California AB 1301

(1) Existing law establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and requires the Energy Commission to nominate, and the Governor to appoint, an attorney admitted to the practice of law to serve as a public advisor to the Energy Commission, as specified. This bill would eliminate the requirement that the public advisor be an attorney. (2) Existing law provides for the establishment of an Independent System Operator, referred to as the ISO, as an incorporated nonprofit public benefit corporation. The ISO is required to ensure efficient use and reliable operation of the transmission grid consistent with achieving certain planning and operating criteria. Existing law establishes the Electricity Oversight Board to, among other duties, oversee the Independent System Operator and the Power Exchange. This bill would abolish the Electricity Oversight Board and would make various conforming changes. (3) Existing law establishes a Power Exchange as a nonprofit public benefit corporation to provide an efficient competitive auction, open on a nondiscriminatory basis to all suppliers of electricity, that meets the loads of all of its customers at efficient prices. This bill would abolish the Power Exchange and would make various conforming changes. (4) Existing law, the Energy Conservation Assistance Act of 1979, requires the Energy Commission to provide grants and loans to local governments and public institutions to maximize energy use savings, expand installation of energy storage systems, and expand the availability of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Existing law creates various continuously appropriated accounts for purposes of the act. Existing law repeals the act on January 1, 2028. This bill would, instead, repeal the Energy Conservation Assistance Act of 1979 on January 1, 2038. By extending the operation of those continuously appropriated accounts, the bill would make an appropriation. (5) Existing law requires the Energy Commission, on or before March 1, to annually publish on its internet website and report to the budget and relevant policy committees of the Legislature specific information about specified clean energy programs, including the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program. This bill would expand that reporting requirement to also include additional information about the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program, including its progress, status, budget, and impacts, as provided. (6) Existing law requires the PUC to continue the Family Electric Rate Assistance program (FERA) to provide a discount to residential customers of the state's 3 largest electrical corporations consisting of households with total household annual gross income levels between 200% and 250% of the federal poverty guideline level. Existing law requires the PUC, on or before March 1 of each year, to require the state's 3 largest electrical corporations to report on their efforts to enroll customers in the FERA program and requires the PUC to review those reports on or before June 1 of each year. This bill would, instead, require the PUC, on or before May 1 of each year, to require the state's 3 largest electrical corporations to report on their efforts to enroll customers in the FERA program and require the PUC to review those reports on or before December 1 of each year. (7) Existing law defines an "electrical cooperative" to mean any private corporation or association organized for the purposes of transmitting or distributing electricity exclusively to its stockholders or members at cost. Existing law specifies that every electrical cooperative is subject to the Public Utilities Act, except as specified. This bill would exempt an electrical cooperative from any provision of the Public Utilities Act that becomes effective after January 1, 2027, that does not expressly provide that it applies to an electrical cooperative. (8) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act, or of an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC, is a crime. Because certain provisions of this bill would be part of the act, and a violation of a PUC action implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.