Today's Law As Amended


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AB-1030 Energy storage systems.(2017-2018)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.
 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The electrical system is evolving from a model dominated by centralized powerplants and long distance transmission of electricity toward a model focused on local energy sources located close to customer electrical demand.
(b) A decentralized electrical system can create greater energy independence and provide opportunities for increased resiliency of the supply of electricity.
(c) Locating generation near where the electricity is used reduces losses associated with the long-distance transmission of electricity.
(d) Empowering customers to take more active roles in the state’s electrical system leverages private capital, protects consumers from rising energy costs, and promotes customer understanding and engagement.
(e) Installation of energy storage systems on a mass scale will be essential to the integration of renewable energy resources sufficient to meet the state’s goals for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
(f) A competitive market for energy storage systems would create jobs, stimulate economic development, and benefit the economy statewide.
(g) California is a worldwide leader in the development of energy storage systems and advanced management of the electrical grid, but the market is so small that this leadership position is not firm.

SEC. 2.

 Section 2837.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

2837.5.
 (a) The following are energy policy goals of the state:
(1) Make energy storage a mainstream technology that enables utility customers to help reduce variation in electricity consumption in local circuits of the electrical distribution system and the statewide electrical system.
(2) Create a marketplace for energy services that harnesses innovation stimulated by competition and that fairly compensates distributed energy resources for the electrical and other system attributes and grid services that those resources provide to the electrical system.
(3) Achieve market transformation for energy storage systems. Market transformation would enable advanced technology energy companies and associated entities to achieve the scale and experience necessary to offer solutions at prices that are cost effective for customers. The market transformation of energy storage systems can also help address time-varying energy needs of the electrical system.
(4) Use customer-sited energy storage as a primary strategy to meet the existing targets for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases established by the State Air Resources Board pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code).
(b) In order to achieve the energy policy goals of subdivision (a), the Public Utilities Commission and the governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility shall do all of the following:
(1) Approve optional tariffs that account for the electrical, capacity, and other grid services provided to the electrical system by customers with customer-sited energy storage systems and are intended to motivate customers to install load-sited energy storage systems.
(2) Ensure that demand response programs prioritize opportunities for participation by customers with load-sited energy storage systems.
(3) Ensure that tariff and market rules do not prevent full utilization of customer-sited energy storage systems to provide the services they are capable of performing.
(4) Ensure that rules governing the interconnection of customer-sited energy systems to utility distribution systems are streamlined, cost effective, and remain up to date for the evolving technological characteristics of customer-sited energy storage systems.
(5) Coordinate with the Independent System Operator to remove obstacles for customer-sited and aggregated distributed energy resources to participate in the wholesale energy markets.
(6) Establish a rebate program dedicated to energy storage and that carves out a portion of funding for low-income customers and disadvantaged communities.
SEC. 3.
 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act or because costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.