generation, electrical transmission, hydrogen production, and energy storage projects to apply, on or before June 30, 2029, to the Energy Commission to certify sites and related facilities as environmental leadership development projects, as specified. Existing law makes a site and related facility certified by the Energy Commission subject to streamlining benefits related to CEQA with no further action by the applicant or the Governor. Under existing law, the Energy Commission's certification is in lieu of any permit, certificate, or similar document required by any governmental agency and supersedes any applicable statute, ordinance, or regulation, except as specified. This bill would expand the types of facilities eligible to be certified as environmental leadership development projects by the Energy Commission to include geothermal powerplants and projects that comprise multiple geothermal powerplants on a single site. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 25545 of the Public Resources Code proposed by SB 254 to be operative only if this bill and SB 254 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission, or the governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative, to require an energy supplier, defined as an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, electric service provider, community choice aggregator, or electrical cooperative, administering a decarbonization upgrade program or initiative, to record, no later than 30 days after funding a decarbonization upgrade, a notice of decarbonization charge, as defined, with the county recorder of the county where the property subject to the decarbonization charge is located, as specified. Existing law requires, among other things, an energy supplier, within 30 days of full cost recovery of the outstanding charges related to the recorded notice of decarbonization charge, to record a notice of the full cost recovery and removal of the decarbonization charge with the county recorder of the county where the property subject to the decarbonization charge is located. This bill would add gas corporations to the definition of "energy supplier" for purposes of the above-described provisions and make conforming changes. Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because a violation of a commission action implementing the above 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.
(1) Existing law requires each electrical utility or other entity that offers electrical service, except as specified, to develop a standard contract or tariff that provides for net energy metering (NEM) , that, among other things, compensates each eligible customer-generator, as defined, for the electricity it generated, as provided. Existing law requires each electrical utility to make the contract or tariff, commonly known as NEM 1.0, available to eligible customer-generators, upon request, as specified. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to develop an additional standard contract or tariff, and requires each large electrical corporation to offer that standard contract or tariff, commonly known as NEM 2.0, to its eligible customer-generators, as provided. Existing law authorizes the commission to revise the standard contract or tariff, as specified. Pursuant to its authority, the commission adopted Decision 22-12-056 (December 19, 2022) , commonly known as the net billing tariff, which creates a successor tariff to NEM 1.0 and NEM 2.0 and includes specified elements. Existing law requires that, except as specified, not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages, determined by the Director of Industrial Relations, be paid to workers employed on public works projects. Existing law defines "public works" for purposes of requirements regarding the payment of prevailing wages to include construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for using public funds, except as specified. Existing law requires the awarding body, as defined, of a contract for public work to do specified things, including to withhold and retain all amounts required to satisfy any civil wage and penalty assessments issued by the Labor Commissioner from payments made to the contractor, as specified. Existing law requires an awarding body to provide notice, containing certain information, to the Department of Industrial Relations of any public works contract subject to the public works requirements, within 30 days of the award, as provided. Existing law constitutes, beginning December 31, 2023, the construction of any renewable electrical generation facility and any associated battery storage that receives service pursuant to NEM 1.0, NEM 2.0, or the net billing tariff, except as specified, as a public works project. This bill would specify that an entity that engaged a contractor for construction of a renewable electrical generation facility and associated battery storage, as described above, is not an awarding body and that certain public works project requirements do not apply to that entity. The bill would also specify that the contractor who enters into a contract with that entity for those construction services is the awarding body only for purposes of the above-described requirement to provide notice to the Department of Industrial Relations. Existing law provides for various enforcement mechanisms related to ensuring a contractor pays each construction worker the prevailing rate of per diem wages, and provides that enforcement of a willful violation of any of these mechanisms against a contractor for the construction of a renewable electrical generation facility disqualifies that facility from being eligible to receive service pursuant to NEM 1.0, NEM 2.0, or the net billing tariff. This bill instead would specify that a renewable electrical generation facility remains eligible to receive service pursuant to NEM 1.0, NEM 2.0, or the net billing tariff despite enforcement of a willful violation against a contractor for the construction of the facility, as described above, if restitution has been made to the affected workers and all associated penalties and fines have been paid. (2) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the above-described provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing the bill's requirements would be a crime, the 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.
Existing law authorizes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to prescribe, by regulation, lighting, insulation, climate control system, and other building design and construction standards that increase efficiency in the use of energy and water for new residential and new nonresidential buildings, and energy and water conservation design standards for new residential and new nonresidential buildings. Pursuant to this authority, the commission has adopted regulations requiring solar-ready buildings and for the installation of photovoltaic systems meeting certain requirements for low-rise residential buildings built on or after January 1, 2020. This bill would, until January 1, 2028, require residential construction intended to repair, restore, or replace a residential building damaged or destroyed as a result of a disaster in an area in which a state of emergency has been proclaimed by the Governor to comply only with the requirements regarding photovoltaic systems pursuant to those regulations, if any, that were in effect at the time the damaged or destroyed building was originally constructed and would prohibit that construction from being required to comply with any additional or conflicting photovoltaic system requirements in effect at the time of repair, restoration, or replacement. The bill would only apply to the construction of a building if certain conditions are met with respect to the building owner's income and insurance coverage and to the location and square footage of the construction. Because a local agency would be required to determine whether any older applicable photovoltaic requirements are met, 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.
Existing law establishes the Voluntary Offshore Wind and Coastal Resources Protection Program, which is administered by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission for the purpose of supporting state activities that complement and are in furtherance of federal laws related to the development of offshore wind facilities. Existing law creates, and continuously appropriates moneys in, the Voluntary Offshore Wind and Coastal Resources Protection Fund in the State Treasury for purposes of the program and the Private Donations Account, which is created in the fund. Existing law authorizes the commission to accept federal and private sector moneys for purposes of the program and requires the private sector moneys to be deposited into the donations account and the federal moneys to be deposited into the fund. Existing law makes records of the donations received subject to public disclosure. Existing law requires the commission to post a report on its internet website, within 30 days of receiving a donation, with specified information regarding each donation received. Existing law authorizes the commission to allocate moneys in the fund or donations account for specified purposes, including workforce development grants. This bill would additionally authorize the commission to allocate moneys in the fund or account for capacity funding activities and grants within local communities and tribal communities for purposes of the program. The bill would make only a local community, a local government, a California tribe, a nonprofit organization selected by California tribes to represent their interests, or a coalition of these entities eligible for these capacity funding activities and grants. By expanding the purposes for which continuously appropriated moneys may be allocated, the bill would make an appropriation. This bill would make the public disclosure requirement described above applicable to donations received by an eligible entity from an offshore wind entity, as defined, and would require an offshore wind entity to report, every 90 days, specified information concerning these donations to the commission. The bill would delete the requirement for the commission to post a report on its internet website for donations received by the commission, as described above, and would instead require the commission to annually post a report on its internet website related to donations made by offshore wind entities to eligible entities, as specified. The bill would require the commission to annually prepare and submit a report, on or before March 1 of each year, to the Legislature on the implementation and effectiveness of the activities and grants funded pursuant to the bill.
(1) The Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Act establishes the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (I-Bank) in the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, governed by a board of directors. The act, among other things, authorizes the I-Bank to make loans, issue bonds, and provide financial assistance for various types of projects that qualify as economic development or public development facilities. The Climate Catalyst Revolving Fund Act of 2020 authorizes the I-bank, under the Climate Catalyst Revolving Fund Program, to provide financial assistance to any eligible sponsor or participating party in connection with the financing or refinancing of a climate catalyst project, either directly to the sponsor or participating party or to a lending or financial institution, as provided. The act requires the I-Bank to adopt climate catalyst financing plans for specified categories of climate catalyst projects, as specified, after meeting and conferring with the appropriate consulting agencies for those specified categories of climate catalyst projects. This bill would authorize the I-bank to provide financial assistance in connection with the financing or refinancing of a new category of climate catalyst projects, those that enable the decarbonization of industrial facilities' use of heat and power, including, but not limited to, industrial heat pump and thermal energy storage projects, as specified, with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the State Air Resources Board as consulting agencies. The bill would specify conditions to be satisfied regarding these projects. The bill would make implementation of the financial assistance for this new category of climate catalyst projects contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature. (2) Existing law requires the commission to establish and implement the Long-Duration Energy Storage Program to provide financial incentives for eligible projects, including thermal storage, that have power ratings of at least one megawatt and are capable of reaching a target of at least 8 hours of continuous discharge of electricity in order to deploy innovative energy storage systems to the electrical grid for purposes of providing critical capacity and grid services. Existing law requires the commission to give preference to eligible projects that have certain impacts, including those that increase the use of renewable energy. This bill would establish and implement an Industrial Facilities Thermal Energy Storage Program within the Long-Duration Energy Storage Program to provide financial incentives for eligible projects to decarbonize industrial facilities' use of heat and power, as specified. The bill would include thermal energy storage, as defined, rather than thermal storage, as an eligible project. The bill would require the commission to give preference to eligible projects that increase the use of renewable energy through reducing curtailment and shifting power usage from peak to off-peak times, rather than to all projects that increase the use of renewable energy. The bill would prohibit, after January 1, 2027, the commission from providing these financial incentives to projects that involve the performance of work by contractors in the construction industry unless that work is performed under a project labor agreement, as provided. (3) Existing law requires the commission to establish and administer the Industrial Grid Support and Decarbonization Program to provide financial incentives for the implementation of eligible projects at eligible industrial facilities to provide significant benefits to the electrical grid, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, achieve the state's clean energy goals, and exceed compliance requirements. Existing law subjects projects to certain conditions of eligibility for these financial incentives. Existing law requires the commission, in providing financial incentives, to give preference to certain types of projects. This bill would rename the program the Industrial Decarbonization and Improvement of Grid Operations Program and would add, among its purposes, reducing emissions of health-harming pollutants. The bill would revise some of the conditions for eligible projects. The bill would make, after January 1, 2027, projects that involve the performance of work by contractors in the construction industry ineligible for these financial incentives unless the work is performed under a project labor agreement, as provided. The bill would require, after January 1, 2027, an eligible project for a facility that has a record of air permit violations to separately develop a plan for pollution remediation, including for ecological and public health harms. The bill would require the commission to also give preference, in providing financial incentives, to an eligible project that is located in an under-resourced community, as defined, and an eligible project that develops a community benefit fund or agrees to pursue a community benefits agreement with the surrounding community and other affected stakeholders.
