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Active Legislation
As of May 16, 2012. Legislative updates occur every Wednesday.
Senate Bills
SB 843 (Wolk D) Energy: electrical corporations: City of Davis PVUSA solar facility: Community-Based Renewable Energy Self-Generation Program.
Status: Re-referred to Committee on Utilities & Commerce.
Summary: This bill would create a Community-Based Renewable Energy Self-Generation Program. The program would authorize a retail customer of an electrical corporation to acquire an interest, in a community renewable energy facility, for the purpose of receiving a bill credit to offset all or a portion of the participant's electricity usage.
SB 1128 (Padilla D) Energy: alternative energy financing.
Status: To Appropriations Committee Suspense File.
Summary: This bill would temporarily expand the sales and use tax exemption under the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (CAEATFA) program to include “advanced manufacturing.”
SB 1484 (Pavley D) California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank: clean energy technology.
Status: Read third time. Passed Senate to Assembly.
Summary: This bill would establish the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development. This would be used for the purpose of funding specified types of infrastructure development projects.
Assembly Bills
AB 1608 (Wieckowski D) Clean Vehicle Rebate Project and Hybrid Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project.
Status: Referred to Appropriations Committee. Suspense file.
Summary: This bill would require more valuable rebates to be offered for zero-emission vehicles manufactured in California. The state board would be required to provide the California manufacturer with a rebate that is 20% greater than the rebates provided to out-of-state manufactures.
AB 2131 (Olsen R) Local government: investments.
Status: Read second time. To third reading.
Summary: This bill would authorize the legislative body of a city, county, or city and county to invest up to 5% of the city, county, or city and county's aggregate investment funds in Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) bonds or projects financed with PACE bonds.
AB 2135 (Blumenfield D) Building standards: solar distributed generation technology on residential and commercial property.
Status: Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar.
Summary: This bill would require the California Building Standards Commission, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the State Fire Marshal to cooperate in developing a model ordinance and guidelines. This would assist local agencies to develop building standards and permitting processes for solar distributed generation technology on residential and commercial property and post the model ordinance and guidelines on their respective Internet Web sites.
AB 2165 (Hill D) Net energy metering: eligible fuel cell customer-generators.
Status: In Senate Committee on Rules. For assignment.
Summary: This bill would redefine the term “eligible fuel-cell customer-generator,” as well as require the electrical corporation to change the way it caps fuel cell generation. The bill would increase the net metering cap for fuel cells from a statewide 112.5 megawatts (MW) to one percent of the aggregate customer peak demand in any electrical utility’s service territory, or roughly 500 MW statewide. The bill would require the commission to authorize an electrical corporation to charge a customer a fee based on the cost to the utility associated with providing interconnection inspection services for that customer.
AB 2196 (Chesbro D) Renewable energy resources.
Status: Do pass as amended.
Summary: This bill would provide specific conditions as a part of the eligibility requirement for the Renewable Portfolio Standard program. Conditions would be based on the use of landfill gas, digester gas, or another renewable fuel delivered to the facility through a common carrier pipeline; the transaction, including the source of the fuel and delivery method, shall meet certain requirements.
AB 2196 (Chesbro D) Renewable energy resources.
Status: Do pass as amended.
Summary: This bill would provide specific conditions as a part of the eligibility requirement for the Renewable Portfolio Standard program. Conditions would be based on the use of landfill gas, digester gas, or another renewable fuel delivered to the facility through a common carrier pipeline; the transaction, including the source of the fuel and delivery method, shall meet certain requirements.
AB 2205 (V. Manuel Pérez D) Hazardous materials: geothermal waste.
Status: Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar.
Summary: This bill would add a new category to the existing list of geothermal waste that is exempt from permitting requirements by the Department of Toxic Substances Control. The new category is geothermal waste continuously contained within a piping system, noneathen trench, descaling area, or other related equipment used in connection with extraction of commercial substances from the geothermal waste.
AB 2450 (Hall D) Electric Program Investment Charge: Clean Vehicle Rebate Project program.
Status: Referred to Appropriations Committee. Suspense file.
Summary: This bill would establish the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project Fund in the State Treasury and require the PUC to allocate at least $15,000,000 annually from EPIC to the fund. The bill would authorize the ARB, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to distribute money from the fund for rebates pursuant to criteria established by the state board's Clean Vehicle Rebate Project program.
The Latest Bright Spots
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Tracy Gets Green Light for Solar Power Project
The city of Tracy will be allowed to purchase a 200-acre tract of land from the federal government to build a solar energy project after a bill passed and gave the project the green light. U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) said the project will help create jobs in California’s Central Valley, one of the most economically hard hit areas in the nation. Tracy Mayor Brent Ives said in a statement that the project could create up to 200 jobs.
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New Alternative Fuels Station Opens in Fullerton
A gas station that offers E85 ethanol and biodiesel fuels has opened in Fullerton, becoming the first of more than 200 clean mobility centers slated for the state. There are 16 pumps at the Fullerton station, eight of which are for gasoline. The four pumps for E85 are yellow and topped with a sign that lists all the cars that are flex-fuel compatible. The four pumps for biodiesel are green and evenly split between fuel made with either 5 percent and 20 percent recycled vegetable oil.
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Cap-and-Trade to Generate Millions, Tough Choices
Starting later this year, California’s cap-and-trade system will generate millions of dollars in revenue, as companies buy and sell permits to produce greenhouse gases. How should the money be used? With the first permit auction scheduled for November, that question still hasn’t been fully answered by Sacramento. Now a series of studies, released by Next 10, delves into the legal and economic implications of this market-based system, trying to assess which options would most benefit Californians.
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CPUC Proposes that RPS Procurement Values Costs of Transmission, Grid Benefits
The California Public Utilities Commission is currently considering a proposal that would change the way that utilities value renewable energy in required purchases under the state’s renewable portfolio standard policy. The proposed ruling would use a “least cost, best fit” formula to prioritize projects located near existing transmission, as well as factoring in impacts on grid operation. Concentrating solar power (CSP) companies note that this formula would allow utilities to account for the benefits to grid operation that CSP technology can provide with thermal energy storage.
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Sacramento Gathering Urges State to Allow More Solar Projects
Businesspeople and workers from the state’s burgeoning solar industry gathered at the Capitol on Wednesday to call for a change in state policy to allow more solar projects to be built in California. The California Public Utilities Commission will decide at its meeting next Thursday whether to extend “net energy metering,” a 15-year practice allowing homeowners, school districts and businesses to offset the cost of installing solar by selling any excess power to the utility grid.
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L.A. Electric Car Drivers Differ From Nation, Study Finds
The growing number of electric vehicle (EV) drivers in Los Angeles are behaving differently from the national norm. Not only are EV drivers in L.A. traveling farther than those in other cities, but they charge their vehicles more often at public locations and are more likely to charge at night to obtain less expensive electricity rates, according to Ecotality in San Francisco.
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Gen110, Energy “Concierge” to the Solar Household, Gets Funding From KP
Gen110, a San Francisco startup with 70 employees and about 2,000 customers for its solar-backed energy bill reduction service, announced an investment of undisclosed size from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers to expand its “energy concierge” concept to broader markets, and to support business development. The company also announced that it will be using SunPower panels and SunPower’s financing program for projects in the Central Valley.
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U.S. Army Tests Renewable Energy Systems for Soldiers in the Field
In a bid to mitigate the risks associated with fuel transportation and to make soldiers’ work less technically complex, U.S. military scientists have started to test microgrids that would provide clean energy to soldiers in the field. Since 2009, scientists from the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center have been developing two systems which are being tested at the Fort Irwin National Training Center in California, and by U.S. Africa Command.
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Why Investors Should Be Paying Attention to California’s Carbon Auction
California is preparing for its first carbon auction. The results of that auction (there will be a “practice” auction in August, with the first real auction scheduled for November) are likely to determine the fate of carbon regulation in the United States and, perhaps more importantly, the value placed on carbon in the U.S. marketplace.
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Salk Scientists Find Clue to Boosting Biofuel Production
Salk Institute scientists in San Diego have identified a new class of proteins involved in making seed oils. The findings may lead to higher yields of fatty acids, important for animal and human nutrition, and renewable sources of industrial chemicals and biofuels.
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Independent Solar Developers Completes World’s First Cattle Feedlot Solar Field
Coachella’s Independent Solar Developers, a leading provider of solar installations to the Agricultural Industry, announced that they are the first company to install, commission and operate a 480 kilowatt concentrated photovoltaic solar field that provides both energy and shade to a cattle feedlot. This achievement underscores Independent Solar Developers’ commitment to a new era for agriculture and renewable energy.
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Green Global Announces New Investment from Orange County’s METRIX Capital Group
Green Global LLC, an innovative solar and energy management street light company, announced that it has received seed funding from METRIX Capital Group, LLC, a private equity firm based in Orange County. Green Global will use the capital to prepare for the roll-out of its flagship Energy Warrior System to street lights throughout the southwest. The lighting system both helps to save municipalities money as well as help to reduce the carbon footprint of safety lighting. Green Global has pilots operating in six municipalities in California and Arizona.
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