Amended
IN
Senate
April 21, 2003 |
Amended
IN
Senate
May 05, 2003 |
Introduced by
Senator
Chesbro |
February 21, 2003 |
(a)As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1)“Benefiting account” means an electricity account, or more than one account, mutually agreed upon by Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Pacific Union College.
(2)“Bill credit” means credits calculated based upon the electricity generation component of the rate schedule applicable to a benefiting account, as applied to the net metered quantities of electricity.
(3)“Pacific Union College Facility” means the combined heat and power cogeneration facility located at Pacific Union College in Angwin, California, that supplies up to 4.5 megawatts, using natural gas, steam and solar, to the electric grid owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
(4)“Net metered” means the electricity output from the Pacific Union College Facility in the excess of that required by the Pacific Union College.
(b)Pacific Union College may elect to designate a benefiting account, or more than one account, to receive bill credit for the electricity generated by the Pacific Union College Facility, if all of the following conditions are met:
(1)A benefiting account receives service under a time-of-use rate schedule.
(2)The electricity output of the Pacific Union College Facility is metered for time of use to allow allocation of each bill credit to correspond to the time-of-use period of a benefiting account.
(3)All costs associated with the metering requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) are the responsibility of Pacific Union College.
(4)All electricity delivered to the electric grid by the Pacific Union College Facility is the property of Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
(5)The Pacific Union College Facility does not sell electricity delivered to the electric grid to a third party.
(6)The benefiting account is a related nonprofit community education or health care facility.
(c)A benefiting account shall be billed on a monthly basis, as follows:
(1)For all electricity usage, the rate schedule applicable to the benefiting account shall be the rate schedule of the benefiting account, including any surcharge, exit fee, or other cost recovery mechanism, as determined by the Public Utilities Commission, to reimburse the Department of Water Resources for purchases of electricity, pursuant to Division 27 (commencing with Section 80000) of the Water Code.
(2)The rate schedule for the benefiting account shall also provide credit for the generation component of the time-of-use rates for the electricity generated by the Pacific Union College Facility that is delivered to the electric grid. The generation component credited to the benefiting account may not include the surcharge, exit fee, or other cost recovery mechanism, as determined by the Public Utilities Commission, to reimburse the Department of Water Resources for purchases of electricity, pursuant to Division 27 (commencing with Section 80000) of the Water Code.
(3)If in any billing cycle, the charge pursuant to paragraph (1) for electricity usage exceeds the billing credit pursuant to paragraph (2), Pacific Union College shall be charged for the difference.
(4)If in any billing cycle, the billing credit pursuant to paragraph (2), exceeds the charge for electricity usage pursuant to paragraph (1), the difference shall be carried forward as a credit to the next billing cycle.
(5)After the electricity usage charge pursuant to paragraph (1) and the credit pursuant to paragraph (2) are determined for the last billing cycle of a calendar year, any remaining credit resulting from the application of this section shall be reset to zero.
(d)Not more frequently than once per year, and upon providing Pacific Gas and Electric Company with a minimum of 60 days notice, Pacific Union College may elect to change a benefiting account. Any credit resulting from the application of this section earned prior to the change in a benefiting account that has not been used as of the date of the change in the benefit account, shall be applied, and may only be applied, to a benefiting account as changed.
(e)Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall file an advice letter with the Public Utilities Commission, that complies with this section, not later than January 11, 2004, proposing a rate tariff for a benefiting account. The commission, within 30 days of the date of filing, shall approve the proposed tariff, or specify conforming changes to be made by Pacific Gas and Electric Company to be filed in a new advice letter.
(f)Pacific Union College may terminate its election pursuant to subdivision (b), upon providing Pacific Gas and Electric Company with a minimum of 60 days notice. If Pacific Union College sells its interest in the Pacific Union College Facility, or sells the electricity generated by the Pacific Union College Facility, in a manner other than required by this section, upon the date of either event, and the earliest date if both events occur, no further bill credit pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) may be earned. Only credit earned prior to that date shall be made to a benefiting account.
(g)The Legislature finds and declares that credit for a benefiting account for the electricity output from the Pacific Union College Facility is in the public interest in order to allow a nonprofit education institution located in a rural area subject to power distribution capacity constraints, including power curtailments during peak periods and inclement weather, to replace an inefficient energy source with a clean, adequately sized combined heat and power cogeneration facility and credit excess power to its affiliated community public education or health facilities. Because