Existing law establishes, until January 1, 2028, the Prescribed Fire Liability Pilot Program, to be administered by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to increase the pace and scale of the use of prescribed fire and cultural burning and to reduce barriers for conducting prescribed fires and cultural burning. Existing law creates the Prescribed Fire Claims Fund in the State Treasury to support coverage for losses from prescribed fires and cultural burning by nonpublic entities, such as cultural fire practitioners, private landowners, and nongovernmental entities. Under existing law, moneys in the fund are under the control of the department, and the department or a contracted third-party administrator is authorized to direct payments for claims from the fund, consistent with specified guidelines adopted by the department. These guidelines include, among other things, (1) a requirement that an eligible claim relate to either a prescribed fire conducted or supervised by a burn boss, as defined, or a cultural burn conducted or supervised by a cultural fire practitioner, and (2) a requirement that a claim shall not be paid from the fund unless the department reviewed and approved a burn plan before the prescribed fire or cultural burning. Existing law requires, upon order of the Department of Finance, the $20,000,000 appropriated to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection by the Legislature in the Budget Act of 2021 be transferred into the fund, and provides that all moneys deposited or transferred into the fund be continuously appropriated to the department for these purposes. By Executive Order N-35-25, Governor Gavin Newsom suspended the limitation on public and governmental agencies enrolling in the Prescribed Fire Liability Pilot Program to the extent that the limitation would prohibit resource conservation districts and volunteer fire departments or districts from such enrollment. This bill would establish the Good Fire Act, which would indefinitely extend the Prescribed Fire Liability Program. The bill would explicitly state that the Prescribed Fire Claims Fund shall support coverage for losses from prescribed fires and cultural burning on any lands within the state. The bill would also expand program eligibility by changing the entities who may receive coverage for losses from prescribed fires and cultural burning from nonpublic entities to individuals and entities other than the department or the federal government, as provided. By extending the term of a continuous appropriation and authorizing the expenditure of continuously appropriated funds for new purposes, the bill would make an appropriation. This bill would eliminate the requirement for department approval for a plan reviewed and approved by a burn boss, and would require a burn plan to be submitted to the claims fund portal before ignition. The bill would also require the guidelines to include methods for prioritizing broadcast burns and burns by non-public individuals or entities or California Native American tribes in the event the fund is oversubscribed. Within one year of a claim being paid from the fund, the bill would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature regarding the claim process and propose statutory changes related to the fund, as provided. Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal, with the involvement of the Statewide Training and Education Advisory Committee, to develop a curriculum for, or amend into an existing curriculum, a certification program for burn bosses who possess authority to engage in a prescribed burning operation and to enter into the necessary contracts related to a prescribed burning operation. Existing law requires this curriculum to provide for the initial certification as well as the continuing education of burn bosses. Under existing law, specified civil liability protections and eligibility for claims from the Prescribed Fire Claims Fund extend to prescribed burns that, among other things, are reviewed and approved by a burn boss certified pursuant to these provisions, as provided. This bill would require, as part of the continuing education of burn bosses, the State Fire Marshal to require recertification no sooner than every 3 years. The bill would also require the department to consider methods to increase the pool of available instructors for the certification program, including the use of non-department instructors. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the Statewide Training and Education Advisory Committee, to develop a mechanism to allow specified individuals to be designated as a burn boss. The bill would authorize these individuals certified pursuant to this process to use the above-described recertification process to maintain currency. Existing law authorizes an entity that owns or controls brush-covered land, forest lands, woodland, grassland, shrubland, or a combination of those types of land within a state responsibility area to apply to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for permission to use prescribed burning for certain public purposes. Existing law requires the department, upon receipt of an application, to inspect the land in company with the applicant to determine whether a permit shall be granted, as provided. By Executive Order N-35-25, Governor Gavin Newsom suspended the above-described requirement that the department conduct a site visit or inspection before issuing a state burn permit for projects undertaken by burn bosses or cultural fire practitioners. This bill would authorize the department to waive the inspection requirement or modify the standard precautions for an application submitted by specified individuals. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. Existing law exempts from CEQA specified wildfire risk reduction projects, including, among other projects, projects consisting of a prescribed fire or fuel reduction to reduce wildfire risk by reestablishing the fire return interval appropriate to the ecosystem for biodiversity or other benefits, excluding projects located on coastal sage scrub habitat or any other sensitive habitat. By Executive Order N-35-25, Governor Gavin Newsom suspended the requirements of CEQA as applied to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to the extent necessary for the department to assist local agencies and beneficial fire practitioners to complete beneficial fire projects that limit dangerous wildfire conditions to the greatest extent feasible. This bill would exempt from CEQA those actions taken by the department to assist in the implementation of prescribed fire or cultural burning projects that do not otherwise require compliance with CEQA. Existing law establishes various grant programs for purposes of wildfire prevention. This bill would require a state agency, department, board, or commission that has awarded grant funds for a project that includes the preparation for, or implementation of, a beneficial fire project to include as an allowable expense of the grant the payment of overtime or double rates of pay to employees or contractors who prepare for or implement the beneficial fire project when such expenses are necessary for the implementation of the beneficial fire project. Existing law authorizes the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to provide grants to, or enter contracts or other cooperative agreements with, specified entities for the implementation and administration of projects and programs to improve forest health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Existing law authorizes the director to authorize advance payments and requires grantees who receive advance payments to file an accountability report with the department 4 months from the date of receiving the funds and every 4 months thereafter. This bill would instead require grantees who receive advance payments to file an accountability report within 6 months from the date of receiving the funds and every 6 months thereafter. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4799.05 of the Public Resources Code proposed by AB 2513 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2513 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Under existing law, the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation regulates the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the state. The State Oil and Gas Supervisor supervises the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells and the operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and facilities related to oil and gas production, as provided. Existing law divides the state into districts and requires the supervisor to appoint one chief deputy and at least one district deputy for each of the districts. Existing law requires a person who acquires the right to operate a well or production facility, as soon as it is reasonably possible, but no later than the date when the acquisition of the well or production facility becomes final, to notify the supervisor or the district deputy, in writing, of the person's operation, as provided. Existing law further requires a person who acquires the right to operate a well or production facility to file with the supervisor an individual indemnity bond or a blanket indemnity bond in an amount determined by the supervisor to be sufficient to cover, in full, all costs of plugging and abandonment, decommissioning the facility, and site restoration, as provided. Existing law requires a person who intends to acquire the right to operate a well or production facility, by purchase, transfer, assignment, conveyance, exchange, or other disposition, to submit a request to the supervisor for a determination of the amount of the bond required before completing the acquisition and prohibits that person from completing the acquisition until the determination is received and the bond has been filed with the supervisor. A person who violates, fails, neglects, or refuses to comply with requirements of the oil and gas laws, including the bonding requirements described above, is guilty of a misdemeanor, as provided. This bill would make the above-described requirements applicable to a person who acquires, or intends to acquire, as applicable, the right to control a well or production facility and would make conforming changes, as provided. The bill would provide that, for purposes of filing an indemnity bond, a person who "acquires a right to operate or control a well or production facility" includes, but is not limited to, the rights a person acquires through the direct or indirect sale or exchange in a single or series of related transactions resulting in the acquisition of more than 50% of the voting stock of the operator or through a liquidation or dissolution of the operator, among other transactions. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law exempts from the above-described requirements relating to filing an indemnity bond a well that has an average daily production level that exceeds 15 barrels of oil or 60,000 cubic feet of natural gas during the 12 months preceding the date of acquisition or a natural gas storage well, as provided. This bill would delete that exemption. 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. This bill would make the operation of its provisions contingent upon the enactment of AB 2716 of the 2025–26 Regular Session.
The California Constitution generally limits the maximum rate of ad valorem tax on real property to 1% of the full cash value of the property and defines "full cash value" for these purposes as the appraised value of real property when purchased, newly constructed, or a change in ownership has occurred after the 1975 assessment. Pursuant to constitutional authorization, existing property tax law excludes from the definition of "newly constructed" for these purposes the construction or addition of any active solar energy system, as defined, through the 2025–26 fiscal year, including the construction of an active solar energy system incorporated by the owner-builder in the initial construction of a new building that the owner-builder does not intend to occupy or use. This bill would extend, for lien dates commencing on or after January 1, 2027, and before January 1, 2031, the above-described exclusion for the addition of customer-sited, active solar energy systems with a system size of less than or equal to 10 kilowatts and for customer-sited, active solar energy systems that are sited on the property of a public entity customer. The bill would require that, for active solar energy systems sited on the property of a public entity customer, tax savings be utilized to maintain the affordability of, or to reduce the cost of, future lease agreements. The bill would limit the exclusion for active solar energy systems incorporated by the owner-builder to buildings where the initial construction permit for the new building is dated before January 1, 2027. The bill would make conforming changes. By imposing additional duties on local tax officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires bills authorizing a new tax expenditure, as defined, to contain, among other things, specific goals that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill also would include additional information required for bills authorizing a new tax expenditure. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. Existing law requires the state to reimburse local agencies annually for certain property tax revenues lost as a result of any exemption or classification of property for purposes of ad valorem property taxation. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding those provisions, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse local agencies for property tax revenues lost by them pursuant to the bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law establishes the Natural Resources Agency, composed of departments, boards, conservancies, and commissions responsible for the restoration, protection, and management of the state's natural and cultural resources. This bill would authorize the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to appoint an individual or to identify one or more University of California centers to oversee and administer a Secretariat for International Climate Coordination and Cooperation to assist the legislative and executive branches' engagement in international climate policy, as specified.
Existing law authorizes the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation to require an operator of an oil and gas well to provide, in addition to specified types of required indemnity bonds, an additional amount of security acceptable to the division based on the division's evaluation of the risk that the operator will desert its well or wells and the potential threats the operator's well or wells pose to life, health, property, and natural resources, as provided. Existing law requires the division to consider specified factors in evaluating the risks that the operator will desert its well or wells and the potential threats the operator's well or wells pose to life, health, property, and natural resources. Existing law prohibits this additional security from exceeding the lesser of the division's estimation of the reasonable costs of properly plugging and abandoning all of the operator's wells and decommissioning any attendant production facilities, or $30,000,000. A person who violates or fails to comply with this provision, or any related law concerning oil and gas, is guilty of a crime. This bill would instead prohibit this additional security from exceeding the lesser of the division's estimation of the reasonable costs of properly plugging and abandoning all of the operator's wells and decommissioning any attendant production facilities, or a maximum amount of additional security based on the total number of active and idle wells under the control of the operator pursuant to a specified schedule, as provided. The bill would prohibit the division from increasing the amount of additional security required of an operator that had an additional security agreement approved by the division as of January 1, 2027, until 3 years after the effective date of the agreement, as provided. The bill would explicitly extend these additional security requirements to a person who acquires the right to operate or control a well or production facility, as provided. The bill would establish that compliance with these additional security requirements by either the operator of record or the person who acquires the right to operate or control a well or production facility constitutes compliance for both parties, and would prohibit the division from requiring duplicative security, as provided. Existing law authorizes the above-described additional amount of security to be an indemnity bond, specified forms of deposit, or any other means of equally effective financial assurance approved by the division, including a demonstration of self-insurance pursuant to a specified process. This bill would, as a condition of obtaining division approval of self-insurance or a corporate guarantee, require an additional security agreement between the operator and the division that includes, among other things, an enforceable schedule for the plugging and abandonment of wells and decommissioning of production facilities consistent with an operator's idle well management plan, as provided. The bill would also require the operator, as part of that additional security agreement, to immediately notify the division if the operator is unable to satisfy the financial criteria, and would make a failure to make this notification a violation subject to civil and criminal penalties, as provided. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also require the division to reevaluate whether self-insurance or a corporate guarantee continues to constitute an equally effective means of financial assurance at least once every 3 years, or upon a material change in the financial condition of the operator or guarantor entity, whichever occurs first. The bill would require an operator approved for self-insurance or a corporate guarantee who the supervisor subsequently determines to be out of compliance with an approved idle well management plan, or specified operators out of compliance with idle well fee requirements, to provide other financial assurance within 90 days of that determination, as provided. Existing law also requires a person who acquires the right to operate a well or production facility to file with the State Oil and Gas Supervisor an individual indemnity bond or a blanket indemnity bond in an amount determined by the supervisor to be sufficient to cover, in full, all costs of plugging and abandonment, decommissioning the facility, and site restoration, as provided. Under existing law, an operator may, in lieu of this bonding requirement and with the written approval of the supervisor, provide the required security through an equally effective means of financial assurance, including specified types of deposits, an irrevocable letter of credit, or a fully funded trust fund, and excluding self-insurance or corporate guarantees, as provided. This bill would repeal the exclusion of self-insurance or corporate guarantee, as described above. The bill would additionally authorize an operator to, in lieu of the bonding requirement and with the written approval of the supervisor, provide the required security through specified means of financial assurance, including pursuant to the above-described process for obtaining division approval for self-insurance or a corporate guarantee applicable to existing operators, as provided. Existing law authorizes the supervisor or a district deputy to order the plugging and abandonment of a well or the decommissioning of a production facility that has been deserted. If the supervisor determines that the current operator, as determined by the records of the supervisor, does not have the financial resources to fully cover that cost of plugging and abandonment of the well or the decommissioning of a production facility that has been deserted, existing law makes immediately preceding operators responsible for that cost. Existing law authorizes the supervisor to continue to look seriatim to previous operators until an operator is found with sufficient financial resources to cover the cost, except as provided. This bill would exempt from the above-described requirement to file with the supervisor, upon acquiring the right to operate a well or production facility, an individual indemnity bond or a blanket indemnity bond sufficient to cover all costs of plugging and abandonment, decommissioning the facility, and site restoration, (1) an operator, or a person who acquires the right to operate or control a well or production facility, who has complied with an idle well management plan or fee schedule, and specified reporting requirements, as provided, if the operator of record has obtained and maintained additional security approved by the division, as provided, and (2) a person who has acquired the rights to a well or production facility for the sole purpose of plugging and abandoning that well or decommissioning the production facility for purposes of redevelopment, as defined, or to satisfy the above-described obligations of previous operators, as provided. The bill would explicitly state that a person who has acquired the rights to a well or production facility for the sole purpose of plugging and abandoning that well or decommissioning the production facility for the purposes of redevelopment or to satisfy the obligations of previous operators is subject to the state oil and gas laws as an operator, until a determination by the supervisor that the well has been properly plugged and abandoned or the production facilities have been decommissioned, or that additional work related to abandoning the well is not practical or would pose greater environmental or safety risk, as provided. Upon this determination by the supervisor, the bill would require the supervisor to release the bond, and would release the acquiring person from any further obligation or liability for the well or facility. The bill would require a person who, before an acquisition for the sole purpose of plugging and abandoning the well or decommissioning the production facility, was responsible as an owner or operator of the well or production facility and subject to orders related to remediation issued by the supervisor to remain responsible for the well or production facility and any unfunded costs associated with plugging and abandonment of the well or decommissioning of the facility, as provided. The bill would prohibit the use of a well or production facility acquired for the sole purpose of plugging and abandoning the well or decommissioning the production facility from being used for oil or gas production, injection, gas storage, or any associated operation. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require a person acquiring the rights to a well or production facility for the sole purpose of plugging and abandoning that well or decommissioning the production facility for the purpose of redevelopment, before completing the acquisition, to submit to the supervisor a declaration, under penalty of perjury, that the acquisition is for the sole purpose of plugging and abandoning the well or decommissioning the production facility for the purpose of redevelopment, a description of the redevelopment plan, and a plugging and abandoning work plan, as provided. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require an acquiring person who submits the declaration to commence plugging and abandonment or decommissioning operations within 24 months of the date of acquisition, and would authorize the supervisor to grant a 12-month extension, as provided. The bill would require the supervisor to require an acquiring person who fails to commence operations within this time period to file financial assurance, as provided. The bill would require a person acquiring the rights to a well or production facility pursuant to these provisions to provide annual updates on the plugging and abandonment work plan. If the supervisor determines that the acquiring person is not capable of plugging the wells within these timeframes, the bill would require the acquiring person to post specified financial assurance and would require the supervisor to notify the previous operator who is responsible for the plugging and abandonment. The bill would establish that no more than 100 wells or associated production facilities may be included, on an annual basis, in this alternative financial security program, as provided. This bill would, on and after January 1, 2028, and quarterly thereafter, require the division to post on its internet website specified information related to well transfers, wells and production facilities acquired for the sole purpose of plugging and abandoning or decommissioning, and a description of wells located in or within one mile of a disadvantaged community. The bill would require the supervisor and Director of Conservation to annually attend specified legislative hearings to report on well transfer activity, implementation and status of financial assurance for indemnification, and the above-described provisions related to redevelopment of oil and gas wells, and would require the division, on or before January 1, 2032, to prepare and submit a related report to the relevant legislative policy and budget committees in both houses of the Legislature, as provided. 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. This bill would make the operation of its provisions contingent upon the enactment of AB 2461 of the 2025–26 Regular Session.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases and requires the state board to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level no later than December 31, 2030. The act declares the policy of the state to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, but no later than 2045, and to achieve and maintain net negative greenhouse gas emissions thereafter. The act also requires the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with specified entities, to determine an ambitious range of targets for natural carbon sequestration, and for nature-based climate solutions, that reduce greenhouse gas emissions for 2030, 2038, and 2045 to support state goals to achieve carbon neutrality and foster climate adaptation and resilience. The act requires the Natural Resources Agency and the state board to establish an expert advisory committee composed of specified entities to provide recommendations on addressing barriers to efficient implementation of the provisions relating to climate targets. This bill would additionally require that expert advisory committee to include an expert in soil carbon sequestration. The bill would establish the Climate-smart Organics Management for Protecting Our Soil and Terrain (COMPOST) Act of 2026. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with specified entities, to, on or before January 1, 2028, develop an integrated nature-based climate strategy to link waste diversion goals with soil health practices on natural and working lands. The bill would require the strategy to include multiagency recommendations and incentives to increase climate-friendly on-farm compost production and use, including compost application on grasslands and priority rangeland for improved vegetation and carbon storage. The bill would require the recommendations to be consistent with specified publications, standards, and strategies, including the reduction of at least 5,000,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in the state annually. This bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to use best available science, mapping, and land management planning tools to support prioritization, siting, and deployment of soil amendment strategies to maximize climate benefits. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency to publish, and annually update, the nature-based climate strategy for compost on its internet website.
Existing law establishes the Transportation Agency, which has the power of general supervision over specified state entities. Existing law requires the agency to develop and report on legislative, budgetary, and administrative programs to accomplish comprehensive, long-range, coordinated planning and policy formation in the matters of public interest related to the agency. This bill would establish specified goals for the Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure (CAPTI) , consistent with state law.
The California Constitution generally limits the maximum rate of ad valorem tax on real property to 1% of the full cash value of the property and defines "full cash value" for these purposes as the appraised value of real property when purchased, newly constructed, or a change in ownership has occurred after the 1975 assessment. Pursuant to constitutional authorization, existing property tax law excludes from the definition of "newly constructed" for these purposes the construction or addition of any active solar energy system, as defined, through the 2025–26 fiscal year, except as specified. This bill would prescribe rules for the valuation of an active solar energy system under certain valuation methods, including a requirement that, under the income method, the assessor exclude from income the benefit from, among other things, renewable energy credits, as defined. By expanding the duties of local tax officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the state to reimburse local agencies annually for certain property tax revenues lost as a result of any exemption or classification of property for purposes of ad valorem property taxation. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding those provisions, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse local agencies for property tax revenues lost by them pursuant to the bill. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature.
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law requires each electrical corporation to file an advice letter for, and requires the commission to approve, a new tariff or rule that authorizes each electrical corporation to design and deploy all electrical distribution infrastructure on the utility side of the customer's meter for all customers installing separately metered infrastructure to support electric vehicle charging stations, other than those in single-family residences. This bill would require each electrical corporation, on or before April 1, 2027, to file an advice letter for, and require the commission, on or before September 1, 2027, to approve, a new or modified tariff or rule that authorizes the electrical corporation to design, construct, own, operate, and maintain all electrical distribution and service facilities located on the utility side of a customer's meter that are necessary to provide separately metered electrical service to hydrogen refueling stations, including hydrogen refueling stations located on premises that already receive electrical service for other uses. The bill would require that the tariff or rule authorize an electrical corporation to extend utility-side electrical distribution and service facilities from the existing distribution system to a dedicated revenue meter serving a heavy-duty hydrogen refueling station that serves vehicles that are 14,001 pounds or greater and authorize the installation of a dedicated revenue meter for the hydrogen refueling station load, as provided. The bill would require a facility installed pursuant to the tariff or rule to be treated, for cost allocation and customer contribution purposes, as line and service extensions, as provided. The bill would require that the tariff or rule require the electrical corporation to provide the applicant a good faith estimate before the applicant is required to execute a line or service extension agreement or make a nonrefundable payment, as provided. The bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2033. 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 provisions of the bill would be a part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing the bill's requirements 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.
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the PUC, on or before March 31, 2024, to evaluate each customer renewable energy subscription program to determine if the program meets specified goals and to determine whether it would be beneficial to ratepayers to establish a new tariff or program for an electrical corporation, or modify an existing tariff or program administered by an electrical corporation, to establish a community renewable energy program, as provided. If the PUC determines that it would be beneficial to ratepayers to establish the community renewable energy program, existing law requires the PUC, on or before July 1, 2024, to establish the program and require each electrical corporation to participate in the program. This bill would revise the requirements of the customer renewable energy subscription program, as provided, among other things, to promote participation by low-income customers at levels commensurate with the opportunity provided to certain customer-generators, to provide bill credits to subscribers based on the avoided costs of community renewable energy generators, as defined, participating in the program if the community renewable energy generator is determined to be a load-modifying resource, to require all community renewable energy generators participating in the program to have no more than 5 megawatts of generation capacity and no more than 5 megawatts of energy storage, and to limit the total program capacity to 4 gigawatts or end the enrollment of new community renewable energy generators in the program after 7 years, whichever occurs first. The bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , in a public process that includes opportunity for public comment, to evaluate the load-modifying potential of community renewable energy generators, as specified, and, if the evaluation finds that community renewable energy generators have load-modifying potential, to, on or before December 1, 2027, in a public process with opportunity for public comment, identify attributes that the Energy Commission would expect a community renewable energy generator to meet in order to be classified by the PUC as a load-modifying resource, as provided. The bill would require the PUC, within 180 days following the identification of attributes by the Energy Commission, to adopt or modify a customer renewable energy subscription program consistent with the revisions to the program made by the bill, and would require the PUC to establish in the program a mechanism to determine whether community renewable energy generators are load-modifying resources, as provided. Existing law requires the PUC, within 24 months of establishing a community renewable energy program and annually thereafter for the duration of the program, to submit to the Legislature a report on the facilities deployed and customers subscribed, as provided. This bill would instead require the PUC, within 24 months of the adoption or modification of a customer renewable energy subscription program and annually thereafter for the duration of the program, to submit to the Legislature a report on the community renewable energy generators participating in the program and customers subscribed. The bill would repeal this requirement on January 1, 2034. Under existing law, a violation of an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime. Because a violation of a PUC action implementing this 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.
