Bill Text: CA SB48 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Building Energy Savings Act.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-10-07 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 378, Statutes of 2023. [SB48 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB48-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  September 01, 2023

Amended  IN  Assembly  June 30, 2023

Amended  IN  Assembly  June 08, 2023

Amended  IN  Senate  May 18, 2023

Amended  IN  Senate  April 18, 2023

Amended  IN  Senate  March 30, 2023

Amended  IN  Senate  March 01, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 48

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Introduced by Senator Becker

December 05, 2022

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An act to amend Section 25402.10 of, and to add Section 25402.16 to, the Public Resources Code, relating to energy.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 48, as amended, Becker. Building Energy Savings Act.

Existing law requires each utility to maintain records of the energy usage data of all buildings to which they provide service for at least the most recent 12 complete calendar months, and to deliver or otherwise provide that aggregated energy usage data for each covered building, as defined, to the owner, as specified. Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to adopt regulations providing for the delivery to the Energy Commission and public disclosure of benchmarking of energy use for covered buildings, and specifies that this requirement does not require the owner of a building with 16 or fewer residential utility accounts to collect or deliver energy usage information to the Energy Commission.

This bill would additionally specify that the requirement does not require the owner of a building with less than 50,000 square feet of gross floor space to collect or deliver energy usage information to the Energy Commission.

Existing law requires the Energy Commission to prescribe, by regulation, lighting, insulation, climate control system, and other building design and construction standards, and energy and water conservation design standards, for new residential and new nonresidential buildings to reduce the wasteful, uneconomic, inefficient, or unnecessary consumption of energy, as specified.

This bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, Public Utilities Commission, and Department of Housing and Community Development, on or before July 1, 2026, to develop a strategy for using the energy usage data described above to track and manage the energy usage and emissions of greenhouse gases of covered buildings in order to achieve the state’s goals, targets, and standards related to energy usage and emissions of greenhouse gases of covered buildings, as specified. The bill would require the Energy Commission to submit the strategy and recommendations for further legislative action that would help achieve certain objectives to the Legislature on or before August 1, 2026.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 (a) This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Building Energy Savings Act.

(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) The state faces parallel challenges of climate change, climate-induced extreme weather and droughts, and affordability for housing and utility expenses.

(2) Improving the energy efficiency of our buildings can help address these challenges by reducing utility bills, improving the comfort and habitability of these buildings, reducing energy usage, and reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases that cause climate change.

(3) While changes to the California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations) have dramatically improved the efficiency of energy use and lowered utility bills in our newer residential and commercial buildings, older buildings are often far less efficient and are not required to make code-compliant upgrades unless a major renovation is undertaken.

(4)Building performance standards have been enacted in 10 United States jurisdictions as of January 1, 2023, including in New York City and Washington, D.C., and statewide in Washington, Maryland, and Colorado, as a practical policy for requiring large buildings to improve efficiency, lower utility costs for tenants, and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, with interim targets that become more stringent over time while giving building owners flexibility and time to plan for how to achieve those requirements.

(5)A focus on improving the performance of large buildings is desirable because large buildings represent a small share of total buildings, but a much larger share of total energy usage and emissions of greenhouse gases, and the owners of large buildings are usually more capable of making plans and obtaining capital for the needed improvements than the owners of smaller buildings.

(6)Building performance standards that drive investment in older buildings can create local job opportunities, strengthen climate resilience, and result in healthier, more durable spaces in which to live, learn, and work.

(7)

(4) While improvements in building energy efficiency are salutary, they should not be achieved at an undue cost to tenants, particularly those tenants who are vulnerable to formal or informal eviction, displacement, harassment, or rent increases, if state and local strategies to achieve those energy efficiency improvements are not properly designed.

(8)

(5) Improvements in building energy efficiency should be achieved in a way that benefits building inhabitants and the general public. Ensuring that those benefits accrue to tenants is particularly important because tenants have less control over the timing and nature of those improvements than the people who own the home the tenants live in.

(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to explore the feasibility of establishing building performance standards for large buildings in order to achieve improvements in energy efficiency and reductions of the emissions of greenhouse gases, gases in buildings, including measures to ensure that making the necessary investments to improve these buildings will also improve equity and avoid displacement or increased utility burdens, especially in under-resourced communities.

SEC. 2.

 Section 25402.10 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

25402.10.

 (a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) To “benchmark,” in reference to energy use, means to obtain information on the energy use in an entire building for a specific period to enable that usage to be tracked or compared against other buildings.

(2) “Covered building” means either or both of the following:

(A) Any building with no residential utility accounts.

(B) Any building with five or more active utility accounts, residential or nonresidential.

(3) “Energy” means electricity, natural gas, steam, or fuel oil sold by a utility to a customer for end uses addressed by the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.

(4) “ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager” means the tool developed and maintained by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to track and assess the energy performance of buildings.

(b) On and after January 1, 2016, each utility shall maintain records of the energy usage data of all buildings to which they provide service for at least the most recent 12 complete calendar months.

(c) (1) Subject to the requirements of paragraph (2), on and after January 1, 2017, each utility shall, upon the request and written authorization or secure electronic authorization of the owner, owner’s agent, or operator of a covered building, deliver or otherwise provide aggregated energy usage data for a covered building to the owner, owner’s agent, building operator, or to the owner’s account in the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. The commission may specify additional information to be delivered by utilities to enable building owners to complete benchmarking of the energy use in their buildings and in other systems or formats for information delivery and automation.

(2) The delivery of information by utilities pursuant to this section shall be subject to the following requirements:

(A) For covered buildings with three or more active utility accounts, each utility shall deliver information showing the aggregated energy usage data of all utility customers in the same building for each of the 12 prior months. Notwithstanding any other law, energy usage data aggregated in this manner shall not be deemed customer utility usage information or confidential information by the utility for purposes of delivery to the owner, owner’s agent, or operator of a building. The building owner and utility shall not have any liability for any use or disclosure of aggregated energy usage data delivered as required by this section.

(B) For covered buildings not subject to subparagraph (A), each utility shall deliver the information showing the aggregated energy usage data of all utility customers in each covered building for each of the prior 12 months if the accountholder provides written or electronic consent for the delivery of the accountholder’s energy usage data to the owner, owner’s agent, operator, or utility.

(C) Each utility shall deliver, upload, or otherwise provide aggregated energy usage data within four weeks of receiving a request from an owner, owner’s agent, or operator of a covered building.

(D) Each utility shall make available the covered building energy usage data aggregated at a monthly level unless otherwise specified by the commission.

(E) The building owner and utility shall not have any liability for any use or disclosure by others of usage information delivered as required by this section.

(d) The commission shall adopt regulations providing for the delivery to the commission and public disclosure of benchmarking of energy use for covered buildings, as follows:

(1) This subdivision does not require the owner of a building with less than 50,000 square feet of gross floor space or with 16 or fewer residential utility accounts to collect or deliver energy usage information to the commission.

(2) The commission may do, but is not limited to doing, all of the following in regulations adopted pursuant to this subdivision:

(A) Identify and provide for the collection of the energy usage data for calculations for the purpose of benchmarking of energy use.

(B) Identify and provide for the collection of the covered building characteristic information deemed necessary by the commission for the calculations for the purpose of the benchmarking of energy use.

(C) Specify the manner in which certain benchmarking of energy use shall be publicly disclosed.

(D) Determine which covered buildings, in addition to those described in paragraph (1), are not subject to the public disclosure requirement.

(E) Set a schedule to implement the requirements for public disclosure adopted by the commission.

(F) Determine if compliance with a local or county benchmarking program fulfills the commission’s requirements adopted pursuant to this subdivision.

(G) Identify categories of information it receives pursuant to this section that are protected from release under either the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code) or the Information Practices Act of 1977 (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1798) of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code).

(3) The commission shall determine who will deliver the energy usage data and related information for any covered building to the commission.

(e) The commission may ensure timely and accurate compliance with the data submission requirements of this section by using the enforcement measures identified in Section 25321. An owner of a covered building, or its agents or operators, shall not be liable for any noncompliance due to the failure of a utility to provide the information required for compliance.

(f) For buildings that are not covered buildings, and for customer information that is not aggregated pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), the commission may adopt regulations prescribing how utilities shall either obtain the customer’s permission or determine that a building owner has obtained the customer’s permission, for the owner to receive aggregated energy usage data or, where applicable, individual customer usage information, including by use of electronic authorization and in a lease agreement between the owner and the customer.

(g) The reasonable costs of an electrical or gas corporation in delivering electrical or gas usage data pursuant to this section or other information as required under state or federal law or by an order of the commission shall be recoverable in rates evaluated and approved by the Public Utilities Commission.

(h) The reasonable costs of local publicly owned electric utilities in disclosing electrical usage data pursuant to this section may be considered “cost-effective demand-side management services to promote energy efficiency and energy conservation” and thereby reimbursable by their general funds.

(i) (1) For purposes of adopting or revising regulations pursuant to subdivision (d), the commission may include two or more buildings located on a single parcel or adjacent parcels with the same owner of record and with five or more active utility accounts, in aggregate, residential or nonresidential, as a single covered building, as described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a).

(2) An electrical or gas utility shall provide to the owner, owner’s agent, or operator of a property containing two or more buildings on a single parcel or adjacent parcels with five or more active utility accounts, in aggregate, residential or nonresidential, upon request of the owner, agent, or operator, aggregate energy usage data on all such buildings in a manner provided pursuant to subdivision (c) as if those buildings are a single covered building, as described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a).

(j) This section does not prevent a city or county from establishing its own benchmarking program requiring collection, delivery, and disclosure of building information.

SEC. 3.

 Section 25402.16 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

25402.16.

 (a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Benchmarking data” means data delivered to the commission pursuant to Section 25402.10.

(2) “Covered building” means any building subject to the benchmarking regulations adopted pursuant to Section 25402.10.

(3) “Fuel-related emissions of greenhouse gases” means emissions of greenhouse gases from the onsite usage of fuels or emissions of greenhouse gases from the offsite production of steam or other forms of thermal energy, or from locally generated electricity, as part of a district energy system, but excludes emissions of greenhouse gases associated with electricity from the electrical grid that is used by a covered building.

(4) “Harassment” means an act that is unlawful pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1940.2 of the Civil Code, a misrepresentation made to a tenant that the tenant is required to vacate a rented area, or any other act defined as harassment by an applicable city, county, or city and county ordinance.

(5) “Under-resourced community” has the same meaning as defined in Section 71130.

(b) (1)On or before July 1, 2026, the commission, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, Public Utilities Commission, and Department of Housing and Community Development, shall develop a strategy for using benchmarking data to track and manage the energy usage and emissions of greenhouse gases of covered buildings in order to achieve the state’s goals, targets, and standards related to energy usage and emissions of greenhouse gases of covered buildings, including both of the following targets:

(A)

(1) The annual targets for statewide energy efficiency savings and demand reduction established pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 25310.

(B)

(2) The greenhouse gas emission reductions targets for the building sector established by the State Air Resources Board as part of achieving the economywide greenhouse gas emissions reductions required pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code).

(2)The strategy may include building performance standards.

(c) In developing the strategy pursuant to subdivision (b), the commission shall do all of the following:

(1) Avoid increasing utility and rental cost burdens for, or causing evictions, harassment, or displacement of, tenants of covered buildings. For purposes of this paragraph, the commission shall consider including the following requirements as part of the strategy:

(A) Requirements to prohibit a renovation to a covered building that is required by the strategy from being a basis for terminating a tenancy and to ensure that any temporary relocation costs resulting from the renovation is paid for by the covered building owner.

(B) Requirements to prohibit an increase in rent for a tenant as a result of a renovation to a covered building that is required by the strategy or to limit the increase in rent to the long-term energy savings to a tenant resulting from the renovation.

(2) Assess the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of building upgrades available to covered building owners for achieving increased energy efficiency and reductions of the emissions of greenhouse gases.

(3) Provide flexibility, to the extent feasible, for covered building owners to select among technology options and to align the timing of building upgrades with equipment replacement cycles.

(4) Encourage equitable access to jobs and other economic opportunities that may result from increased investment in covered building upgrades.

(5) Prioritize reductions in fuel-related emissions of greenhouse gases because the state has already established targets, pursuant to Section 454.53 of the Public Utilities Code, for reducing, and ultimately eliminating, indirect emissions of greenhouse gases associated with electricity used by buildings. electricity.

(6) Prioritize efficiency and decarbonization measures that will benefit tenants, including measures that reduce tenants’ energy costs and remove indoor environmental hazards.

(7) Consider including a process by which a covered building owner can propose, and the commission, or a local city or county building department to which the commission delegates this authority, may approve or reject reject, an alternative compliance plan for unusual circumstances where a covered building cannot reasonably meet the building performance standards that may be included within the strategy pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b). plan. An alternative compliance plan shall, consistent with paragraph (1), avoid increasing utility and rental cost burdens for, or causing evictions, harassment, or displacement of, tenants.

(8) Consider authorizing a local jurisdiction to implement its own program for increasing energy efficiency and reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases as an alternative to the strategy developed pursuant to subdivision (b) if that program is expected to achieve substantially equivalent or better increases in energy efficiency and reductions of the emissions of greenhouse gases, and if that program guarantees substantially equivalent or stronger tenant protections.

(d) In developing the strategy pursuant to subdivision (b), the commission shall consider input from affected stakeholders, including all of the following:

(1) Members of under-resourced communities and community-based organizations representing tenant advocacy, equity, and environmental justice concerns of under-resourced communities.

(2) Representatives of local city or county government.

(3) Owners or operators of affordable housing.

(4) Groups representing low-income residential and small commercial tenants, including organizations that provide legal services to those tenants.

(5) Providers of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and building decarbonization equipment and services.

(6) Labor unions that represent workers who implement building upgrades related to, or who manage or service, the energy infrastructure of covered buildings.

(7) Technical building design professionals.

(8) Facility operations professionals.

(9) Multiunit residential building owners.

(10) Nonresidential building owners.

(11) Energy utilities.

(e) In order to ensure equitable participation and input from stakeholders representing under-resourced communities, low-income residential tenants, and small commercial tenants in the development of the strategy pursuant to subdivision (b), the commission shall do all of the following:

(1) Contract with one or more organizations with experience representing under-resourced communities, low-income residential tenants, and small commercial tenants to advise the commission on the development of the strategy.

(2) Consider the feedback and recommendations from each advisory organization contracted with pursuant to paragraph (1) on the proposed strategy in advance of adopting any final strategy and, to the extent that any recommendations are not adopted in the final strategy, provide a written explanation of why the recommendations were not adopted and how the final strategy attempts to address the issues raised in those recommendations in an alternative way.

(3) In consultation with the advisory organizations contracted with pursuant to paragraph (1) and other stakeholders, develop metrics that could be used if the strategy is implemented to measure how the strategy is impacting under-resourced communities, low-income residential tenants, and small commercial tenants, and assess whether the strategy is achieving just and equitable outcomes.

(f) (1) On or before August 1, 2026, the commission shall submit to the Legislature the strategy developed pursuant to subdivision (b) and recommendations for further legislative action that would help achieve the objectives described in subdivision (c) if the strategy is implemented.

(2) The commission may submit the strategy and recommendations to the Legislature as part of a report otherwise submitted to the Legislature.