The deadline for bill to pass out of their house of origin occurred on June 1, 2017.  The following is a short list of important bills that met this deadline as well as two pieces of legislation that may move forward under legislative parliamentary rules.

SB 100 would, among other things, revise the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to achieve 50% renewable resources target by December 31, 2026, 60% by December 31, 2030, and 100 by December 31, 2045. Require that retail sellers and local publicly owned electric utilities procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources so that the total kilowatthours of those products sold to their retail end-use customers achieve 45% of retail sales by December 31, 2023, 50% by December 31, 2026, and 60% by December 31, 2030.

AB 79 would, among other things, require the Air Resources Board to both update it methodology for calculating GHG emissions from unspecified power and report to the Legislature on barriers to calculating hourly GHG emissions from unspecified source on or before January 1, 2019

SB 338 would, among other things, require the Public Utilities Commission to establish policies and procedures that ensure both investor owned utilities and public owned utilities meet net-load peak energy and reliability needs while reducing the need for new generation and transmission as part of the integrated resource planning process.

SB 71 would, among other things, require the Energy Commission to updated building efficiency standards that require installation of cost-effective solar energy systems during the construction of residential (by January 1, 2020) and commercial (by January 1, 2023) buildings.

AB 634 would, among other things, amendment to the Solar Rights Act and Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act regarding preventing limitations on installation of rooftop solar in a common interest development (i.e. HOA).

SB 1070 would, among other things, require the Contractor State Licensing Board (CSLB) to create a solar energy system disclosure document and require that solar energy system companies provide this disclosure prior to the completion of a sale, financing, or lease.  Contracts would be required to be written in the same language as sales presentations and marketing materials.  The CSLB would serve as the complaint and dispute resolution agency for complaints and questions regarding solar energy systems companies.

AB 546 would require local government streamlining of permitting for energy storage systems by making documents and form accessible on a publicly accessible website and allow for electronic submission and electronic signature.

AB 797 would, revise the Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007 program to, among other things, promote the installation of solar thermal systems throughout the state, reserve 50% of the total program budget for the installation of solar thermal systems in low-income residential housing or in buildings in disadvantaged communities, authorize the commission to limit eligibility based on income levels, and extend the operation of the program through July 31, 2020.  The bill would also require the governing body of each local publicly owned gas providing utility, until August 1, 2020, to adopt, implement, and finance a solar thermal system incentive program.

SB 700 would, among other things, create a 10-year rebate program for energy storage systems in both investor owned utility and public utility service territories.  The bill would remove rebate eligible systems from the self-generation incentive program(SGIP) and rebalance funds that would have been collected for SGIP to instead be applied to the Energy Storage Initiative.

AB 1400 would, for projects related to the deployment of microgrids, prohibit recipients of moneys awarded under the Public Interest Research, Development and Demonstration (PIER) and Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) programs from expending those moneys for the purchase of fossil fuel generators.

SB 518 would appropriate otherwise unallocated funds in the Job Creation Fund, as determined by the California Energy Commission as of March 1, 2018, for purposes relating to improving energy efficiency at public schools and community colleges.  The bill would, commencing with the 2018-2019 fiscal year, establish the Clean Energy Job Creation Program with the purpose of funding specified projects in public schools, universities, and colleges that create jobs in California improving energy efficiency and expanding clean energy generation and would subject those projects to requirements similar to those imposed under the California Clean Energy Jobs Act.  The bill would also extend the operation of the board and of its authority and duties indefinitely.

SB 549 would, among other things, require an electrical or gas corporation to annually submit a report to the CPUC reporting each time that capital or expense revenue authorized by the CPUC for maintenance, safety, or reliability is redirected by the corporation to other purposes and establish a procedure by which the corporation must submit the report.

The following bills may pass their respective house of origin if the deadline requirements are suspended as to each particular bill by approval of the Committee on Rules and two-thirds vote of the membership of the house of origin under Joint Rule 61 (j).  This bill will become two-year bills without a suspension of J.R. 61:

AB 151 would, among other things, require the State Air Resources Board to report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature to receive input, guidance, and assistance before adopting guidelines and regulations implementing the scoping plan and a regulation ensuring statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030.  The bill would also create a new task force to aid the Board with urban offset protocols and incentives for compliance offset credits.

AB 378 would, among other things, authorize the State Air Resources Board to extend Cap and Trade from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2030 and to adopt no-trade zones or facility-specific declining greenhouse gas emissions limits where facilities’ emissions contribute to a cumulative pollution burden that creates a significant health impact.

You can read and link to our Legislative Center website for more information on active bills this session.