(a)The Energy Unit is hereby created within the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.
(b)The Governor shall appoint a deputy director who shall have direct authority over the Energy Unit and serve at the pleasure of the Governor.
(c)The purpose of the Energy Unit is to accelerate the planning, financing, and execution of critical energy infrastructure projects that are necessary for the state to reach its climate, energy, and sustainability policy goals.
(d)The Energy Unit shall work with energy project developers and load-serving entities, as defined in Section 380 of the Public Utilities Code, to identify
barriers to construction and development of critical energy infrastructure projects and to make recommendations to relevant state agencies and local governments on how to overcome those barriers.
(e)The Energy Unit shall create a working group that includes local and federal partners to address land use issues related to critical energy infrastructure projects.
(f)In organizing and managing the Energy Unit, the deputy director shall establish and implement a process to coordinate between the state’s climate and energy agencies in order to identify the critical energy infrastructure projects that will form the operational mandate of the Energy Unit.
(g)In operating the Energy Unit, the deputy director shall cooperate with local, regional, federal, and California public and private businesses and investors to
eliminate barriers to the completion of critical energy infrastructure projects.
(h)The Energy Unit, in coordination with the Public Utilities Commission, the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the Independent System Operator, the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, and other agencies and external parties as appropriate and necessary, shall establish a Transmission Infrastructure Accelerator to develop a financing and development strategy for eligible transmission projects to receive California Transmission Accelerator financing under Article 10.5 (commencing with Section 63049.71) of Chapter 2 of Division 1 of Title 6.7. The accelerator shall take the necessary steps within its purview to accelerate the development and deployment of those projects to maximize ratepayer savings.
(i)The Energy Unit’s work shall complement, not conflict with, efforts by the state’s climate and energy agencies.
(j)This section, and the Energy Unit’s implementation of this section, does not change the regulatory authority of the state’s climate and energy agencies.
(k)(1) On or before February 1 of each year, the Energy Unit shall annually submit a report to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature that includes all of the following information:
(A) The infrastructure priorities identified for purposes of the prior calendar year.
(B) The constituencies coordinated with in order to advance those infrastructure priorities in the prior calendar year.
(C) The strategies implemented and steps taken to address barriers to and advance critical energy infrastructure projects in the prior calendar year.
(D) Any recommendations to the Legislature that would accelerate the Energy Unit’s progress.
(2)A
report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795.