California Air Resources Board

Summary

Would have defined “renewable hydrogen” and tasked the California Public Utilities Commission with considering establishing renewable hydrogen procurement goals for each gas utility and transporter and  evaluating whether it is just and reasonable to allow a gas utility to recover from its ratepayers the costs of infrastructure built to deliver biomethane, renewable hydrogen, or both from a producer to the pipeline. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have required each electrical corporation to implement a plan to address climate change-related impacts to its respective electric plant, as defined, including prioritizing the replacement of equipment identified as most vulnerable to extreme heat events and other extreme weather events due to climate change. The bill would have also additionally required an electrical corporation to include a plan in its annual reliability report that addresses expected impacts, as specified, to the electrical distribution system from climate change, including impacts to transformers, substations, and electrical lines, that may result in a loss of electrical service of over an unspecified number of hours. The bill would have also required each electrical corporation to describe what investments have been made to better prepare its equipment for the impacts from climate change. Was not heard in the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee.

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Summary

Would have established the Climate Pollution Reduction in Homes Initiative and required the Department of Community Services and Development to administer the initiative to provide grants for projects, including, but not limited to, those that provide financial assistance to low-income households for the purchase of zero-carbon-emitting appliances. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Exempts an extension, expansion, upgrade, or other modification of an existing transmission line or substations from the requirement of a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and directs the California Public Utilities Commission to revise its general orders, by January 1, 2024, to instead use its permit to construct a process for these approvals.

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Summary

Would have authorized a gas corporation that serves an area that will host the 2028 Olympics to identify and propose a green hydrogen project, as defined, or multiple projects, in cooperation with the United States Olympic Paralympic Committee, the City of Los Angeles, or the County of Los Angeles to achieve described purposes. If a green hydrogen project was identified and proposed, the bill would have authorized the gas corporation to file an application with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for approval to undertake the project or projects. The bill would have required CPUC to approve, or modify and approve, a project or projects and associated investments in green hydrogen and hydrogen-related infrastructure, and to authorize recovery of those expenses incurred through a reasonable cost recovery mechanism. Was not heard in the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee.

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Summary

Would have revised the SB 100 (De León, Chapter 312, Statutes of 2018) policy to establish a goal that 100 percent of electrical load be supplied by eligible clean energy resources, as defined. The bill would have established the California 24/7 Clean Energy Standard Program, that would phase in clean energy requirements through 2035. The bill would have required the California Energy Commission (CEC), in consultation with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and California balancing authorities, to establish compliance periods and subperiods that meet certain criteria. The bill would have required CPUC to establish for each retail seller, and CEC for each local publicly owned electric utility, clean energy procurement requirements for each compliance period and subperiod, as provided. Was not heard in the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee.

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Summary

Would have prohibited a State agency from designing or constructing a State facility that is connected to the natural gas grid. Was not heard in the Senate Governmental Organization Committee.

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Summary

Requests, by February 28, 2023, the California Independent System Operator, in consultation with the other California balancing authorities, to produce a report that summarizes recent relevant studies on the impacts of expanded regional cooperation in California and identifies key issues that will advance the State's energy and environmental goals.

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Summary

Requires the California Energy Commission, in collaboration with CARB and the California Public Utilities Commission, to annually gather existing fleet data on existing medium- and heavy duty on- and off-road vehicles and share that data with electric utilities. This bill also requires utilities to consider the fleet data to facilitate the readiness of their electrical distribution system and to identify investments in general rate cases.

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Summary

Would have established a program at the California Energy Commission (CEC) to provide incentives for commercially available distributed energy resources, specifically behind-the-meter energy storage systems or self-generation systems paired with energy storage systems. Would have established the Integrated Distributed Energy Resources Fund as a special fund in the State Treasury, the moneys in which would be available to CEC, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of the bill. The bill would have required CEC to administer the fund in consultation with the California Public Utilities Commission and CARB to provide incentives for eligible resources to support statewide customer adoption of clean distributed energy resources. The bill would have required CEC to establish a system to equitably award incentives. Failed passage on the Senate Floor.

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