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AB-643 Electric Rule 21: interconnection: distributed renewable generation.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 05/01/2023 02:00 PM
AB643:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  May 01, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 643

Introduced by Assembly Member Berman

February 09, 2023

An act to add Sections 769.4 and 913.10 Section 769.4 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 643, as amended, Berman. Electricity: interconnection timelines: report. Electric Rule 21: interconnection: distributed renewable generation.
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the commission to make various reports to the Legislature, including a report on the progress made toward modernizing the state’s distribution and transmission grid and the impacts of distributed energy resources on the state’s distribution and transmission grid, as specified. The commission’s Electric Rule 21 establishes a tariff that describes the interconnection, operating, and metering requirements of generation facilities to be connected to an electrical corporation’s distribution system.

This bill would require the commission, on or before June 1 of each year, to submit a report to the Legislature on timelines for the interconnection of customer-sited energy generation and storage resources, as specified. The bill would require the commission to consider the negligent exceedance, as defined, of an interconnection timeline, as defined, by an electrical corporation to be a failure to comply with a rule of the commission and subject to a penalty. The bill would require an electrical corporation to provide a substantial response to any queries from an interconnection applicant related to the completeness of the application and the submission of supporting information to pending applications within 3 business days.

This bill would require the commission, on or before March 31, 2024, to commence the consideration of adopting mechanisms, as provided, for distributed renewable generation interconnections to enforce timelines, reduce administrative burden, and provide transparency and certainty to customers. The bill would require the commission, in considering the adoption of mechanisms, to create process improvements to, and potential timelines for, Electric Rule 21 to address certain types of delays.
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.
Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing its requirements would be a crime, the this 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.

 Section 769.4 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

769.4.
 (a) On or before March 31, 2024, the commission shall commence, in a new proceeding or in a new phase of an existing proceeding related to Electric Rule 21, the consideration of adopting mechanisms for distributed renewable generation interconnections to enforce timelines, reduce administrative burden, and provide transparency and certainty to customers.
(b) In considering the adoption of the mechanisms pursuant to subdivision (a), the commission shall create process improvements to, and potential timelines for, Electric Rule 21 to address the following types of delays:
(1) Delays between submittal of an application for interconnection of a customer-sited renewable generator and the electrical corporation’s determination that the application is valid and complete.
(2) Delays between submittal of local government inspection approval of a customer-sited renewable generator and the electrical corporation’s issuance of permission to operate the generator.
(3) Delays in the electrical corporation scheduling an inspection of a customer-sited renewable generator when electrical corporation inspection is required.

SEC. 2.

 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.
SECTION 1.Section 769.4 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:
769.4.

(a)For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1)“Interconnection timeline” means a timeline established by the commission for a step in the process of reviewing interconnection applications.

(2)“Negligent exceedance” means the exceedance of an interconnection timeline by an electrical corporation that does not result from unresponsiveness by the customer and is not justified by characteristics of a project that are uniquely time-consuming compared to typical interconnection requests.

(b)The commission shall consider a negligent exceedance of an established interconnection timeline to be a failure to comply with a rule, subject to Section 2107.

(c)(1)An electrical corporation shall provide a substantial response to any queries from an interconnection applicant related to the completeness of the application and the submission of supporting information to pending applications within three business days.

(2)The commission may impose fines pursuant to Section 2107 for an electrical corporation that routinely violates the timeline in paragraph (1).

SEC. 2.Section 913.10 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:
913.10.

(a)For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1)“Interconnection timeline” means the same as defined in Section 769.4.

(2)“Negligent exceedance” means the same as defined in Section 769.4.

(b)On or before June 1 of each year, the commission shall submit a report to the Legislature, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, on timelines for the interconnection of customer-sited energy generation and storage resources. The report shall contain all of the following information, and any related information that the commission deems relevant:

(1)Compliance with interconnection timelines, disaggregated by projects larger than 30 kilowatts and projects smaller than 30 kilowatts.

(2)The timeliness of electrical corporations in completing steps in the process of reviewing interconnection applications that do not have defined interconnection timelines.

(3)The number of interconnection requests initially received in each of the past five years, the number of requests withdrawn, and the number of requests granted permission to operate.

(4)A summary of challenges in reducing the amount of time for interconnection review, and the improvements to the interconnection review process that occurred in the previous year.

(5)Penalties assessed for violating interconnection timelines.

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.