Today's Law As Amended


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AB-79 Electrical generation: hourly greenhouse gas emissions: electricity from unspecified sources.(2017-2018)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.

 Section 38532 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

38532.
 (a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Balancing authority” means the responsible entity that integrates resource plans ahead of time, maintains load-interchange generation balance within a balancing authority area, and supports interconnection frequency in real time.
(2) “Balancing authority area” means the collection of generation, transmission, and loads within the metered boundaries of the area within which the balancing authority maintains the electrical load-resource balance.
(3) “California balancing authority” means a balancing authority with control over a balancing authority area primarily located in this state and operating for retail suppliers, including, but not limited to, the Independent System Operator or a local publicly owned electric utility operating a transmission grid that is not under the operational control of the Independent System Operator. A California balancing authority is responsible for the operation of the transmission grid within its metered boundaries, not limited by the political boundaries of the State of California.
(4) “Electricity from specified sources” means electricity transactions that are traceable to specific generation sources.
(5) “Electricity from unspecified sources” means electricity generated within or outside the state and purchased under commercial agreements that do not identify specific generation sources.
(6) “Retail supplier” has the same meaning as defined in Section 398.2 of the Public Utilities Code.
(b) (1) Unless the state board makes a determination not to update pursuant to subdivision (c), on or before January 1, 2019, the state board, in consultation with California balancing authorities, shall update its inputs or methodology for the calculation of emissions of greenhouse gases associated with electricity from unspecified sources purchased by retail suppliers on behalf of California end-use customers.
(2) The inputs or methodology shall distinguish between emissions associated with electricity from unspecified sources purchased within California balancing authority areas and associated with electricity from unspecified sources imported into California from different subregions of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council.
(3) The updated emissions inputs or methodology shall be applied to purchases of electricity from unspecified sources occurring after January 1, 2021.
(4) The state board shall regularly update the inputs to its methodology and may incorporate additional measures and forms of differentiation that are designed to improve the accuracy of the calculations and that support the state’s initiatives for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
(c) The state board may make a determination to not update its inputs or methodology for the calculation of emissions of greenhouse gases associated with electricity from unspecified sources pursuant to subdivision (b) if the state board determines that updating the inputs or methodology is infeasible or is not appropriate because the administrative burden is excessive and differentiating is unlikely to materially improve the accuracy of the calculations needed for state programs designed to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases.
(d) (1) On or before January 1, 2019, the state board shall report to the Legislature on any barriers to developing an enhanced methodology for the calculation, based on recorded generation operations data, of hourly greenhouse gas emissions associated with electricity from unspecified sources. The report shall identify any information, systems, or modifications to programs or procedures required to calculate, on an ex post basis, recorded hourly emissions associated with electricity from unspecified sources purchased within California balancing authority areas and from within other subregions of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council. The state board shall consult with the Independent System Operator and other California balancing authorities for purposes of developing this report.
(2) The report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(3) The requirement for submitting a report pursuant to paragraph (1) is inoperative on January 1, 2023, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.

SEC. 2.

 Section 400 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

400.
 The commission and the Energy Commission shall do all of the following in furtherance of meeting the state’s clean energy and pollution reduction objectives:
(a) Take into account the use of distributed generation to the extent that it provides economic and environmental benefits in disadvantaged communities identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.
(b) Take into account the opportunities to decrease costs and increase benefits, including pollution reduction and grid integration, using renewable and nonrenewable technologies with zero or lowest feasible emissions of greenhouse gases, criteria pollutants, and toxic air contaminants onsite in proceedings associated with meeting the objectives.
(c) Where feasible, authorize procurement of resources to provide grid reliability services that minimize reliance on system power and fossil fuel resources and, where feasible, cost effective, and consistent with other state policy objectives, increase the use of large- and small-scale energy storage with a variety of technologies, including green electrolytic hydrogen,  targeted energy efficiency, demand response, including, but not limited to, automated demand response, eligible renewable energy resources, or other renewable and nonrenewable technologies with zero or lowest feasible emissions of greenhouse gases, criteria pollutants, and toxic air contaminants onsite to protect system reliability.
(d) (1) Review technology incentive, research, development, deployment, and market facilitation programs overseen by the commission and the Energy Commission and make recommendations to advance state clean energy and pollution reduction objectives and provide benefits to disadvantaged communities identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) The Energy Commission shall review technology incentive, research, development, deployment, and market facilitation programs operating in California and overseen by academia and the private and nonprofit sectors, and make recommendations to advance state clean energy and pollution reduction objectives and provide benefits to disadvantaged communities identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.
(e) To the extent feasible and consistent with the state and federal constitutions, give first priority to the manufacture and deployment of clean energy and pollution reduction technologies that create employment opportunities in California, including high wage, highly skilled employment opportunities, and increased investment in the state.
(f) Establish a publicly available tracking system to provide up-to-date information at least once annually on progress toward meeting the clean energy and pollution reduction goals of the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015. 2015 (Chapter 547 of the Statutes of 2015). 
(g) (1)  Establish a disadvantaged community  an  advisory group consisting of representatives from disadvantaged communities identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code. The disadvantaged community  advisory group shall review and provide advice on programs proposed to achieve clean energy and pollution reduction and determine whether those proposed programs will be effective and useful in disadvantaged communities.
(2) Each member of the disadvantaged community advisory group shall receive per diem and shall be reimbursed for travel and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his or her duties under this section. The total amount of money expended for panel expenses pursuant to this paragraph shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per year.
(3) (h)  For the purposes of paragraph (2), per diem, travel and other necessary expenses shall be funded equally by the commission and the Energy Commission. Incorporate the methodology developed pursuant to Section 38532 of the Health and Safety Code into programs addressing the disclosure of emissions of greenhouse gases and the procurement of electricity by entities subject to the respective jurisdiction of each. 
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.