Bill Text

Bill Information


Bill PDF |Add To My Favorites |Track Bill | print page

AB-1623 Electricity: resource adequacy requirements: energy storage.(2023-2024)

SHARE THIS: share this bill in Facebook share this bill in Twitter
Date Published: 05/01/2023 02:00 PM
AB1623:v97#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  May 01, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 23, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1623

Introduced by Assembly Member Muratsuchi

February 17, 2023

An act to add Section 380.6 to and repeal Section 913.19 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1623, as amended, Muratsuchi. Electricity: resource adequacy requirements: energy storage.
Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission, in consultation with the Independent System Operator, to establish resource adequacy requirements for all load-serving entities, as defined. In establishing the resource adequacy requirements, existing law requires the commission to ensure the reliability of electrical service in the state while advancing, to the extent possible, the state’s goals for clean energy, reducing air pollution, and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Existing law requires that the resource adequacy program achieve specified objectives, including to establish new, or maintain existing, demand response products and tariffs that facilitate the economic dispatch and use of demand response that can either meet or reduce an electrical corporation’s resource adequacy requirements, as determined by the commission.
This bill would require the commission, or before June 30, 2024, and as part of a new or existing proceeding, to revise the net qualifying capacity and effective flexible capacity methodologies for energy storage resources, as specified. to submit to the Legislature a report assessing the regulatory barriers, if any, to the rapid deployment of energy storage resources in California, as specified.

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.

To the extent that the provisions of this bill would require an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission to implement, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.

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.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YESNO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) California is facing electrical grid reliability challenges due to a number of factors, including the impacts of climate change.
(b) California is a global leader in clean energy deployment, and the state has added significant levels of solar and wind energy generation, and is increasingly adding new electrical loads from transportation and building electrification.
(c) California is also a leader in developing and deploying energy storage, which can help to smooth intermittent renewable resources and better align the availability of renewable energy with evolving energy demand profiles.
(d) In order to support California’s clean energy transition, there is a need to deploy energy storage resources more quickly.
(e) Tens of thousands of megawatts of energy storage are in various stages of planning in California, and many of these projects could be brought online more quickly if they were able to more quickly access capacity market products, specifically resource adequacy.
(f) Accelerating additional energy storage resources into operations will accelerate the state’s transition to clean energy and support additional electrical grid reliability.
SEC. 2.Section 380.6 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:
380.6.

(a)On or before June 30, 2024, as part of a new or existing proceeding, the commission shall revise the net qualifying capacity and effective flexible capacity methodologies for energy storage resources.

(b)The revisions made pursuant to subdivision (a) shall do all of the following:

(1)Aim to accelerate the deployment of energy storage resources in a manner that preserves or enhances electrical grid reliability during net peak demand periods.

(2)Remove the downrating of qualifying capacity due to a lack of full capacity deliverability status.

(3)Develop an alternative net qualifying capacity test for energy storage resources. The test shall do all of the following:

(A)Ensure that energy storage resources are available during the highest system need periods of summer months.

(B)Maintain requirements for incremental, effective, and flexible capacity requirements.

(C)Ensure energy resources are available during highly constrained electrical grid conditions, including one-in-five-years peak demand levels, conditions under which nonintermittent generators are simultaneously operating at a maximum level as averaged over summer months during the previous three years, and N-1 transmission conditions.

(4)Resources receiving net qualifying capacity under the alternative test pursuant to paragraph (3) shall only be eligible for local and flexible resource adequacy, and shall not be eligible for system resource adequacy.

SEC. 3.

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only 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.

SEC. 2.

 Section 913.19 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

913.19.
 (a) For the purposes of this section, “energy storage resources” means energy resources that are capable of both charging and discharging, including, but not limited to, battery storage, pumped hydroelectric, and the energy storage portion of a colocated hybrid renewable and storage resource.
(b) On or before June 30, 2024, the commission, in consultation with the Independent System Operator, shall submit to the Legislature a report assessing the regulatory barriers, if any, to the rapid deployment of energy storage resources in California that includes all of the following:
(1) An evaluation of the role of deliverability rating in the calculation of net qualifying capacity for energy storage resources.
(2) An assessment of the suitability of the currently used net qualifying capacity and effective flexible capacity methodologies for energy storage resources.
(3) Recommendations for potential changes or alternatives to the methodologies specified in paragraph (2).
(c) The recommendations made pursuant to subdivision (b) shall do both of the following:
(1) Aim to accelerate the deployment of energy storage resources.
(2) Ensure that any recommended changes would, if implemented, preserve or enhance electrical grid reliability during net peak demand periods.
(d) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2028, and is repealed on January 1, 2029.