AB 124 — Energy.

Summary

(1) The Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Act establishes the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (I-Bank) in the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, governed by a board of directors. The act, among other things, authorizes the I-Bank to make loans, issue bonds, and provide financial assistance for various types of projects that qualify as economic development or public development facilities. The Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund Act of 2020 authorizes the I-Bank, under the Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund Program, to provide financial assistance to any eligible sponsor or participating party for eligible climate catalyst projects, as defined, either directly to the sponsor or participating party or to a lending or financial institution, as specified. The act, beginning in the 2021–22 fiscal year, requires the I-Bank to adopt a climate catalyst financing plan, as specified, after meeting and conferring with authorized consulting agencies concerning specific categories of climate catalyst projects. The act establishes the Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, in the state treasury for the purpose of implementing the objectives and provisions of act. This bill, beginning in the 2023–24 fiscal year, would require a climate catalyst financing plan to authorize the I-Bank to provide financial assistance and to use all financing authorities provided under the Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Act in its implementation of a climate catalyst financing plan. The bill would additionally authorize specified state agencies to provide consultation on climate catalyst projects to leverage federal funding available under the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, as provided, and would authorize the Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund to receive moneys from the federal government and funds sourced from federal appropriations, as specified. The bill would require use of the moneys and funds to comply with specified criteria. (2) Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and the State Air Resources Board, on or before December 31, 2024, to prepare a Transportation Fuels Transition Plan and requires the Energy Commission and the state board to prepare the plan in consultation with the state's fuel producers and refiners and a multistakeholder, multiagency workgroup, including the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Agency, that is convened by the Energy Commission and the state board. This bill would instead require the Energy Commission, the state board, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the Natural Resources Agency to convene the multistakeholder, multiagency workgroup and would require the workgroup to consist of members representing specified interests and groups, including the state's fuel producers and refiners. Existing law, beginning on June 26, 2023, establishes the Independent Consumer Fuels Advisory Committee within the Energy Commission to advise the Energy Commission and the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight. Existing law specifies that the committee has access to all information submitted to the Energy Commission or to the division necessary to fulfill its duties. This bill would instead specify that the committee has access to aggregated or otherwise anonymized information submitted to the Energy Commission or to the division necessary to fulfill its duties under conditions as the Energy Commission determines necessary to ensure that public disclosure of specific information does not result in an unfair competitive disadvantage to the person supplying the information or adversely affect market competition. (3) Existing law creates the Demand Side Grid Support Program, and requires the Energy Commission to implement and administer the program to incentivize dispatchable customer load reduction and backup generation operation as on-call emergency supply and load reduction for the state's electrical grid during extreme events. Existing law requires entities with generation or load reduction assets that are incentivized pursuant to the Distributed Electricity Backup Assets Program to participate in the program, and requires all energy produced as a result of the program to be settled at a relevant reference energy price. This bill would delete the requirements that those entities participate in the program and the produced energy be settled at a relevant reference energy price. (4) Existing law requires the PUC to convene or continue, until August 26, 2025, an independent peer review panel to conduct an independent review of enhanced seismic studies and surveys of the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 powerplant, as specified. Existing law also establishes the Independent Safety Committee for Diablo Canyon until, at least, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission operating permit for the Diablo Canyon powerplant has ceased. This bill would require that the independent peer review panel continue until August 26, 2030. The bill would require that the Independent Safety Committee for Diablo Canyon continue until the Diablo Canyon powerplant has ceased operations and make other changes related to that committee. (5) Existing law establishes the California Water Resources Development Bond Fund and continuously appropriates moneys in the fund to the Department of Water Resources to provide for the acquisition, construction, and completion of certain state water facilities and for additions to the State Water Resources Development System, as specified. Existing law requires the department to procure eligible renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources to satisfy the state agency obligations imposed on the system, as specified. The federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, among other things, authorizes specified entities, including the state and any political subdivision of the state, to elect to receive direct payments, rather than credits, for their participation in, or actions related to, certain federal incentives. This bill would establish the California Water Resources Development Bond Account within the fund, and would continuously appropriate all moneys in the account to the department to provide for the acquisition, construction, and completion of certain state water facilities and for additions to the State Water Resources Development System, as specified. By establishing a continuously appropriated account, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the department, if it elects to receive a direct payment, rather than a credit, pursuant to the federal Inflation Reduction Act in connection with its procurement of eligible renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources, as described above, to deposit those payments directly into the account, as specified. The bill would require use of the payments to comply with specified criteria. (6) Existing law establishes the Department of Water Resources Electricity Supply Reliability Reserve Fund and continuously appropriates moneys in the fund to the department for purposes of implementing projects, purchases, and contracts to carry out specified purposes, constructing, owning, and operating, or contracting for the construction and operation of, contracting for the purchase of electricity from, or financing actions to secure resources for summer reliability or to preserve the option to extend the life of specified facilities, and reimbursing electrical corporations for the value of imported energy or import capacity products that were delivered or capable of being delivered between July 1, 2022, and on or before September 30, 2022, and were procured at above-market costs or in excess of procurement authorizations set by the PUC and above the requirements needed to serve the electrical corporation's bundled customers in support of summer electric service reliability. This bill would authorize the department, for activities it undertakes for the purposes described above, to obtain applicable credits pursuant to the federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. If the department elects for direct payment of those applicable credits, the bill would require that those payments be deposited directly into the Department of Water Resources Electricity Supply Reliability Reserve Fund, as specified, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would require use of the payments to comply with specified criteria. The bill would additionally authorize the department to reimburse an electrical corporation for the value of imported energy or import capacity products delivered or capable of being delivered between October 1, 2022, and on or before October 31, 2023, and procured as described above. By expanding the purposes for which moneys in a continuously appropriated fund may be used, the bill would make an appropriation. (7) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Diablo Canyon powerplant. (8) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime. Because certain of the above provisions would be part of the act and 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. (9) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.

Bill Text

• Amended 06/26/23 - Amended Senate Current pdf June 26, 2023
• Amended 06/25/23 - Amended Senate pdf June 25, 2023
• Amended 02/01/23 - Amended Assembly pdf February 01, 2023
• Introduced 01/09/23 - Introduced pdf January 09, 2023
• AB124 View text html

Action History

1. August 14, 2023

   Re-referred to Com. on B. & F.R.

2. June 27, 2023

   Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

3. June 26, 2023

   From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (June 26).

4. June 26, 2023

   From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on B. & F.R.

5. June 25, 2023

   From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on B. & F.R.

6. April 12, 2023

   Referred to Com. on B. & F.R.

7. March 23, 2023

   In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

8. March 23, 2023

   Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 60. Noes 14. Page 840.)

9. March 21, 2023

   Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

10. March 20, 2023

    Ordered to second reading.

11. March 20, 2023

    Withdrawn from committee.

12. March 20, 2023

    Assembly Rule 96 suspended. (Ayes 61. Noes 17. Page 732.)

13. February 02, 2023

    Re-referred to Com. on BUDGET.

14. February 01, 2023

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on BUDGET. Read second time and amended.

15. January 26, 2023

    Referred to Com. on BUDGET.

16. January 10, 2023

    From printer. May be heard in committee February 9.

17. January 09, 2023

    Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

• Committee on Budget · Primary

Votes

Subjects