BILL NUMBER: AB 802 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 7, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Williams
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend Section 25943 of the Public Resources
Code, relating to energy resources. An act to amend
Sections 454.55 and 454.56 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to
energy efficiency.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 802, as amended, Williams. Residential and
nonresidential buildings: energy savings program.
Public utilities: energy efficiency savings.
Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), in
consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission (Energy Commission), to identify all
potentially achievable cost-effective electricity efficiency savings,
and to establish efficiency targets for electrical corporations to
achieve pursuant to their procurement plan. Existing law requires the
PUC, in consultation with the Energy Commission, to identify all
potentially achievable cost-effective natural gas efficiency savings
and to establish efficiency targets for gas corporations to achieve,
and requires that a gas corporation first meet, its unmet resource
needs through all available gas efficiency and demand reduction
resources that are cost effective, reliable, and feasible.
This bill would require the PUC, in evaluating the
cost-effectiveness of those efficiency savings, to consider the total
energy savings to be the difference between the energy usage after
the installation of the energy efficiency measure funded by
ratepayer-funded incentives or rebates and the energy usage without
that energy efficiency measure.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission, by March 1, 2010, to establish a regulatory
proceeding to develop and implement a comprehensive program to
achieve greater energy savings in California's existing residential
and nonresidential building stock, and permits the program to
include, but not be limited to, a broad range of energy assessments,
building benchmarking, energy rating, cost-effective energy
efficiency improvements, public and private sector energy efficiency
financing options, public outreach and education efforts, and green
workforce training.
This bill would delete the requirement that the commission develop
and implement the program through a regulatory proceeding.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) It is the
intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to require electrical
and gas corporations to satisfy the state's energy requirements with
energy efficiency measures when procuring those measures is less
expensive to the corporation than procuring alternative electric or
gas resources.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to
require that all applicable state and federal contractor
qualifications, licensing, certifications, and wages appropriate for
the work to be performed are followed for any energy efficiency
retrofit and installation project funded by ratepayers, and to
require that the Public Utilities Commission not create additional
qualification, license, certification, or wage requirements.
SEC. 2. Section 454.55 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
454.55. (a) The commission, in consultation
with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission, shall identify all potentially achievable cost-effective
electricity efficiency savings and establish efficiency targets for
an electrical corporation to achieve pursuant to Section 454.5.
(b) In evaluating the cost-effectiveness of electricty efficiency
savings, the commission shall consider the total electricity
efficiency savings to be the difference between the electrical usage
resulting after the installation of the energy efficiency measure
funded by ratepayer-funded incentives or rebates, and the electrical
usage without that energy efficiency measure, without regard to
standards prescribed pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section
25402 of the Public Resources Code.
SEC. 3. Section 454.56 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
454.56. (a) The commission, in consultation with the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission, shall identify
all potentially achievable cost-effective natural gas efficiency
savings and establish efficiency targets for the gas corporation to
achieve.
(b) A gas corporation shall first meet its unmet resource needs
through all available natural gas efficiency and demand reduction
resources that are cost effective, reliable, and feasible.
(c) In evaluating the cost-effectiveness of natural gas efficiency
savings, the commission shall consider the total natural gas
efficiency savings to be the difference between the natural gas usage
resulting after the installation of the energy efficiency measure
funded by ratepayer-funded incentives or rebates, and the natural gas
usage without that energy efficiency measure, without regard to
standards prescribed pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section
25402 of the Public Resources Code.
SECTION 1. Section 25943 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
25943. (a) (1) The commission shall develop and implement a
comprehensive program to achieve greater energy savings in California'
s existing residential and nonresidential building stock. This
program shall comprise a complementary portfolio of techniques,
applications, and practices that will achieve greater energy
efficiency in existing residential and nonresidential structures that
fall significantly below the current standards in Title 24 of the
California Code of Regulations, as determined by the commission.
(2) The comprehensive program may include, but is not limited to,
a broad range of energy assessments, building benchmarking, energy
rating, cost-effective energy efficiency improvements, public and
private sector energy efficiency financing options, public outreach
and education efforts, and green workforce training.
(b) To develop and implement the program specified in subdivision
(a), the commission shall do both of the following:
(1) Coordinate with the Public Utilities Commission and consult
with representatives from the Bureau of Real Estate, the Department
of Housing and Community Development, investor-owned and publicly
owned utilities, local governments, real estate licensees, commercial
and homebuilders, commercial property owners, small businesses,
mortgage lenders, financial institutions, home appraisers,
inspectors, energy rating organizations, consumer groups,
environmental and environmental justice groups, and other entities
the commission deems appropriate.
(2) Hold at least three public hearings in geographically diverse
locations throughout the state.
(c) In developing the requirements for the program specified in
subdivision (a), the commission shall consider all of the following:
(1) The amount of annual and peak energy savings, greenhouse gas
emission reductions, and projected customer utility bill savings that
will accrue from the program.
(2) The most cost-effective means and reasonable timeframes to
achieve the goals of the program.
(3) The various climatic zones within the state.
(4) An appropriate method to inform and educate the public about
the need for, benefits of, and environmental impacts of, the
comprehensive energy efficiency program.
(5) The most effective way to report the energy assessment results
and the corresponding energy efficiency improvements to the owner of
the residential or nonresidential building, including, among other
things, the following:
(A) Prioritizing the identified energy efficiency improvements.
(B) The payback period or cost-effectiveness of each improvement
identified.
(C) The various incentives, loans, grants, and rebates offered to
finance the improvements.
(D) Available financing options including all of the following:
(i) Mortgages or sales agreement components.
(ii) On-bill financing.
(iii) Contractual property tax assessments.
(iv) Home warranties.
(6) Existing statutory and regulatory requirements to achieve
energy efficiency savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions.
(7) A broad range of implementation approaches, including both
utility and nonutility administration of energy efficiency programs.
(8) Any other considerations deemed appropriate by the commission.
(d) The program developed pursuant to this section shall do all of
the following:
(1) Minimize the overall costs of establishing and implementing
the comprehensive energy efficiency program requirements.
(2) Ensure, for residential buildings, that the energy efficiency
assessments, ratings, or improvements do not unreasonably or
unnecessarily affect the home purchasing process or the ability of
individuals to rent housing. A transfer of property subject to the
program implemented pursuant to this section shall not be invalidated
solely because of the failure of a person to comply with a provision
of the program.
(3) Ensure, for nonresidential buildings, that the energy
improvements do not have an undue economic impact on California
businesses.
(4) Determine, for residential buildings, the appropriateness of
the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) program to support the goals of
this section and whether there are a sufficient number of
HERS-certified raters available to meet the program requirements.
(5) Determine, for nonresidential structures, the availability of
an appropriate cost-effective energy efficiency assessment system and
whether there are a sufficient number of certified raters or
auditors available to meet the program requirements.
(6) Coordinate with the California Workforce Investment Board, the
Employment Training Panel, the California Community Colleges, and
other entities to ensure a qualified, well-trained workforce is
available to implement the program requirements.
(7) Coordinate with, and avoid duplication of, existing
proceedings of the Public Utilities Commission and programs
administered by utilities.
(e) A home energy rating or energy assessment service does not
meet the requirements of this section unless the service has been
certified by the commission to be in compliance with the program
criteria developed pursuant to this section and is in conformity with
other applicable elements of the program.
(f) The commission shall periodically update the criteria and
adopt any revision that, in its judgment, is necessary to improve or
refine program requirements after receiving public input.
(g) Before implementing an element of the program developed
pursuant to subdivision (a) that requires the expansion of statutory
authority of the commission or the Public Utilities Commission, the
commission and the Public Utilities Commission shall obtain
legislative approval for the expansion of their authorities.
(h) The commission shall report on the status of the program in
the integrated energy policy report pursuant to Section 25302.
(i) The commission shall fund activities undertaken pursuant to
this section from the Federal Trust Fund consistent with the federal
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) or
other sources of nonstate funds available to the commission for the
purposes of this section.
(j) For purposes of this section, "energy assessment" means a
determination of an energy user's energy consumption level, relative
efficiency compared to other users, and opportunities to achieve
greater efficiency or improve energy resource utilization.