Bill Text: CA AB2661 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Electricity: Westlands Water District.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-09-25 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 573, Statutes of 2024. [AB2661 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB2661-Amended.html
SEC. 2. Section 35574 is added to the Water Code , to read: 35574. the following definitions apply:(1)“For “for
its own purposes” means a district
the Westlands Water District performing only functions within its capacity as a water district, including, but not be limited to, any of the following:
Bill Title: Electricity: Westlands Water District.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-09-25 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 573, Statutes of 2024. [AB2661 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB2661-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Assembly
April 24, 2024 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
March 21, 2024 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2661
| Introduced by Assembly Member Soria |
February 14, 2024 |
An act to amend Section 454.57 of the Public Utilities Code, and to add Section 35574 to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 37860) to Part 8.1 of Division 13 of the Water Code, relating to electricity.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2661, as amended, Soria.
Electricity: transmission facility planning: water districts. Westlands Water District.
(1) Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities. Existing law requires the PUC to adopt a process for each load-serving entity, as defined, to file an integrated resource plan and a schedule for periodic updates to the plan to ensure that it meets, among other things, the state’s targets for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and the requirement to procure at least 60% of its electricity from eligible renewable energy resources by December 31, 2030. Under existing law, after the load-serving entities have updated the integrated resource plans pursuant to the schedule adopted by the PUC, the PUC adopted an aggregated resource portfolio known as the preferred system plan.
Existing law establishes an Independent System Operator (ISO) as a nonprofit public benefit corporation, and requires the ISO to ensure the efficient use and reliable operation of the electrical transmission grid consistent with the achievement of planning and operating reserve criteria, as specified. Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, to provide, not later than March 31, 2024, transmission-focused guidance to the ISO about resource portfolios of expected future renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources. Existing law requires the guidance to include the allocation of those resources by region based on technical feasibility and commercial interest in each region.
This bill would require the PUC to evaluate
perform a sensitivity analysis evaluating the potential for 10,000 to 30,000 megawatts of solar electrical generation located in the Central Valley beyond the amount of solar electrical generation described in the most recently adopted preferred system plan as of January 1, 2025. If the PUC determines that solar electrical generation to be cost effective, the bill would require the PUC to provide, no later than the March 31 immediately following that determination, transmission-focused guidance to the ISO that includes the solar electrical generation in the resource portfolios of expected future renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources. The bill would require the PUC to transmit the sensitivity analysis to the ISO for evaluation as part of the next transmission planning process.
(2) The California Water District Law provides for the establishment of water districts and authorizes a district to construct, maintain, and operate plants for the generation of hydroelectric energy and transmission lines for the conveyance of the hydroelectric energy. Existing law merged the former West Plains Water Storage District into the Westlands Water District, and provides for the operation of the Westlands Water District.
This bill would authorize a water district the Westlands Water District
to provide, generate, and deliver zero-emission
solar photovoltaic or hydroelectric electricity and to construct, operate, and maintain works, facilities, improvements, and property necessary or convenient for generating and delivering that electricity. The bill would require a the district to use the electricity for the district’s own purposes, and the bill would authorize a the district to sell surplus electricity to a public or private entity engaged in the distribution or sale of electricity. The bill would also authorize a
the district to construct, operate, and maintain energy storage systems and electric transmission lines, and to construct, operate, and maintain works, facilities, improvements, and property necessary or convenient for the operation of the energy storage system and electric transmission lines, within the boundaries of the district, as specified.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Westlands Water District.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 454.57 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:454.57.
(a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the Accelerating Renewable Energy Delivery Act.(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) The commission, the Energy Commission, and the State Air Resources Board have jointly estimated that the state’s installed electric generation may need a threefold increase in capacity to meet state carbon-free electricity policy targets.
(2) Record-setting renewable energy generation build rates are needed to meet the goals of the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program and the Senate Bill 100 (Chapter
312 of the Statutes of 2018) target of supplying 100 percent of retail sales of electricity from renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources. However, these build rates are not achievable without additional electrical transmission lines and facilities connecting new resources to consumers in the state’s load centers.
(3) In recent years, California has seen problems in delivering renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources to customers, including problems caused by constraints on the transmission system. First, there are generation pockets where the total potential output from renewable energy generation exceeds the capacity of the transmission system to export that energy. Second, there are load pockets where there is insufficient transmission capacity to import the renewable energy resources and zero-carbon
resources that are available. Both types of constraints should be promptly fixed so that all available renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources can be delivered to customers.
(4) Reducing the use of nonpreferred resources in disadvantaged communities has been a priority for those communities, and they would benefit from increased access to electricity from new renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources delivered to serve in-city loads.
(5) New transmission facilities have many steps that must be accomplished before they are online and delivering electricity. Major new transmission lines can take more than a decade from initial planning to operation.
(6) New transmission facilities should be
planned proactively to support delivery to load centers from expected locations for future renewable energy resource and zero-carbon resource development, where those locations are identified in the integrated resource planning process pursuant to Sections 454.52 and 9621 or as part of longer range planning processes pursuant to Section 454.53.
(7) The Central Valley may have the potential to host substantially increased amounts of solar energy generation and energy storage beyond current planning assumptions if there were sufficient transmission capacity to deliver the energy to load centers. The commission, Energy Commission, and Independent System Operator should consider potential increased development of solar energy generation and energy storage in the Central Valley and of the transmission capacity needed to deliver that energy to load
centers.
(8) New transmission facilities should be designed to minimize the risk of transmission-triggered wildfires.
(9) New transmission facilities should be designed to facilitate renewable energy transmission across California to better manage the variability of electrical supply.
(10) The Independent System Operator has issued a 20-Year Transmission Outlook that identifies substantial additional transmission projects needed to integrate renewable energy resources and storage for retail suppliers within the Independent System Operator balancing authority. Given the scale of this challenge, there is an urgent need to prioritize and accelerate the substantial effort needed to build transmission projects with long development
times.
(c) Recognizing that the Independent System Operator’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-approved tariff requires the Independent System Operator to plan and approve new transmission facilities needed to achieve the state’s goals, it is the intent of the Legislature that the Independent System Operator shall take notice of the state policies expressed in this section.
(d) (1) In support of the state’s policy to supply increasing amounts of electricity from renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources pursuant to Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) and Section 454.53, beginning as soon as possible and not later than March 31, 2024, the commission, in consultation with the Energy Commission, shall provide transmission-focused guidance
to the Independent System Operator about resource portfolios of expected future renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources. The guidance shall include the allocation of those resources by region based on technical feasibility and commercial interest in each region to allow the Independent System Operator to identify and approve transmission facilities needed to interconnect resources and reliably serve the needs of load centers.
(2) (A) For purposes of the next integrated resource plan cycle after January 1, 2025, the commission shall evaluate perform a sensitivity analysis evaluating the potential for 10,000 to 30,000 megawatts of solar electrical
generation located in the Central Valley, and facilitated by the authority granted to water districts pursuant to Section 35574 of the Water Code, Valley beyond the amount of solar electrical generation described in the most recently adopted preferred system plan as of January 1, 2025.
(B)If the commission determines that the solar electrical generation described in subparagraph (A) would be cost effective, the commission, no later than the March 31 immediately following that determination, shall provide transmission-focused guidance to the Independent System Operator that includes the solar electrical generation described in subparagraph (A) in the resource portfolios of expected future renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources. The commission shall coordinate the guidance with any master plan of a water district that would facilitate construction of transmission lines and facilities under the authority of the water district.
(B) The commission shall transmit the results of the sensitivity analysis performed pursuant to subparagraph (A) to the Independent System Operator for evaluation as part of the next transmission planning
process.
(e) In providing the guidance described in subdivision (d), the commission and the Energy Commission shall provide projections each year, including from the integrated energy policy report prepared pursuant to Section 25302 of the Public Resources Code and the load-serving entities’ integrated resource plans prepared pursuant to Section 454.52, to support planning and approvals by the Independent System Operator in its annual transmission planning process, including by doing all of the following:
(1) Providing projections of resource portfolios and electricity demand by region for at least 15 years into the future to ensure adequate lead time for the Independent System Operator to analyze and approve transmission development, and for the permitting and
construction of the approved facilities, to meet the projections.
(2) Providing load growth projections, including projected growth from building and transportation electrification, that are consistent with achieving the economywide greenhouse gas emissions reductions required pursuant to Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code.
(3) Providing projections of new renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources consistent with the build rates necessary to achieve the targets established in Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) and Section 454.53.
(4) (A) Providing resource projections that, combined with transmission capacity expansions, are expected to
substantially reduce, no later than 2035, the need to rely on nonpreferred resources in local capacity areas.
(B) The resource projections in subparagraph (A) shall include consideration of cost-effective and feasible alternatives to transmission capacity expansions, including the use of energy storage resources, renewable energy resources, or zero-carbon resources that are located within the local capacity areas.
(5) Providing projections for offshore wind generation as identified by the SB 100 Joint Agency Report of the commission, the Energy Commission, and the State Air Resources Board, and informed by the strategic plan developed pursuant to Section 25991 of the Public Resources Code, to allow the Independent System Operator to identify and approve transmission facilities
needed from offshore wind resource areas that would be sufficient to make offshore wind resources fully deliverable to load centers.
(6) Providing projections for increases in imports of electricity into the state that reflect the expected development of renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources in other parts of the Western Interconnection for the purpose of delivering clean energy to California balancing authorities.
(f) On or before January 15, 2023, the commission shall request the Independent System Operator to do both of the following:
(1) Identify, based as much as possible on studies completed before January 1, 2023, by the Independent System Operator and projections provided before January 1, 2023,
by the commission and the Energy Commission, the highest priority transmission facilities that are needed to allow for increased transmission capacity into local capacity areas to deliver renewable energy resources or zero-carbon resources that are expected to be developed by 2035 into those areas.
(2) Consider whether to approve transmission projects identified pursuant to paragraph (1) as part of its 2022–23 transmission planning process.
(g) It is the policy of the state that new transmission facilities be built on a timely basis and in anticipation of new electrical generation that will be built to meet the state’s renewable energy resource and zero-carbon resource targets, with interim targets for transmission capacity additions that demonstrate adequate progress toward
meeting these long-term transmission needs. The commission shall request that the Independent System Operator implement this policy by approving transmission projects needed based on a longer planning period supported by the guidance provided pursuant to subdivisions (d) and (e). The projects should be approved in time to be online when needed, considering permitting and construction lead times.
(h) It is the policy of the state that planning for new transmission facilities considers the following goals:
(1) Minimizing the risk of wildfire.
(2) Increasing systemwide reliability and cost efficiency, including through the sharing of diverse electrical generation resources within California and with other parts of the Western
Interconnection.
(3) Eliminating transmission constraints that prevent electrical generation resources from delivering to the wider grid and that prevent importing energy into load pockets.
(i) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Local capacity area” means a transmission constrained load pocket, as identified by the Independent System Operator, where local generation capacity is needed for reliability due to insufficient transmission capacity into the load pocket to meet electricity demand with electricity from outside of the load pocket.
(2) “Nonpreferred resources” means electrical generation resources that are not
renewable energy resources or zero-carbon resources pursuant to Section 454.53.
SEC. 2.
Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 37860) is added to Part 8.1 of Division 13 of the Water Code, to read:CHAPTER 4. Additional Powers of the District
37860.
(a) For purposes of this section,(A)
(1) Pumping operations.
(B)
(2) Water treatment operations.
(C)
(3) Barrier intrusion operations.
(D)
(4) Desalination operations.
(2)“Zero-emission electricity” includes electricity generated by a hydroelectric generation facility, regardless of the capacity of the generation facility, or electricity from a renewable electrical generation facility, as that term is defined in Section 25741 of the Public Resources Code.
(b) (1) A district The Westlands Water District may provide, generate, and deliver zero-emission solar photovoltaic or hydroelectric electricity, and may construct, operate, and maintain any and all works, facilities, improvements,
and property, or portions thereof, necessary or convenient for generating and delivering that electricity.
(2) An electric powerplant or transmission line constructed pursuant to this subdivision may be leased for operation.
(3) The electricity generated pursuant to this subdivision shall be used by a district the Westlands Water District for its own purposes. A The district may sell surplus electricity to a public or private entity that is engaged
in the distribution or sale of electricity.
(c) A district The Westlands Water District may construct, operate, and maintain an energy storage system, as defined in Section 2835 of the Public Utilities Code, and all works, facilities, improvements, and property, or portions thereof, necessary or convenient for the operation of an energy storage system, within the boundaries of the district, regardless of whether the energy storage system is interconnected to or directly charged by an electric powerplant constructed pursuant to subdivision (a).
(b). An energy storage system constructed pursuant to this subdivision may be leased for operation. A
The district may operate an energy storage system in a manner intended, as determined by the district, to increase the economic value of the energy storage system and the district is not required to use the discharging energy for its own purposes. A The district may purchase discharging energy through a market administered by the Independent System Operator or from a public or private entity
that is engaged in the distribution or sale of electricity. A Operator. The district may sell discharging energy and any attributes of the energy storage system through a market administered by the Independent System Operator or to any public or private entity that is engaged in the distribution or sale of electricity. Operator.
(d) A district The Westlands Water District may construct, operate, and
maintain electrical transmission lines and all works, facilities, improvements, and property, or portions thereof, necessary or convenient for the conveyance of electricity within the boundaries of the district, regardless of whether the transmission lines are used for the purpose of conveying electricity from an electric powerplant constructed pursuant to subdivision (a). (b). Transmission lines constructed pursuant to this subdivision may be leased for operation. A The district may sell the rights to use transmission lines constructed pursuant to this
subdivision to any public or private entity that is engaged in the distribution or sale of electricity. Transmission facilities developed pursuant to this section shall be controlled by a California balancing authority, as defined in Section 399.12 of the Public Utilities Code, regardless of ownership by the Westlands Water District or a subsequent owner.
(e) This section does not authorize a district the Westlands Water District to provide, sell, or deliver electricity at retail.
(f) A district The
Westlands Water District shall not acquire property employed in the generation or delivery of electricity for public or private utility purposes, except by mutual agreement between the district and the owner of that property.
