Bill Text: CA SB1221 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Gas corporations: priority neighborhood decarbonization zones: pilot projects.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2024-07-03 - Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. [SB1221 Detail]
Download: California-2023-SB1221-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Senate
April 25, 2024 |
Amended
IN
Senate
March 18, 2024 |
Introduced by Senator Min |
February 15, 2024 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
This bill would authorize a gas corporation to cease providing service if adequate substitute energy service is reasonably available to support the energy end use of the affected gas corporation customers.
This bill would
require the commission, by January 1, 2026, to direct each electrical corporation to offer incremental discounts or other rate adjustments, if needed, to enable the adoption of building electrification technologies by participants in the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program or the Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) program, as provided.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Affordable Energy Transition and Workforce Protection Act.
SEC. 2.SECTION 1.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(6)Cost-effective, zero-emission alternatives both reduce gas system costs and further California’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and improve air quality.
(7)
(8)
(9)
(a)(1) All charges demanded or received by a public utility, or by two or more public utilities, for a product or commodity furnished or to be furnished or a service rendered or to be rendered shall be just and reasonable. Every unjust or unreasonable charge demanded or received for that product or commodity or service is unlawful.
(2)Every public utility shall furnish and maintain adequate, efficient, just, and reasonable service, instrumentalities, equipment, and facilities, including telephone facilities, as defined in Section 54.1 of the Civil Code, as are necessary to promote the safety, health, comfort, and convenience of its patrons, employees, and the public.
(3)All rules made by a public utility affecting or pertaining to its charges or service to the public shall be just and reasonable.
(b)(1)This section does not apply to the provision of gas service at premises that have ceased gas service pursuant to Section 451.6.
(2)Notwithstanding any other law, the gas corporation that previously served those premises described in paragraph (1) shall have no further obligation to provide gas service to those premises. The gas corporation shall continue to have an obligation to serve all other customers in its service territory.
Notwithstanding any other law, a gas corporation may cease providing service if adequate substitute energy service is reasonably available to support the energy end uses of the affected gas corporation customers.
SEC. 2.
Section 451.9 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:451.9.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a gas corporation may cease providing service in an area within its service territory where a pilot project has been implemented pursuant to Section 663 if the commission determines that adequate substitute energy service is reasonably available to support the energy end use of affected gas corporation customers.SEC. 5.SEC. 3.
Article 11 (commencing with Section 660) is added to Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, to read:
Article
11. Gas Distribution Infrastructure Plan Neighborhood Decarbonization Zone Pilot Projects
660.
For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:661.
On or before July 1, 2025, and each year thereafter, each gas corporation shall submit to the commission a map that includes all of the following:On or before January 1, 2026, in a new or existing proceeding, the commission shall establish all of the following:
(a)Criteria and methodology for determining the cost-effectiveness of a zero-emission alternative. The commission shall consider nonenergy benefits in determining the cost-effectiveness of zero-emission alternatives.
(b)Requirements and programs to ensure that a substitute for gas service for low-income customers is affordable, adequate, efficient, and just and reasonable, including, but not limited to, bill and renter protections.
(c)Notice requirements for customers if a zero-emission alternative would be implemented.
Notice shall include information about the climate and health benefits of zero-emission buildings and the potential impact of declining gas demand on gas rates, and the notice shall be made available in the area’s prevailing languages.
(d)The appropriate rate of return and recovery period that a gas corporation is eligible to receive for their costs to implement a zero-emission alternative. A gas corporation shall not receive ratepayer funding for the costs of a zero-emission alternative that are covered by incentives under federal, state, or local laws.
(a)On or before January 1, 2026, in a new or existing proceeding and following the opportunity for public comment, the commission shall designate priority neighborhood decarbonization zones. In designating the zones, the commission shall consider factors that include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1)Presence of disadvantaged and low-income communities in high-temperature climate zones that disproportionately lack cooling.
(2)Presence of environmental and social justice communities as defined in the commission’s Environmental and Social Justice Action Plan.
(3)Availability of supportive local government or community partners.
(4)Concentration of gas distribution line replacement projects identified in the map submitted pursuant to Section 661.
(b)The commission shall coordinate with relevant agencies to identify third-party funding, such as state and federal funds, that may be used to execute projects in priority neighborhood decarbonization zones that would be cost effective with supplemental nonratepayer funding.
(c)If zero-emission alternatives are implemented in a priority neighborhood decarbonization zone, the commission shall direct gas corporations and electrical corporations, if appropriate, to leverage other available programs, including, but not limited to, energy efficiency, low-income weatherization, and distributed generation programs.
(d)The commission may, after providing an opportunity for public comment, update the priority neighborhood decarbonization zones as necessary.
(a)On or before July 1, 2026, the commission shall adopt a long-term gas distribution system planning process to evaluate and implement zero-emission alternatives for gas distribution line replacement projects and any other capital investments in the gas distribution system the commission deems necessary.
(b)The commission may establish a separate process to routinize review, communication, and execution of zero-emission alternatives for gas distribution service line replacements.
(c)This section does not prevent a gas corporation from seeking commission approval of pilot projects to implement zero-emission alternatives before establishment of a long-term gas distribution
system planning process, if the cost to gas ratepayers of the zero-emission alternative is less than, or equal to, the cost of the gas distribution pipeline replacement project and adequate substitution of service has been provided. A gas corporation may replace no more than 3 percent of its gas distribution pipelines with zero-emission alternatives before the commission adopts a long-term gas distribution system planning process.
In a new or existing proceeding, the commission shall evaluate the costs and benefits of thermal energy networks and identify potential implementation barriers.
(a)The commission shall require that all construction work undertaken to implement a zero-emission alternative, other than decommissioning a gas corporation’s plant and property by employees of the gas corporation or front-of-meter work performed by an electrical corporation or local publicly owned electric utility, as appropriate, shall be constructed using a skilled and trained workforce as provided in Chapter 2.9 (commencing with Section 2600) of Part 1 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, and all of the following conditions shall apply:
(1)(A)Except as provided in paragraph (3), every contractor and subcontractor performing work paid for in whole or in part by the program implementing the zero-emission alternative shall use a skilled and trained workforce to construct any portion of the program.
(B)Contractors and subcontractors that violate subparagraph (A) are subject to the penalties provided in Section 2603 of the Public Contract Code. Penalties for a contractor’s or subcontractor’s failure to comply with the requirement to use a skilled and trained workforce may be assessed by the Labor Commissioner within 18 months of completion of any portion of the program using the same procedures for issuance of civil wage and penalty assessments pursuant to Section 2603 of the Public Contract Code. Penalties shall be paid to the State Public Works Enforcement Fund.
(2)(A)Except as provided in paragraph (3), every contractor and subcontractor shall pay to all construction workers employed in the construction of any portion of the program implementing the zero-emission alternative at least the general prevailing rate of per diem wages, as determined by the Director of Industrial Relations pursuant to Sections 1773 and 1773.9 of the Labor Code, except that apprentices registered in programs approved by the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards may be paid at least the applicable apprentice prevailing rate.
(B)The obligation of contractors and subcontractors to pay prevailing wages may be enforced by the Labor Commissioner through the issuance of a civil wage and penalty assessment pursuant to Section 1741 of the Labor Code, which may be reviewed pursuant to Section 1742 of the Labor Code, within 18 months after the completion of any portion of the program, or by an underpaid worker through an administrative complaint or civil action, or by a joint labor-management committee through a civil action under Section 1771.2 of the Labor Code. If a civil wage and penalty assessment is issued, the contractor, subcontractor, and surety on a bond or bonds issued to secure the payment of wages covered by the assessment shall be liable for liquidated damages pursuant to Section 1742.1 of the Labor Code.
(3)Paragraphs (1) and (2) do not apply if all contractors and subcontractors performing work on the project are subject to a project labor agreement as defined in Section 2500 of the Public Contract Code. The project labor agreement shall also include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A)Provisions requiring compliance with the skilled and trained workforce requirement and for enforcement of that obligation through an arbitration procedure.
(B)Provisions requiring payment of prevailing wages to all construction workers employed in the construction of any portion of the program and for enforcement of that obligation through an arbitration procedure.
(C)Targeted hiring provisions, including a targeted hiring plan, on a craft-by-craft basis to address job access for local, disadvantaged, or underrepresented workers, as defined by a local agency.
(D)Apprenticeship use provisions that commit all parties to increasing the share of work performed by state-registered apprentices above the state-mandated minimum ratio required in Section 1777.5 of the Labor Code.
(E)Apprenticeship use provisions that commit all parties to hiring and retaining a certain percentage of state-registered apprentices that have completed the Multi-Craft Core preapprenticeship training curriculum referenced in subdivision (t) of Section 14005 of the Unemployment Insurance Code.
(b)This section does not apply to behind-the meter work for zero-emission alternatives to individual gas distribution line replacement projects serving no more than three customers.
(c)A gas corporation shall not involuntarily lay off any employee as a result of the implementation of zero-emission alternatives.
This article does not prohibit a gas corporation from seeking commission approval of cost-effective zero-emission alternatives before the filing of a gas distribution infrastructure plan.
662.
(a) On or before January 1, 2026, in a new or existing proceeding and following the opportunity for public comment, the commission shall designate priority neighborhood decarbonization zones. In designating the zones, the commission shall consider factors that include, but are not limited to, all of the following:663.
(a) On or before July 1, 2026, in a new or existing proceeding, the commission, in consultation with each of the state’s three largest gas corporations, shall establish a voluntary program to facilitate the cost-effective decarbonization of priority neighborhood decarbonization zones, not to exceed 30 pilot projects across the state and affecting no more than 1 percent of each gas corporation’s customers within their service territory.664.
(a) (1) Beginning on January 1, 2029, the commission, in a new proceeding, shall review the efficacy of the pilot projects established pursuant to Section 663 in providing benefits to gas utility customers and in assisting the state in meeting the state’s climate change goals.665.
This article shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2031, and as of that date is repealed.(a)On or before January 1, 2026, the commission shall direct each electrical corporation to offer an incremental discount or other rate adjustment, if needed, to enable the adoption of building electrification technologies by participants in the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program or Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) program, who shall be eligible to take service under an optional electrification tariff designed to promote the adoption of building and transportation electrification. The incremental discount or other rate adjustments shall promote accelerated payback periods for electric space heating and water heating investments by reducing the operational costs of those technologies.
(b)An incremental discount shall
satisfy both of the following requirements:
(1)The incremental discount shall be in addition to any discount authorized pursuant to Sections 739.1 and 739.12 and shall be excluded from any determination of the average effective CARE program discount in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 739.1.
(2)The cost of the incremental discount shall be recovered from customers in the same manner as specified under paragraph (7) of subdivision (a) of Section 327.