(E) By February 1, 2020, and by February 1 of every year thereafter, the Energy Commission shall provide the Legislature with an annual
update, in the form of a letter, on the progress of an irrigation district subject to this paragraph towards satisfying its renewable portfolio standard obligations, including distinguishing between its share of the total electricity generated by the Don Pedro Hydroelectric Project and all other eligible renewable energy resources.
(d) (1) The governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility shall adopt procurement requirements consistent with subparagraph (B) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of, and subdivision (b) of, Section 399.13.
(2) The governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility may adopt the following measures:
(A) Conditions that allow for delaying timely
compliance consistent with subdivision (b) of Section 399.15.
(B) Cost limitations for procurement expenditures consistent with subdivision (c) of Section 399.15.
(e) The governing board of the local publicly owned electric utility shall adopt a program for the enforcement of this article. The program shall be adopted at a publicly noticed meeting offering all interested parties an opportunity to comment. Not less than 30 days’ notice shall be given to the public of any meeting held for purposes of adopting the program. Not less than 10 days’ notice shall be given to the public before any meeting is held to make a substantive change to the program.
(f) Each local publicly owned electric utility shall annually post notice,
in accordance with the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code), whenever its governing body will deliberate in public on its renewable energy resources procurement plan.
(g) A public utility district that receives all of its electricity pursuant to a preference right adopted and authorized by the United States Congress pursuant to Section 4 of the Trinity River Division Act of August 12, 1955 (Public Law 84-386), shall be in compliance with the renewable energy procurement requirements of this article.
(h) For a local publicly owned electric utility that was in existence on or before January 1, 2009, that provides retail electric service to 15,000 or fewer customer accounts in California, and is interconnected
to a balancing authority located outside this state but within the WECC, an eligible renewable energy resource includes a facility that is located outside California that is
connected to the WECC transmission system, if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The electricity generated by the facility is procured by the local publicly owned electric utility, is delivered to the balancing authority area in which the local publicly owned electric utility is located, and is not used to fulfill renewable energy procurement requirements of other states.
(2) The local publicly owned electric utility participates in, and complies with, the accounting system administered by the Energy Commission pursuant to this article.
(3) The Energy Commission verifies that the electricity generated by the facility is eligible to meet the renewables portfolio standard procurement
requirements.
(i) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), for a local publicly owned electric utility that is a joint powers authority of districts established pursuant to state law on or before January 1, 2005, that furnishes electric services other than to residential customers, and is formed pursuant to the Irrigation District Law (Division 11 (commencing with Section 20500) of the Water Code), the percentage of total kilowatthours sold to the district’s retail end-use customers, upon which the renewables portfolio standard procurement requirements in subdivision (b) are calculated, shall be based on the authority’s average retail sales over the previous seven years. If the authority has not furnished electric service for seven years, then the calculation shall be based on average retail sales over the number of completed years during which
the authority has provided electric service.
(j) A local publicly owned electric utility in a city and county that only receives greater than 67 percent of its electricity sources from hydroelectric generation located within the state that it owns and operates, and that does not meet the definition of a “renewable electrical generation facility” pursuant to Section 25741 of the Public Resources Code, shall be required to procure eligible renewable energy resources, including renewable energy credits, to meet only the electricity demands unsatisfied by its hydroelectric generation in any given year, in order to satisfy its renewable energy procurement requirements.
(k) (1) For purposes of this subdivision, “large hydroelectric generation” means electricity
generated from a hydroelectric facility located within the state that does not qualify as an eligible renewable energy resource and, as of January 1, 2018, was owned by a local publicly owned electric utility, the federal government as a part of the federal Central Valley Project, or a joint powers agency formed and created pursuant to the Joint Exercise of Powers Act (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 6500) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code). “Large hydroelectric generation” does not include electricity that is subject to the election authorized in paragraph (5) of subdivision (c) upon that election.
(2) If, during a year within a compliance period set forth in subdivision (b), a local publicly owned electric utility receives more than 40 percent of its retail sales from large hydroelectric generation under an ownership
agreement or contract in effect as of January 1, 2018, it is not required to procure eligible renewable energy resources that exceed the lesser of the following for that year:
(A) The portion of the local publicly owned electric utility’s retail sales unsatisfied by the local publicly owned electric utility’s large hydroelectric generation.
(B) The soft target adopted by the Energy Commission for the intervening years of the relevant compliance period.
(3) An extension or renewal of a procurement agreement shall not be eligible to count towards the determination that the local publicly owned electric utility receives more than 40 percent of its retail sales from large hydroelectric generation in any year. This paragraph
shall not apply to any agreement in effect on January 1, 2015, between a local publicly owned electric utility and the Western Area Power Administration or federal government as part of the federal Central Valley Project.
(4) The Energy Commission shall adjust the total quantities of eligible renewable energy resources to be procured by a local publicly owned electric utility for a compliance period to reflect any reductions required pursuant to paragraph (2).
(5) This subdivision does not modify the compliance obligation of a local publicly owned electric utility to satisfy the requirements of subdivision (c) of Section 399.16.
(l) (1) (A) For purposes of this subdivision, “unavoidable long-term
contracts and ownership agreements” means commitments for electricity from a coal-fired powerplant, located outside the state, originally entered into by a local publicly owned electric utility before June 1, 2010, that is not subsequently modified to result in an extension of the duration of the agreement or result in an increase in total quantities of energy delivered during any compliance period set forth in subdivision (b).
(B) The governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility shall demonstrate in its renewable energy resources procurement plan required pursuant to subdivision (f) that any cancellation or divestment of the commitment would result in significant economic harm to its retail customers that cannot be substantially mitigated through resale, transfer to another entity, early closure of the facility, or other
feasible measures.
(2) For the compliance period set forth in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b), a local publicly owned electric utility meeting the requirement of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) may adjust its
renewable energy procurement targets to ensure that the procurement of additional electricity from eligible renewable energy resources, in combination with the procurement of electricity from unavoidable long-term contracts and ownership agreements, does not exceed the total retail sales of the local publicly owned electric utility during that compliance period. The local publicly owned electric utility may limit its procurement of eligible renewable energy resources for that compliance period to no less than an average of 33 percent of its retail sales.
(3) The Energy Commission shall approve any reductions in procurement targets proposed by a local publicly owned electric utility if it determines that the requirements of this subdivision are satisfied.
(m) A local publicly owned electric utility shall retain discretion over both of the following:
(1) The mix of eligible renewable energy resources procured by the utility and those additional generation resources procured by the utility for purposes of ensuring resource adequacy and reliability.
(2) The reasonable costs incurred by the utility for eligible renewable energy resources owned by the utility.
(n) The Energy Commission shall adopt regulations specifying procedures for enforcement of this article. The regulations shall include a public process under which the Energy Commission may issue a notice of violation and correction against a local publicly owned electric utility for failure to comply with this
article, and for referral of violations to the State Air Resources Board for penalties pursuant to subdivision (o).
(o) (1) Upon a determination by the Energy Commission that a local publicly owned electric utility has failed to comply with this article, the Energy Commission shall refer the failure to comply with this article to the State Air Resources Board, which may impose penalties to enforce this article consistent with Part 6 (commencing with Section 38580) of Division 25.5 of the Health and Safety Code. Any penalties imposed shall be comparable to those adopted by the commission for noncompliance by retail sellers.
(2) Any penalties collected by the State Air Resources Board pursuant to this article shall be deposited in the Air Pollution Control
Fund and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, shall be expended for reducing emissions of air pollution or greenhouse gases within the same geographic area as the local publicly owned electric utility.