Bill Text: CA AB1551 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Energy: program eligibility and costs.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-2)

Status: (Passed) 2009-10-11 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 336, Statutes of 2009. [AB1551 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB1551-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1551	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Committee on Utilities and Commerce (Fuentes (Chair),
Blakeslee, Buchanan, Carter, Fong, Furutani, Huffman, Krekorian,
Smyth, and Torrico)

                        MARCH 10, 2009

   An act to amend Sections 26003 and 26011 of the Public Resources
Code, relating to energy.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1551, as introduced, Committee on Utilities and Commerce.
Energy: California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation
Financing Authority.
   The California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation
Financing Authority Act established the California Alternative Energy
and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority. The act defines the
term "alternative sources" to mean the application of cogeneration
technology, the conservation of energy, and the use of specified
renewable energy sources under 30 megawatts or other sources of
energy that reduce the use of fossil and nuclear fuel and are
intended primarily to offset part or all of a customer's own
electrical requirements. The authority is authorized to purchase
alternative source energy or projects for sale to a specified
participating party and to make a loan to a participating party to
purchase alternative source energy or projects by entering into
various specified instruments including prepayment purchase
contracts.
   This bill would change the definition of "alternative sources" by
deleting the requirement that the energy sources be intended
primarily to offset part or all of a customer's own electrical
requirements. The bill would require the authority to enter into a
prepayment contract with a participating party only for energy
derived from an alternative source to the extent the prepayment is
for energy intended to primarily offset part or all of the authority'
s or a participating party's own electrical requirements.
   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.  Section 26003 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
   26003.  As used in this division, unless the context otherwise
requires:
   (a) "Authority" means the California Alternative Energy and
Advanced Transportation Financing Authority established pursuant to
Section 26004, and any board, commission, department, or officer
succeeding to the functions of the authority, or to which the powers
conferred upon the authority by this division shall be given.
   (b) "Cost" as applied to a project or portion  thereof
  of the project  financed under this division
means all or part of the cost of construction and acquisition of all
lands, structures, real or personal property or an interest 
therein,   in the real or personal property, 
rights, rights-of-way, franchises, easements, and interests acquired
or used for a project; the cost of demolishing or removing any
buildings or structures on land so acquired, including the cost of
acquiring any lands to which those buildings or structures may be
moved; the cost of all machinery, equipment, and furnishings,
financing charges, interest prior to, during, and for a period after,
completion of construction as determined by the authority; the cost
of the purchase or sale of energy derived from an alternative source
pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 26011; provisions for working
capital; reserves for principal and interest and for extensions,
enlargements, additions, replacements, renovations, and improvements;
the cost of architectural, engineering, financial, accounting,
auditing and legal services, plans, specifications, estimates,
administrative expenses, and other expenses necessary or incident to
determining the feasibility of constructing any project or incident
to the construction, acquisition, or financing of a project.
   (c) (1) "Alternative sources" means the application of
cogeneration technology, as defined in Section 25134; the
conservation of energy; or the use of solar, biomass, wind,
geothermal, hydroelectricity under 30 megawatts, or any other source
of energy, the efficient use of which will reduce the use of fossil
and nuclear fuels  , and is intended primarily to offset part
or all of the customer's own electrical requirements  .
   (2) "Alternative sources" does not include a hydroelectric
facility that does not meet state laws pertaining to the control,
appropriation, use, and distribution of water, including, but not
limited to, the obtaining of applicable licenses and permits.
   (d) "Advanced transportation technologies" means emerging
commercially competitive transportation-related technologies
identified by the authority as capable of creating long-term, high
value-added jobs for Californians while enhancing the state's
commitment to energy conservation, pollution reduction, and
transportation efficiency. Those technologies may include, but are
not limited to, any of the following:
   (1) Intelligent vehicle highway systems.
   (2) Advanced telecommunications for transportation.
   (3) Command, control, and communications for public transit
vehicles and systems.
   (4) Electric vehicles and ultralow-emission vehicles.
   (5) High-speed rail and magnetic levitation passenger systems.
   (6) Fuel cells.
   (e) "Financial assistance" includes, but is not limited to,
either, or any combination, of the following:
   (1) Loans, loan loss reserves, interest rate reductions, proceeds
of bonds issued by the authority, insurance, guarantees or other
credit enhancements or liquidity facilities, contributions of money,
property, labor, or other items of value, or any combination thereof,
as determined by, and approved by the resolution of, the board.
   (2) Any other type of assistance the authority determines is
appropriate.
   (f) "Participating party" means either of the following:
   (1) A person or an entity or group of entities engaged in business
or operations in the state, whether organized for profit or not for
profit, that does either of the following:
   (A) Applies for financial assistance from the authority for the
purpose of implementing a project in a manner prescribed by the
authority.
   (B) Participates in the purchase or sale of energy derived from an
alternative source pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 26011.
   (2) A public agency or nonprofit corporation that does either of
the following:
   (A) Applies for financial assistance from the authority for the
purpose of implementing a project in a manner prescribed by the
authority.
   (B) Participates in the purchase or sale of energy derived from an
alternative source pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 26011.
   (g) "Project" means a land, building, improvement to the land or
building, rehabilitation, work, property, or structure, real or
personal, stationary or mobile, including, but not limited to,
machinery and equipment, whether or not in existence or under
construction, that utilizes, or is designed to utilize, an
alternative source, or that is utilized for the design, technology
transfer, manufacture, production, assembly, distribution, or service
of advanced transportation technologies, or an arrangement for the
purchase, including prepayment, or sale of energy derived from an
alternative source pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 26011.
   (h) "Public agency" means a federal or state agency, department,
board, authority, state or community college, university, or
commission, or a county, city and county, city, regional agency,
public district, school district, or other political entity.
   (i) (1) "Renewable energy" means a device or technology that
conserves or produces heat, processes heat, space heating, water
heating, steam, space cooling, refrigeration, mechanical energy,
electricity, or energy in any form convertible to these uses, that
does not expend or use conventional energy fuels, and that uses any
of the following electrical generation technologies:
   (A) Biomass.
   (B) Solar thermal.
   (C) Photovoltaic.
   (D) Wind.
   (E) Geothermal.
   (2) For purposes of this subdivision, "conventional energy fuel"
means any fuel derived from petroleum deposits, including, but not
limited to, oil, heating oil, gasoline, fuel oil, or natural gas,
including liquefied natural gas, or nuclear fissionable materials.
   (3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), for purposes of this section,
"renewable energy" also means ultralow-emission equipment for energy
generation based on thermal energy systems such as natural gas
turbines and fuel cells.
   (j) "Revenue" means all rents, receipts, purchase payments, loan
repayments, and all other income or receipts derived by the authority
from a project, or the sale, lease, or other disposition of
alternative source or advanced transportation technology facilities,
or the making of loans to finance alternative source or advanced
transportation technology facilities, and any income or revenue
derived from the investment of money in any fund or account of the
authority.
  SEC. 2.  Section 26011 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   26011.  The authority is authorized and empowered:
   (a) To adopt an official seal.
   (b) To sue and be sued in its own name.
   (c) To issue bonds, notes, bond anticipation notes, and other
obligations of the authority, including, at the option of the
authority, obligations bearing interest that is taxable for purposes
of federal income taxation, for any of its purposes and to fund or
refund the same, all as provided in this division.
   (d) To determine the location and character of a project to be
financed under the provisions of this division, to lend financial
assistance to a participating party, to enter into loan agreements
with a participating party for the financing of a project including
creating a lien or security interest in the property, to construct,
reconstruct, renovate, replace, lease, as lessor or lessee, and
regulate the same, and to enter into contracts for the sale of a
project, including installment sales or sales under conditional sales
contracts.
   (e) To fix fees and charges for projects, and interest rates with
respect to loans for projects, and to revise from time to time the
fees and charges and interest rates, and to collect rates, rents,
fees, and charges for the use of, and for a facility or service
furnished, or to be furnished, by a project or part of the project
and to contract with a person, partnership, association, corporation,
or public agency with respect to the project, and to fix the terms
and conditions upon which a project may be sold or disposed of,
whether upon installment sales contracts or otherwise.
   (f) To employ and fix the compensation of bond counsel, financial
consultants, and advisers as may be necessary in its judgment in
connection with the issuance and sale of any bonds, notes, bond
anticipation notes, or other obligations of the authority; to
contract for engineering, architectural, accounting, or other
services of appropriate state agencies as may be necessary in the
judgment of the authority for the successful development of a
project; and to pay the reasonable costs of consulting engineers,
architects, accountants, and construction experts employed by a
participating party if, in the judgment of the authority, the
services are necessary to the successful development of a project,
and the services are not obtainable from a state agency.
   (g) To purchase alternative source energy or projects from a
person or entity for sale to a participating party, or to make a loan
to a participating party to purchase alternative source energy or
projects, or to purchase from a person or entity that has contracted
to sell alternative source energy to a participating party the right
to receive purchase payments and related rights under that contract
or any related contracts. Notwithstanding any other applicable law,
the authority and a public agency, for purposes of a program or
financing, shall have the power to enter into contractual
arrangements and related agreements or instruments, including,
without limitation, a prepayment purchase contract, lease, loan,
construction, security, operation and maintenance, or other agreement
or instrument, with the authority or with a participating party,
upon the terms and subject to the conditions that may be necessary or
convenient to accomplish the purposes of this subdivision.  The
authority shall only enter into a   prepayment contract with
a participating party for energy derived from an alternative source
to the extent the prepayment is for energy intended to primarily
offset part or all of the authority's or a participating party's own
electrical requirements. 
   (h) To do all things generally necessary or convenient to carry
out the purposes of this division.