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AB-1087 Environmental Justice Community Resilience Hubs Program.(2021-2022)

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Date Published: 04/21/2021 09:00 PM
AB1087:v97#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 21, 2021
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 14, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1087

Introduced by Assembly Member Chiu
(Coauthor: Senator Becker)

February 18, 2021

An act to amend Section 748.5 of, and to add Chapter 8.5 (commencing with Section 2845) to Part 2 of Division 1 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1087, as amended, Chiu. Environmental Justice Community Resilience Hubs Program.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The act requires the state board to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined, no later than December 31, 2030. The act requires the state board to adopt rules and regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reductions. The state board is authorized to include market-based compliance mechanisms to comply with the regulations. The implementing regulations adopted by the state board provide for the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to electrical corporations pursuant to a market-based compliance mechanism.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the PUC to allocate 15% of the revenues received by the electrical corporations from that allocation of allowances for clean energy and energy efficiency projects established pursuant to statute that are administered by electrical corporations. Existing law requires the PUC to direct the balance of the revenues to be credited directly to the residential, small business, and emissions-intensive trade-exposed retail customers of the electrical corporations, as specified.
Beginning with the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2022, and ending with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027, except as provided, this bill would require the PUC to annually allocate up to 5% of the revenues received by the electrical corporations from that allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to the Environmental Justice Community Resilience Hubs Program, which would require each electrical corporation to award those allocated revenues as to a single third-party administrator, selected by the commission, that will award competitive grants to owners of critical community institutions, meeting eligibility criteria established by the PUC, for building upgrade projects that demonstrate community engagement in all phases, demonstrate multistakeholder partnerships, reflect the geographic diversity of the state, and are installed at critical community institutions. The bill would require the PUC to determine whether each electrical corporation or a third party, including the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), will administer those competitive grants, and would require each administrator select a third-party administrator by no later than March 1, 2023, and require that the program be operational and begin processing applications by no later than July 1, 2023. The bill would require that the program be jointly operated among all the participating electrical corporations and be consistent across the utility territories. The bill would require the third-party administrator ensure that program moneys from each utility are used only for projects located in the service territory of that utility from which the moneys are received and to provide technical assistance to customers. program applicants. The bill would prohibit more than 10% of those allocated revenues from being used for administration, technical assistance, and outreach. The bill would require the PUC to establish requirements relating to hiring, wages, apprenticeship programs, and workforce standards for the program. The bill would require the PUC, in consultation with the Energy Commission and the administrators, to ensure for greater cross-referral between eligible programs, as specified, share best practices, scale programming, establish a uniform application for multiple eligible programs, and provide comprehensive guidance and technical assistance for applicants to eligible programs.
Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime.
Because a violation of a PUC action implementing this bill’s requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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: YES  

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


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) It is the goal of the state to promote activities that eliminate climate pollution while ensuring the state’s disadvantaged communities and vulnerable populations benefit from the state’s transition to a clean energy economy.
(b) Achieving community resilience in California demands that the state’s physical and social infrastructure be strengthened to cope with disruptions from wildfires, smoke waves, extreme heat, deenergization events, storms, and floods. These disruptions are occurring more frequently and with greater severity due to climate change and repeated infrastructure failures, which is devastating communities across California.
(c) Disadvantaged communities and vulnerable populations disproportionately live and access services in older buildings, which contribute to higher energy burdens and poor health outcomes. High-performance well-insulated buildings can reduce these burdens and support residents’ health, comfort, and safety. This is especially important during shelter-in-place orders in a pandemic or during climate disasters, including heat waves, fires, and storms.
(d) Physical infrastructure that can advance community resilience includes requires integration of multiple technologies and investments in energy efficiency, solar installation and upgrades, energy storage technology, microgrid incentives, technology and backup electrical generation capability, modernized heating, weatherization, cooling and air filtration equipment, electrical panel upgrades, water heating and recycling systems, building decarbonization, and demand response strategies.
(e) Social infrastructure refers to the network of public and community-based services and facilities that secure the economic, health, cultural, and social well-being of the community, such as those provided through trusted community centers, schools, libraries, parks and recreation centers, places of worship, affordable housing, and mutual aid networks.
(f) The creation of community resilience hubs involves the integration of investments in physical and social infrastructure and offers opportunities for community members and residents to access economic and social support in addition to response and recovery services during disasters.
(g) It is the goal of the state to make clean, renewable, and resilient energy systems more accessible to disadvantaged communities and vulnerable populations and to install those systems in a manner that represents the geographic diversity of the state.
(h) There is a need to ensure that resilient energy systems and clean energy transitions lead to safe and high-quality jobs and improve access to career-track jobs, especially for populations that have been traditionally underrepresented, such as monolingual non-English speakers, formerly incarcerated people, and workers transitioning from the fossil fuel industry. A disorganized and unplanned transition from fossil fuels threatens the livelihoods of utility and skilled craft workers and other unionized workers in the energy industry. Discrete and directed policies should frame a just transition that involves industry-based, worker-focused training partnerships build skills for California’s “high road” employers that compete based on quality of product and service achieved through innovation and investment in human capital, and can thus generate family-supporting jobs where workers have agency and voice. A goal of this measure act is to provide high-quality jobs and opportunities as an integral part of delivering comprehensive building upgrades towards creating resilient communities.

SEC. 2.

 Section 748.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

748.5.
 (a) Except as provided in subdivisions (c) and (d), the commission shall require revenues, including any accrued interest, received by an electrical corporation as a result of the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to electric utilities pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 95890 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations to be credited directly to the residential, small business, and emissions-intensive trade-exposed retail customers of the electrical corporation.
(b) Not later than January 1, 2013, the commission shall require the adoption and implementation of a customer outreach plan for each electrical corporation, including, but not limited to, such measures as notices in bills and through media outlets, for purposes of obtaining the maximum feasible public awareness of the crediting of greenhouse gas allowance revenues. Costs associated with the implementation of this plan are subject to recovery in rates pursuant to Section 454.
(c) The commission may allocate up to 15 percent of the revenues, including any accrued interest, received by an electrical corporation as a result of the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to electrical distribution utilities pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 95890 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations, for clean energy and energy efficiency projects established pursuant to statute that are administered by the electrical corporation, or a qualified third-party administrator as approved by the commission, and that are not otherwise funded by another funding source.
(d) (1) Beginning with the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2022, and ending with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027, except as specified in paragraph (2), the commission shall annually allocate up to 5 percent of the revenues, including any accrued interest, received by an electrical corporation as a result of the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to electrical distribution utilities pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 95890 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations, for eligible resiliency projects as described in Section 2847. The allocation pursuant to this paragraph shall not exceed 5 percent, percent of the revenues, and the total combined allocations pursuant to this paragraph and subdivision (c) shall not exceed 20 percent of the total revenues, including any accrued interest, received by an electrical corporation as a result of the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to electrical distribution utilities pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 95890 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations.
(2) The commission shall not include in the allocation pursuant to paragraph (1) any portion of the revenues attributable to those portions of the revenues credited directly to small business and emissions-intensive trade-exposed retail customers of the electrical corporation.
(3) The allocation pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not reduce the credits available to residential customers pursuant to subdivision (a) that are participants in the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program, continued pursuant to Section 739.1, or the Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) program, pursuant to Section 739.12.

(3)Those portions of the revenues excluded from the allocation pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be available to be credited directly to customers pursuant to subdivision (a).

SEC. 3.

 Chapter 8.5 (commencing with Section 2845) is added to Part 2 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, to read:
CHAPTER  8.5. Environmental Justice Community Resilience Hubs Program

2845.
 For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(a) “Administrator” means an the administrator of the competitive grants awarded pursuant to Section 2847.
(b) “CARE program” means the California Alternate Rates for Energy program continued pursuant to Section 739.1.
(c) “Critical community institutions” mean institutions necessary for providing vital community functions during states of emergency, as defined in Section 8558 of the Government Code, and natural disasters located in disadvantaged or vulnerable communities. The commission shall establish eligibility criteria for meeting the definition of this subdivision.
(d) “Disadvantaged community” means a community identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.
(e) “Electrical corporation” means an electrical corporation that is subject to Section 748.5.

(e)

(f) “Program” means the Environmental Justice Community Resilience Hubs Program created pursuant to Section 2846. 2847.

(f)

(g) “Vulnerable community” has the same meaning as defined in Section 71340 of the Public Resources Code.

2846.

The Environmental Justice Community Resilience Hubs Program is hereby created, with the features and requirements described in this chapter.

2847.
 (a) (1) Upon the allocation of revenues pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 748.5, an electrical corporation shall cause those moneys to be awarded as to a third-party administrator, selected by the commission, that will award competitive grants to owners of critical community institutions for building upgrade projects that demonstrate community engagement in all phases, demonstrate multistakeholder partnerships, reflect the geographic diversity of the state, and are installed at critical community institutions.
(2) An electrical corporation, or third-party administrator, may accept additional moneys from other sources for the purpose of funding the competitive grants.
(b) The By November 1, 2022, the commission shall establish eligibility criteria for comprehensive building upgrades that meet the program goals to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and criteria air pollutants, and to enhance community resilience to climate change events in disadvantaged or vulnerable communities. The commission shall ensure eligible upgrades do not duplicate eligible projects and technologies under existing programs. receive duplicative funding for the same technology or measure from other programs.
(c) (1) The commission shall determine whether each electrical corporation or a third party, including the Energy Commission, will administer the competitive grants awarded pursuant to this section. establish the Environmental Justice Community Resilience Hubs Program. The program shall be jointly operated among all the participating electrical corporations and shall be consistent across the utility territories and designed, administered, and implemented by a single third-party administrator selected through a process determined by the commission. The third-party administrator shall administer the competitive grants awarded pursuant to this subdivision. The third-party administrator shall ensure that program moneys from each utility are used only for projects located in the service territory of that utility from which the moneys are received. The commission shall select a third-party administrator by no later than March 1, 2023, and the program shall be operational and begin processing applications by no later than July 1, 2023.
(2) Not more than 10 percent of the funds allocated pursuant to this section shall be used for administration, technical assistance, and outreach.
(3) The administrator shall provide technical assistance to customers applying for the competitive grants and, to the extent possible, to customers applying for other public benefit programs relating to energy, including those specified in Section 2848. program applicants for the competitive grants.
(4) The administrator shall consult with the commission pursuant to Section 2848 and implement, to the extent possible, the guidance, technical assistance, and streamlined processes made available through Section 2848. assess the landscape of other public benefit programs that program applicants may be eligible to access. To the extent possible, the administrator shall support program applicants in accessing other public benefit programs relating to energy in order to coordinate any available complementary funding sources.
(5) The administrator shall ensure that the competitive grants are only awarded throughout the applicable electrical corporation’s service territory.
(d) The commission shall establish local hiring requirements, wage requirements, requirements to partner with state-sanctioned apprenticeships programs, and strong workforce standards for the program in order to provide economic development benefits to disadvantaged communities.

2848.

(a)The commission, in consultation with the Energy Commission and administrators, shall ensure greater cross-referral between eligible programs, share best practices, scale programming, establish a uniform application for multiple eligible programs, and provide comprehensive guidance and technical assistance for applicants to eligible programs.

(b)Eligible programs include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(1)Home weatherization services pursuant to Section 2790.

(2)The Multifamily Affordable Housing Solar Roofs Program established pursuant to Chapter 9.5 (commencing with Section 2870).

(3)The self-generation incentive program described in Section 379.6.

(4)The Disadvantaged Communities Single-Family Solar Homes Program, Disadvantaged Communities Green Tariff Program, and Community Solar Green Tariff Program adopted by the commission in Decision 18-06-027 (June 21, 2018), Alternate Decision Adopting Alternatives to Promote Solar Distributed Generation in Disadvantaged Communities.

(5)The microgrid incentive program adopted by the commission pursuant to Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 8370) of Division 4.1.

(6)The Energy Savings Assistance Program established pursuant to Section 382.

(7)Other programs identified by the commission that contribute to community resilience.

SEC. 4.

 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.