BILL NUMBER: AB 802 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 22, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 1, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 7, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Williams
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend Sections 25301 and 25303 of, and to repeal
and add Section 25402.10 to, the Public Resources Code, and to
amend Section 381.2 of of, to amend and
renumber Section 384.2 of, and to add Section 913.8 to, the
Public Utilities Code, relating to energy efficiency.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 802, as amended, Williams. Public utilities: energy
efficiency savings. Energy efficiency.
(1) Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation
and Development Commission (Energy Commission), at least every 2
years, to conduct assessments and forecasts of all aspects of energy
industry supply, production, transportation, delivery, distribution,
demand, and prices. Existing law requires the Energy Commission to
use these assessments and forecasts to develop energy policies that
conserve resources, protect the environment, ensure energy
reliability, enhance the state's economy, and protect public health
and safety. Existing law requires the Energy Commission to prepare an
integrated energy policy report every 2 years and requires the
report to include an assessment and forecast of system reliability
and the need for resource additions, efficiency, and conservation
that considers certain criteria.
This bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation
with the Public Utilities Commission, to make all reasonable
adjustments to its energy demand forecasts conducted pursuant to the
above-described provisions to account for its findings of market
conditions and existing baselines, and in making those adjustments,
would authorize the commission to consider the results from specified
programs.
The bill would require the Energy Commission to use the
above-described assessments and forecasts relating to various aspects
of the energy industry to develop and evaluate energy policies and
programs.
(2) Existing law requires electric and gas utilities to maintain
records of the energy consumption data of all nonresidential
buildings to which they provide service and requires that this data
be maintained, in a format compatible for uploading to the United
States Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR Portfolio
Manager, for at least the most recent 12 months. Existing law also
requires, upon the written authorization or secure electronic
authorization of a nonresidential building owner or operator, an
electric or gas utility to upload all of the energy consumption data
for the account specified for a building to the United States
Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager in a
manner that preserves the confidentiality of the customer. Existing
law requires an owner or operator to disclose the United States
Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager
benchmarking data and rating to a prospective buyer, lessee of the
entire building, or lender that would finance the entire building
based on a schedule of compliance established by the Energy
Commission.
This bill would revise and recast these provisions. The bill would
require utilities to maintain records of the energy usage data of
all buildings to which they provide service for at least the most
recent 12 complete months. Beginning no later than January 1, 2017,
the bill would require each utility, upon the request and the written
authorization or secure electronic authorization of the owner, owner'
s agent, or operator of a covered building, as defined, to deliver or
provide aggregated energy usage data for a covered building to the
owner, owner's agent, operator, or to the owner's account in the
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, subject to specified requirements. The
bill would also authorize the commission to specify additional
information to be delivered by utilities for certain purposes. The
bill would delete the requirement of an owner or operator of a
building to disclose the above-described information to a prospective
buyer, lessee of the entire building, or lender that would finance
the entire building. The bill would require the Energy Commission to
adopt regulations providing for the delivery to the commission and
public disclosure of benchmarking results for covered buildings, as
prescribed. The bill would authorize the Energy Commission to impose
a civil fine, as provided, for a violation of these data submission
requirements.
Existing
(3) Existing law requires the
State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission (Energy Commission) Energy Commission
to develop and implement a comprehensive program to achieve greater
energy savings in existing residential and nonresidential building
stock. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to
investigate the ability of electrical corporations and gas
corporations to provide various energy efficiency financing options
to their customers for the purposes of implementing the program
developed by the Energy Commission.
This bill would require the PUC, by July
September 1, 2016, to authorize electrical corporations and gas
corporations to recover in rates the reasonable costs of
programs providing provide incentives, rebates,
technical assistance, and support to their customers to increase the
energy efficiency of existing buildings, as specified.
specified, and would authorize electrical corporations
and gas corporations to recover the reasonable costs of those
programs in rates. The bill would require the PUC to authorize
electrical corporations and gas corporations to count all energy
savings achieved through the authorized programs, unless
determined otherwise, toward overall energy efficiency goals or
targets established by the PUC. The bill would authorize the PUC to
adjust the energy efficiency goals or targets of electrical
corporations and gas corporations to reflect the estimated
change in energy savings achieved in meeting or
exceeding energy efficiency requirements in existing buildings.
savings resulting from the program.
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. It is the intent of the Legislature to
support strategies that enhance energy efficiency. Building owners
should have access to their buildings ' energy usage
information, which enables understanding of a building's energy usage
for improved building management and investment decisions. It is the
intent of the Legislature that the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission create a benchmarking and
disclosure program through which building owners of commercial and
multifamily buildings above 50,000 square feet gross floor
area will better understand their energy consumption through
standardized energy use metrics.
SEC. 2. Section 25301 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
25301. (a) At least every two years, the commission shall conduct
assessments and forecasts of all aspects of energy industry supply,
production, transportation, delivery and distribution, demand, and
prices. The commission shall use these assessments and forecasts to
develop and evaluate energy policies and programs
that conserve resources, protect the environment, ensure energy
reliability, enhance the state's economy, and protect public health
and safety. To perform these assessments and forecasts, the
commission may require submission of demand forecasts, resource
plans, market assessments, and related
outlooks outlooks, individual customer historic
electric or gas service usage, or both, and individual customer
historic billing data, in a format and level of granularity specified
by the commission from electric and natural gas utilities,
transportation fuel and technology suppliers, and other market
participants. These assessments and forecasts shall be done in
consultation with the appropriate state and federal agencies
including, but not limited to, the Public Utilities Commission, the
Office of Ratepayer Advocates, the Air Resources Board, the
Electricity Oversight Board, the Independent System Operator, the
Department of Water Resources, the California Consumer Power and
Conservation Financing Authority, the Department of Transportation,
and the Department of Motor Vehicles. The
commission shall maintain reasonable policies and procedures to
protect customer information from unauthorized disclosure.
(b) In developing the assessments and forecasts prepared pursuant
to subdivision (a), the commission shall do all of the following:
(1) Provide information about the performance of energy
industries.
(2) Develop and maintain the analytical capability sufficient to
answer inquiries about energy issues from government, market
participants, and the public.
(3) Analyze and develop Analyze, develop,
and evaluate energy policies. policies
and programs.
(4) Provide an analytical foundation for regulatory and policy
decisionmaking.
(5) Facilitate efficient and reliable energy markets.
SEC. 3. Section 25303 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
25303. (a) The commission shall conduct electricity and natural
gas forecasting and assessment activities to meet the requirements of
paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 25302, including, but
not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Assessment of trends in electricity and natural gas supply and
demand, and the outlook for wholesale and retail prices for
commodity electricity and natural gas under current market structures
and expected market conditions.
(2) Forecasts of statewide and regional electricity and natural
gas demand including annual, seasonal, and peak demand, and the
factors leading to projected demand growth, including, but not
limited to, projected population growth, urban development,
industrial expansion and energy intensity of industries, energy
demand for different building types, energy efficiency, and other
factors influencing demand for electricity. With respect to
long-range forecasts of the demand for natural gas, the report shall
include an evaluation of average conditions, as well as best and
worst case scenarios, and an evaluation of the impact of the
increasing use of renewable resources on natural gas demand.
(3) Evaluation of the adequacy of electricity and natural gas
supplies to meet forecasted demand growth. Assessment of the
availability, reliability, and efficiency of the electricity and
natural gas infrastructure and systems, including, but not limited
to, natural gas production capability both in and out of state,
natural gas interstate and intrastate pipeline capacity, storage and
use, and western regional and California electricity and transmission
system capacity and use.
(4) Evaluation of potential impacts of electricity and natural gas
supply, demand, and infrastructure and resource additions on the
electricity and natural gas systems, public health and safety, the
economy, resources, and the environment.
(5) Evaluation of the potential impacts of electricity and natural
gas load management efforts, including end-user response to market
price signals, as a means to ensure reliable operation of electricity
and natural gas systems.
(6) Evaluation of whether electricity and natural gas markets are
adequately meeting public interest objectives including the provision
of all of the following: economic benefits; competitive, low-cost
reliable services; customer information and protection; and
environmentally sensitive electricity and natural gas supplies. This
evaluation may consider the extent to which California is an element
within western energy markets, the existence of appropriate
incentives for market participants to provide supplies and for
consumers to respond to energy prices, appropriate identification of
responsibilities of various market participants, and an assessment of
long-term versus short-term market performance. To the extent this
evaluation identifies market shortcomings, the commission shall
propose market structure changes to improve performance.
(7) Identification of impending or potential problems or
uncertainties in the electricity and natural gas markets, potential
options and solutions, and recommendations.
(8) (A) Compilation and assessment of existing scientific studies
that have been performed by persons or entities with expertise and
qualifications in the subject of the studies to determine the
potential vulnerability to a major disruption due to aging or a major
seismic event of large baseload generation facilities, of 1,700
megawatts or greater.
(B) The assessment specified in subparagraph (A) shall include an
analysis of the impact of a major disruption on system reliability,
public safety, and the economy.
(C) The commission may work with other public entities and public
agencies, including, but not limited to, the California Independent
System Operator, the Public Utilities Commission, the Department of
Conservation, and the Seismic Safety Commission as necessary, to
gather and analyze the information required by this paragraph.
(D) Upon completion and publication of the initial review of the
information required pursuant to this paragraph, the commission shall
perform subsequent updates as new data or new understanding of
potential seismic hazards emerge.
(b) Commencing November 1, 2003, and every two years thereafter,
to be included in the integrated energy policy report prepared
pursuant to Section 25302, the commission shall assess the current
status of the following:
(1) The environmental performance of the electric generation
facilities of the state, to include all of the following:
(A) Generation facility efficiency.
(B) Air emission control technologies in use in operating plants.
(C) The extent to which recent resource additions have, and
expected resource additions are likely to, displace or reduce the
operation of existing facilities, including the environmental
consequences of these changes.
(2) The geographic distribution of statewide environmental,
efficiency, and socioeconomic benefits and drawbacks of existing
generation facilities, including, but not limited to, the impacts on
natural resources including wildlife habitat, air quality, and water
resources, and the relationship to demographic factors. The
assessment shall describe the socioeconomic and demographic factors
that existed when the facilities were constructed and the current
status of these factors. In addition, the report shall include how
expected or recent resource additions could change the assessment
through displaced or reduced operation of existing facilities.
(c) In the absence of a long-term nuclear waste storage facility,
the commission shall assess the potential state and local costs and
impacts associated with accumulating waste at California's nuclear
powerplants. The commission shall further assess other key policy and
planning issues that will affect the future role of nuclear
powerplants in the state. The commission's assessment shall be
adopted on or before November 1, 2008, and included in the 2008
energy policy review adopted pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section
25302.
(d) The commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities
Commission, shall make all reasonable adjustments to its energy
demand forecasts conducted pursuant to Sections 25301 and 25302 to
account for its findings of market conditions and existing baselines,
and, in making those adjustments, may consider the results from
subdivisions (b) and (d) of Section 381.2 of the Public Utilities
Code.
SEC. 4. Section 25402.10 of the Public
Resources Code is repealed.
25402.10. (a) On and after January 1, 2009, electric and gas
utilities shall maintain records of the energy consumption data of
all nonresidential buildings to which they provide service. This data
shall be maintained, in a format compatible for uploading to the
United States Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR Portfolio
Manager, for at least the most recent 12 months.
(b) On and after January 1, 2009, upon the written authorization
or secure electronic authorization of a nonresidential building owner
or operator, an electric or gas utility shall upload all of the
energy consumption data for the account specified for a building to
the United States Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR
Portfolio Manager in a manner that preserves the confidentiality of
the customer.
(c) In carrying out this section, an electric or gas utility may
use any method for providing the specified data in order to maximize
efficiency and minimize overall program cost, and is encouraged to
work with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and
customers in developing reasonable reporting options.
(d) (1) Based on a schedule developed by the commission pursuant
to paragraph (2), an owner or operator of a nonresidential building
shall disclose the United States Environmental Protection Agency's
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager benchmarking data and ratings for the
most recent 12-month period to a prospective buyer, lessee of the
entire building, or lender that would finance the entire building. If
the data is delivered to a prospective buyer, lessee, or lender, a
property owner, operator, or his or her agent is not required to
provide additional information, and the information shall be deemed
to be adequate to inform the prospective buyer, lessee, or lender
regarding the United States Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY
STAR Portfolio Manager benchmarking data and ratings for the most
recent 12-month period for the building that is being sold, leased,
financed, or refinanced.
(2) The commission shall establish a schedule by which an owner or
operator is required to meet the requirements of this subdivision.
(e) Notwithstanding subdivision (d), this section does not
increase or decrease the duties, if any, of a property owner,
operator, or his or her broker or agent under this chapter or alter
the duty of a seller, agent, or broker to disclose the existence of a
material fact affecting the real property.
SEC. 5. Section 25402.10 is added to the
Public Resources Code , to read:
25402.10. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following
terms have the following meanings:
(1) "Benchmark" means to obtain information on the energy use in
an entire building for a specific period to enable that usage to be
tracked or compared against other buildings.
(2) "Covered building" for purposes of this section means either
or both of the following:
(A) Any building with no residential utility accounts.
(B) Any building with five or more active utility accounts,
residential or nonresidential.
(3) "Energy" means electricity, natural gas, steam, or fuel oil
sold by a utility to a customer for end uses addressed by the ENERGY
STAR Portfolio Manager system.
(4) "ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager" means the tool developed and
maintained by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to
track and assess the energy performance of buildings.
(b) On and after January 1, 2016, each utility shall maintain
records of the energy usage data of all buildings to which they
provide service for at least the most recent 12 complete calendar
months.
(c) (1) Subject to the requirements of paragraph (2), beginning no
later than January 1, 2017, each utility shall, upon the request and
written authorization or secure electronic authorization of the
owner, owner's agent, or operator of a covered building, deliver or
otherwise provide aggregated energy usage data for a covered building
to the owner, owner's agent, building operator, or to the owner's
account in the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. The commission may
specify additional information to be delivered by utilities to enable
building owners to complete benchmarking of the energy use in their
buildings and in other systems or formats for information delivery
and automation.
(2) The delivery of information by utilities pursuant to this
section shall be subject to the following requirements:
(A) For covered buildings with three or more active utility
accounts, each utility shall deliver information showing the
aggregated energy usage of all utility customers in the same building
for each of the 12 prior months. Notwithstanding any other law,
energy usage data aggregated in this manner shall not be deemed
customer utility usage information or confidential information by the
utility for purposes of delivery to the owner, owner's agent, or
operator of a building. The building owner and utility shall not have
any liability for any use or disclosure of aggregated usage
information delivered as required by this section.
(B) For covered buildings not subject to subparagraph (A), each
utility shall deliver the information showing the aggregated energy
usage of all utility customers in the same building for each of the
prior 12 months if the accountholder provides written or electronic
consent for the delivery of the accountholder's energy usage data to
the owner, owner's agent, operator, or utility.
(C) Each utility shall deliver, upload, or otherwise provide
aggregated energy usage data within four weeks of receiving a request
from an owner, owner's agent, or operator of a covered building.
(D) Each utility shall make available the covered building usage
data aggregated at a monthly level unless otherwise specified by the
commission.
(E) The building owner and utility shall not have any liability
for any use or disclosure by others of usage information delivered as
required by this section.
(d) The commission shall adopt regulations providing for the
delivery to the commission and public disclosure of benchmarking
results for covered buildings, as follows:
(1) This subdivision shall not require the owner of a building
with 16 or fewer residential utility accounts to collect or deliver
usage information to the commission for public disclosure.
(2) The commission may do, but is not limited to doing, all of the
following in regulations adopted pursuant to this subdivision:
(A) Identify and provide for the collection of the energy usage
data for the calculation of benchmarking results.
(B) Identify and provide for the collection of the covered
building characteristic information deemed necessary by the
commission for the calculation of benchmarking results.
(C) Specify the manner in which certain benchmarking results shall
be publicly disclosed.
(D) Determine which covered buildings, in addition to those
described in paragraph (1), are not subject to the public disclosure
requirement.
(E) Set a schedule to implement the requirements for public
disclosure adopted by the commission.
(F) Determine if compliance with a local or county benchmarking
program fulfills the commission's requirements adopted pursuant to
this subdivision.
(G) Identify categories of information it receives pursuant to
this section that are protected from release under either the
California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code) or the
Information Practices Act of 1977 (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section
1798) of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code).
(3) The commission shall determine who will deliver the energy
usage data and related information for any covered building to the
commission.
(e) The commission may ensure timely and accurate compliance with
the data submission requirements of this section by using the
enforcement measures identified in Section 25321. An owner of a
covered building, or its agents or operators, shall not be liable for
any noncompliance due to the failure of a utility to provide the
information required for compliance.
(f) For buildings that are not covered buildings, and for customer
information that is not aggregated pursuant to subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), the commission may adopt
regulations prescribing how utilities shall either obtain the
customer's permission or determine that a building owner has obtained
the customer's permission, for the owner to receive aggregated
customer information or, where applicable, individual customer usage
information, including by use of electronic authorization and in a
lease agreement between the owner and the customer.
(g) The reasonable costs of an electrical or gas corporation in
delivering electrical or gas usage data pursuant to this section or
other information as required under state or federal law or by an
order of the commission shall be recoverable in rates evaluated and
approved by the Public Utilities Commission.
(h) The reasonable costs of local publicly owned electric
utilities in disclosing electrical usage data pursuant to this
section may be considered "cost-effective demand-side management
services to promote energy efficiency and energy conservation" and
thereby reimbursable by their general fund.
(i) Nothing in this section shall prevent a city or county from
establishing its own benchmarking program requiring collection,
delivery, and disclosure of building information.
SECTION 1. SEC. 6. Section 381.2 of
the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
381.2. (a) The commission shall investigate the ability of
electrical corporations and gas corporations to provide various
energy efficiency financing options to their customers for the
purposes of implementing the program developed pursuant to Section
25943 of the Public Resources Code.
(b) (1) By July 1,
2016, Recognizing the already underway 2015 commission
work to adopt efficiency potential and goals, the Energy
Commission work on its 2015 energy demand forecast, and the need to
determine how to incorporate meter-based performance into
determinations of goals, portfolio cost-effectiveness, and authorized
budgets, the commission, in a separate or existing
proceeding, shall shall, by September 1,
2016, authorize electrical corporations or gas corporations to
recover in rates the reasonable costs of programs that
provide financial incentives, rebates, technical
assistance, and support to their customers to increase the energy
efficiency of existing buildings based on all estimated energy
savings and energy usage reductions, taking into consideration the
overall reduction in normalized metered energy consumption as a
measure of energy savings. Those programs shall include energy usage
reductions resulting from the adoption of a measure or installation
of equipment required for modifications to existing buildings to
bring them into conformity with, or exceed, the requirements of Title
24 of the California Code of Regulations, as well as operational,
behavioral, and retrocommissioning activities.
activities reasonably expected to produce multi year
savings. Electrical corporations and gas
corporations shall be permitted to recover in rates the reasonable
costs of these programs. The commission shall authorize an
electrical corporation and gas corporation to count all energy
savings achieved through the authorized programs created by this
subdivision, unless determined otherwise, toward overall
energy efficiency goals or targets established by the commission. The
commission may adjust the energy efficiency goals or targets of an
electrical corporation and gas corporation to reflect the
energy efficiency savings achieved in meeting or exceeding the
requirements of Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations in
existing buildings. this change in savings estimation
consistent with this subdivision and subdivision (d).
(c) Effective January 1, 2016, electrical corporations and gas
corporations are authorized to implement the provisions of
subdivision (b) for high opportunity projects or programs. The
commission shall provide expedited authorization of high opportunity
projects and programs to apply the savings baseline provisions in
subdivision (b).
(d) In furtherance of subdivision (b), the commission, in
consultation with the Energy Commission, shall consider all of the
following:
(1) The results of any interagency baseline assessment.
(2) Any available results from investor-owned utility baseline
pilot studies ordered in D.14-10-046.
(3) Information necessary to ensure consistency with the energy
forecast and planning functions of the Energy Commission and the
Independent System Operator.
(e) The commission may direct electrical corporations and gas
corporations to make filings that are necessary to ensure
coordination with the energy forecast and planning functions of the
Energy Commission and the Independent System Operator.
(2)
( f) The commission shall prioritize energy
efficiency activities consistent with Sections 454.55 and 454.56.
(c) In the report prepared pursuant to Section 384.2, the
commission shall include an assessment of each electrical corporation'
s and each gas corporation's implementation of the program developed
pursuant to Section 25943 of the Public Resources Code.
(d) This section does not require the commission to increase
funding for energy efficiency programs of electric corporations or
gas corporations that are recoverable in rates.
SEC. 7. Section 384.2 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended and renumbered to read:
384.2. 913.7. The commission shall
submit a report to the Legislature by July 15, 2009, and triennially
thereafter, on the energy efficiency and conservation programs it
oversees. The report shall include information regarding authorized
utility budgets and expenditures and projected and actual energy
savings over the program cycle.
SEC. 8. Section 913.8 is added to the
Public Resources Code , to read:
913.8. In the report prepared pursuant Section 913.7, the
commission shall include an assessment of each electrical corporation'
s and each gas corporation's implementation of the program developed
pursuant to Section 25943 of the Public Resources Code.