Division 4.9 - RESTRUCTURING OF PUBLICLY OWNED ELECTRIC UTILITIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE RESTRUCTURING OF THE ELECTRICAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

California Public Utilities Code — §§ 9600-9625

Sections (20)

Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 854, Sec. 12. Effective September 24, 1996.

(a)It is the intent of the Legislature that California’s local publicly owned electric utilities and electric corporations should commit control of their transmission facilities to the Independent System Operator as described in Chapter 2.3 (commencing with Section 330) of Part 1 of Division 1. These utilities should jointly advocate to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a pricing methodology for the Independent System Operator that results in an equitable return on capital investment in transmission facilities for all Independent System Operator participants and is based on the following principles:

(1)Utility specific access charge rates as proposed in Docket No. EC96-19-000 as finally approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reflecting the costs of that utility’s transmission facilities shall go into effect on the first day of the Independent System Operator operation. The utility specific rates shall honor all of the terms and conditions of existing transmission service contracts and shall recognize any wheeling revenues of existing transmission service arrangements to the transmission owner.

(2)(A) No later than two years after the initial operation of the Independent System Operator, the Independent System Operator shall recommend for adoption by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a rate methodology determined by a decision of the Independent System Operator governing board, provided that the decision shall be based on principles approved by the governing board including, but not limited to, an equitable balance of costs and benefits, and shall define the transmission facility costs, if any, which shall be rolled in to the transmission service rate and spread equally among all Independent System Operator transmission users, and those transmission facility costs, if any, which should be specifically assigned to a specific utility’s service area.

(B)If there is no governing board decision, the rate methodology shall be determined following a decision by the alternative dispute resolution method set forth in the Independent System Operator bylaws.

(C)If no alternative dispute resolution decision is rendered, then a default rate methodology shall be a uniform regional transmission access charge and a utility specific local transmission access charge, provided that the default rate methodology shall be recommended for implementation upon termination of the cost recovery plan set forth in Section 368 or no later than two years after the initial operation of the Independent System Operator, whichever is later. For purposes of this paragraph, regional transmission facilities are defined to be transmission facilities operating at or above 230 kilovolts plus an appropriate percentage of transmission facilities operating below 230 kilovolts; all other transmission facilities shall be considered local. The appropriate percentage of transmission facilities described above shall be consistent with the guidelines in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Order No. 888 and any exception approved by that commission.

(3)If the rate methodology implemented as a result of a decision by the Independent System Operator governing board or resulting from the independent system operator alternative dispute resolution process results in rates different than those in effect prior to the decision for any transmission facility owner, the amount of any differences between the new rates and the prior rates shall be recorded in a tracking account to be recovered from customers and paid to the appropriate transmission owners by the transmission facility owner after termination of the cost recovery plan set forth in Section 368. The recovery and payments shall be based on an amortization period not to exceed three years in the case of the electrical corporations or five years in the case of the local publicly owned electric utilities.

(4)The costs of transmission facilities placed in service after the date of initial implementation of the Independent System Operator shall be recovered using the rate methodology in effect at the time the facilities go into operation.

(5)The electrical corporations and the local publicly owned electric utilities shall jointly develop language for implementation proposals to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission based on these principles.

(6)Nothing in this section shall compel any party to violate restrictions applicable to facilities financed with tax-exempt bonds or contractual restrictions and covenants regarding use of transmission facilities existing as of December 20, 1995.

(b)Following a final Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decision approving the Independent System Operator, no California electrical corporation or local publicly owned electric utility shall be authorized to collect any competition transition charge authorized pursuant to this division and Chapter 2.3 (commencing with Section 330) of Part 1 of Division 1 unless it commits control of its transmission facilities to the Independent System Operator.

§ 9601

Amended by Stats. 2004, Ch. 646, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2005.

(a)Except with respect to supply options of the nature specified in Section 218, with the exception of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of that section, as it existed on December 20, 1995, no person, corporation, electrical corporation, or local publicly owned electric utility or other governmental entity other than a retail customer’s existing electric service provider as of December 20, 1995, shall provide partial or full electric service to a retail customer of a local publicly owned electric utility unless the customer first confirms in writing an obligation to pay, through tariff or otherwise, to the utility currently providing electric service, a nonbypassable generation-related severance fee or transition charge established by the regulatory body for that utility. The severance fee or transition charge shall be paid directly to the local publicly owned utility providing electricity service in the service area in which the consumer is located.

(b)Except as provided in subdivision (a) of Section 374, no local publicly owned electric utility or other governmental entity shall provide partial or full electric service to a retail customer of an electrical corporation unless the customer of that electrical corporation first confirms in writing an obligation to pay, through tariff or otherwise, to the electrical corporation currently providing electric service, a nonbypassable generation-related transition charge established by the regulatory body for that electrical corporation. The charge shall be paid directly to the electrical corporation providing electricity in the service area in which the consumer is located.

(c)No local publicly owned electric utility or electrical corporation shall sell electric power to the retail customers of another local publicly owned electric utility or electrical corporation unless the first utility has agreed to allow the second utility to make sales of electric power to the retail customers of the first utility.

(d)This section does not apply to an exchange of customers affected by a local publicly owned electric utility completing a mutually agreeable condemnation process to resolve a fringe area agreement in which there exists a balance of benefits between the customers of the local publicly owned electric utility and the electrical corporation.

§ 9602

Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 854, Sec. 12. Effective September 24, 1996.

(a)After a public hearing, the local regulatory body of each local publicly owned electric utility shall determine whether it will authorize direct transactions between electricity suppliers and end use customers, subject to implementation of the nonbypassable severance fee or transition charge referred to in Section 9603.

(b)If the regulatory body authorizes direct transactions, a phase-in of these transactions shall commence no later than the latter of January 1, 2000, or two years after the start of the phase-in of direct transactions by the electrical corporations pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 365, and shall be completed by the later of December 31, 2010, or two years after the completion of the phase-in by electrical corporations.

(c)The regulatory body shall develop a phase-in schedule at the conclusion of which all customers shall have the right to engage in direct transactions.

(d)Any phase-in of customer eligibility for direct transactions ordered by the regulatory body shall be equitable to all customer classes.

(e)If the regulatory body does not authorize direct access as contemplated in this section, then the publicly owned electric utility shall not be eligible to recover the nonbypassable charge as provided in Section 9603.

§ 9603

Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 854, Sec. 12. Effective September 24, 1996.

(a)Not less than six months prior to the date of implementation of direct transactions, the regulatory body shall establish the nonbypassable generation-related severance fee or transition charge which shall include, but shall not be limited to, employee related transition costs incurred and projected for severance, out placement, retraining, early retirement, and related expenses for employees directly affected by restructuring.

(b)The regulatory body of a local publicly owned electric utility, prior to adopting any generation related severance fee or transition charge, shall make available for public review the basis for the severance fee or transition charge and shall hold at least one public hearing.

§ 9604

Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 558, Sec. 34. Effective January 1, 2009.

For purposes of this division, the following definitions apply:

(a)“Direct transaction” means a contract between one or more electric generators, marketers, or brokers, public or private, of electric power and one or more retail customers providing for the purchase and sale of electric power and ancillary services.

(b)“Service area” means an area in which, as of December 20, 1995, an investor-owned electric utility or a local publicly owned electric utility was obligated to provide service.

(c)“Severance fee” or “transition charge” for a local publicly owned electric utility shall mean that charge or periodic charge assessed to customers to recover the reasonable uneconomic portion of costs associated with generation-related assets and obligations, nuclear decommissioning, and capitalized energy efficiency investment programs approved prior to August 15, 1996.

§ 9605

Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 561, Sec. 221. (AB 1516) Effective January 1, 2018.

(a)This division and Chapter 2.3 (commencing with Section 330) of Part 1 of Division 1 do not affect preexisting ratemaking authority of a regulatory body of any local publicly owned electric utility.

(b)This division does not modify or abrogate any agreement, or any rights or obligations in any such agreement, between retail electric service providers relating to service areas.

(c)This division does not limit or affect the statutory rights of a local publicly owned electric utility to negotiate and design rates for existing customers and new customers not choosing to be served by an alternate supplier.

(d)This division does not limit electric supply options within the service territory of a local publicly owned electric utility to the extent the options are of the nature specified in Section 218 as it existed on December 20, 1995, with the exception of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of that section, and the imposition of a severance fee or transition charge on customers electing those options shall be prohibited whether the elections are made before or after the availability of direct transactions within the service area of the local publicly owned electric utility.

§ 9606

Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 628, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1999.

All city-owned electric utilities shall report on the periodic bill the amount expected to be transferred from the utility to the general fund, and to any special funds, of the city on a no less than annual basis.

§ 9607

Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 396, Sec. 51. (AB 1513) Effective January 1, 2020.

(a)The intent of this section is to avoid cost-shifting to customers of an electrical corporation resulting from the transfer of distribution services from an electrical corporation to an irrigation district.

(b)Except as otherwise provided in this section and Section 9608, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, an irrigation district that offered electrical service to retail customers as of January 1, 1999, may not construct, lease, acquire, install, or operate facilities for the distribution or transmission of electricity to retail customers located in the service territory of an electrical corporation providing electrical distribution services, unless the district has first applied for and received the approval

of the commission and implements its service consistent with the commission’s order. The commission shall find that service to be in the public interest and shall approve the request of a district to provide distribution or transmission of electricity to retail customers located in the service territory of an electrical corporation providing electrical distribution service if, after notice and hearing, the commission determines all of the following:

(1)The district will provide universal service to all retail customers who request service within the area to be served, at published tariff rates and on a just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory basis, comparable to that provided by the current retail service provider.

(2)If the area the district is proposing to serve is either of the following:

(A)Is within the

district’s boundaries but less than the entire district, the area to be served includes a percentage of residential customers and small customers, based on load, comparable to the percentage of residential and small customers in the district, based on load.

(B)Includes territory outside the district’s boundaries, in which case the territory outside the district’s boundaries must include a percentage of residential customers and small customers, based on load, comparable to the percentage of residential and small customers in the county or counties where service is to be provided, based on load.

(3)Service by the district will be consistent with the intent of the state to avoid economic waste caused by duplication of facilities as set forth in Section 8101.

(4)Service by the district will include reasonable

mitigation of any adverse effects on the reliability of an existing service by the electrical corporation.

(5)The district has established, funded, and is carrying out public purpose and low-income programs comparable to those provided by the current electric retail service provider.

(6)That district’s tariffed electrical service rates, exclusive of commodity costs, will be at least 15 percent below the tariffed electrical service rates, exclusive of commodity costs and nonbypassable charges under Sections 367, 368, 375, 376, and 379, of the electrical corporation for comparable services.

(7)Service by the district is in the public interest.

(c)An irrigation district that obtains the approval of the commission under this section to serve an area

shall prepare an annual report available to the public on the total load and number of accounts of residential, low-income, agricultural, commercial, and industrial customers served by the irrigation district in the approved service area.

(d)The commission shall have jurisdiction to resolve and adjudicate complaint cases brought against an irrigation district that offered electrical service to retail customers as of January 1, 1999, by an interested party where the complaint concerns retail electric service outside the boundaries of the district and within the service territory of an electrical corporation. Nothing in this section grants the commission jurisdiction to adjudicate complaint cases involving retail electrical service by an irrigation district inside its boundaries or inside an irrigation district’s exclusive service territory.

(e)Any project involving electrical

transmission or distribution facilities to be constructed or installed by an irrigation district to serve retail customers located in the service territory of an electrical corporation providing electrical distribution services shall comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code). The county in which the construction or installation is to occur shall act as the lead agency. If a project involves the construction or installation of electrical transmission or distribution facilities in more than one county, the county where the majority of the construction is anticipated to occur shall act as the lead agency.

(f)An irrigation district may not offer service to customers outside of its district boundaries before offering service to all customers within its district boundaries.

(g)This section does not

apply to electrical distribution service provided by the Modesto Irrigation District to those customers or within those areas described in subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) of Section 9610.

(h)The provisions of this section shall not apply to (1) a cumulative 90 megawatts of load served by the Merced Irrigation District that is located within the boundaries of the district, as those boundaries existed on December 20, 1995, together with the territory of Castle Air Force Base that was located outside the district on that date, or (2) electric load served by the district that was not previously served by an electrical corporation that is located within the boundaries of the district, as those boundaries existed on December 20, 1995, together with the territory of Castle Air Force Base that was located outside the district on that date.

(i)For purposes of this section, a megawatt of

load shall be calculated in accordance with the methodology established by the Energy Commission in its Docket No. 96-IRR-1890, but the 90 megawatts shall not include electrical usage by customers that move to the areas described in paragraph (1) after December 31, 2000.

(j)Subdivision (a) of this section shall not apply to the construction, modification, lease, acquisition, installation, or operation of facilities for the distribution or transmission of electricity to customers electrically connected to a district as of December 31, 2000, or to other customers who subsequently locate at the same premises.

(k)In recognition of contractual arrangements and settlements existing as of June 1, 2000, this section does not apply to the acquisition or operation of the electrical distribution facilities that are the subject of the Settlement Agreement dated May 1, 2000, between Pacific

Gas and Electric Company and the San Joaquin Irrigation District.

(l)For purposes of this section, retail customers do not include an irrigation district’s own electric load being served at retail by an electrical corporation.

§ 9608

Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 159, Sec. 176. Effective January 1, 2002.

Sections 454.1 and 9607 of this code and Section 56133 of the Government Code do not apply to an irrigation district with respect to an area to be served by the irrigation district, if all of the following occur:

(a)The irrigation district acquires substantially all the electric distribution facilities and related subtransmission facilities of any electrical corporation that has an obligation to provide electric distribution service within the area to be served by the irrigation district.

(b)The commission approves a service area agreement between the irrigation district and the electrical corporation pursuant to Sections 8101 to 8108, inclusive, which service area agreement provides that the electrical corporation may not provide electric distribution service in the area to be served by the irrigation district and that the irrigation district may not provide electric distribution service in the remainder of the electrical corporation’s service territory.

(c)The commission relieves the electrical corporation of its obligation to serve within the area to be served by the irrigation district.

§ 9610

Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 159, Sec. 177. Effective January 1, 2002.

Commencing on January 1, 2001, and continuing through December 31, 2025, inclusive, all of the following shall apply:

(a)An electrical corporation may not provide electric transmission or distribution service to retail customers in either of the following areas:

(1)The Modesto Irrigation District electric service area as defined in the August 15, 1940, Purchase of Properties agreement between Modesto Irrigation District and Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

(2)The Mountain House Community Services District as defined in the master specific plan adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Joaquin on November 10, 1994.

(b)(1) Within the purchase zone as described in Exhibit “B” of The Asset Sale Agreement By and Between Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Modesto Irrigation District Dated July 23, 1997, contained in Public Utilities Commission Application Number 97-07-030, Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Modesto Irrigation District may each provide electric transmission and distribution service to retail customers. The area described in this subdivision shall be considered to be within both Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s and Modesto Irrigation District’s electric service area.

(2)The Legislature recognizes that electrical corporations and irrigation districts may each construct infrastructure, and that the infrastructure may, in some cases, be duplicative. In those cases, the Legislature encourages irrigation districts and electrical corporations to enter into agreements pursuant to Sections 8101 to 8108, inclusive, where those agreements further the interests of the state as set forth in Section 8101.

(c)Modesto Irrigation District may provide up to 8 megawatts of peak sales to Contra Costa Water District for delivery to its Old River Intake Facility and Rock Slough Pumping Plant.

(d)Except as provided in subdivisions (a), (b), and (c), Modesto Irrigation District may not provide electric transmission or distribution service to retail customers in the territory of Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

§ 9611

Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 1042, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 2001.

Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 56100) of Part 1 of Division 3 of the Government Code does not apply to electric service provided by the Modesto Irrigation District within the geographic areas described in subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 9610.

§ 9612

Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 1042, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 2001.

The Legislature finds and declares that the policies stated in Section 8101 to 8108, inclusive, would be furthered and that it would be in the best interests of the state, and not incompatible with the public interest, if an agreement embodying the provisions of Section 9610 were to be approved by the commission. The Legislature hereby encourages the Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Modesto Irrigation District to agree on the terms of an agreement embodying the provisions of Section 9610, and encourages the commission to approve that agreement to the extent that the agreement is consistent with the policies of this state.

§ 9614

Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 615, Sec. 402. (AB 474) Effective January 1, 2022. Operative January 1, 2023, pursuant to Section 463 of Stats. 2021, Ch. 615.

(a)Beginning January 15, 2002, and at least once monthly thereafter, a local publicly owned electric utility shall notify each air pollution control district and air quality management district of the name and address of each entity within the district’s boundaries within the local publicly owned electric utility’s control or service area with whom the utility enters into an interruptible service contract or similar arrangement.

(b)For the purposes of this section, “interruptible service contract or similar arrangement” means any arrangement in which a nonresidential electrical customer agrees to reduce or consider reducing its electrical

consumption during periods of peak demand or at the request of the local publicly owned electric utility in exchange for compensation, or for assurances not to be blacked out or other similar nonmonetary assurances.

(c)The local air pollution control district or air quality management district shall maintain in a confidential manner the information received pursuant to this section. However, nothing in this subdivision shall affect the applicability of Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code, or of any other similar open records statute or ordinance, to information provided pursuant to this section.

§ 9615

Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 606, Sec. 17. (AB 2227) Effective January 1, 2013.

Each local publicly owned electric utility, in procuring energy to serve the load of its retail end-use customers, shall first acquire all available energy efficiency and demand reduction resources that are cost effective, reliable, and feasible.

§ 9616

Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 814, Sec. 4. (SB 801) Effective January 1, 2018.

(a)To the extent that doing so is cost effective, a local publicly owned electric utility providing electric service to 250,000 or more customers within the Los Angeles Basin shall maximize the use of demand response, renewable energy resources, and energy efficiency to reduce demand in the area where electrical reliability has been impacted as a result of reductions in gas storage capacity and gas deliverability resulting from the well failure at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility first reported to the commission in October 2015.

(b)For purposes of this section, “Los Angeles Basin” means the area identified as the “Aliso Canyon Delivery Area” on page 11 of the Aliso Canyon Risk Assessment Technical Report, dated April 5,

2016.

§ 9618

Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 615, Sec. 403. (AB 474) Effective January 1, 2022. Operative January 1, 2023, pursuant to Section 463 of Stats. 2021, Ch. 615.

(a)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a local publicly owned electric utility that provides electric service to 250,000 or more customers within the Los Angeles Basin shall make publicly available, upon request of any person, electrical grid data necessary or useful to enable distributed energy resource providers to target solutions that support reliability in the area where electrical reliability has been impacted as a result of reductions in gas storage capacity and gas deliverability resulting from the well failure at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility first reported to the commission in October 2015.

(2)A local publicly owned electric utility

shall not make data available pursuant to paragraph (1) that is prohibited from being disclosed pursuant to state or federal law.

(3)The data made available pursuant to this subdivision shall be available pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code), commencing within 60 days of the effective date of this section.

§ 9620

Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 367, Sec. 11. (AB 1373) Effective October 7, 2023.

(a)Each local publicly owned electric utility serving end-use customers shall prudently plan for and procure resources that are adequate to meet its planning reserve margin and peak demand and operating reserves, sufficient to provide reliable electric service to its customers. Customer generation located on the customer’s site or providing electric service through arrangements authorized by Section 218, shall not be subject to these requirements if the customer generation, or the load it serves, meets one of the following criteria:

(1)It takes standby service from the local publicly owned electric utility on a rate schedule that provides for adequate backup planning and operating reserves for the standby customer class.

(2)It is not physically interconnected to the electric transmission or distribution grid, so that, if the customer generation fails, backup power is not supplied from the electricity grid.

(3)There is physical assurance that the load served by the customer generation will be curtailed concurrently and commensurately with an outage of the customer generation.

(b)Each local publicly owned electric utility serving end-use customers shall, at a minimum, meet the most recent minimum planning reserve and reliability criteria approved by the Board of Trustees of the Western Systems Coordinating Council or the Western Electricity Coordinating Council.

(c)Each local publicly owned electric utility shall prudently plan for and procure energy storage systems that

are adequate to meet the requirements of Section 2836.

(d)A local publicly owned electric utility serving end-use customers shall, upon request, provide the Energy Commission with any information the Energy Commission determines is necessary to evaluate the progress made by the local publicly owned electric utility in meeting the requirements of this section, consistent with the annual targets established pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 25310 of the Public Resources Code.

(e)The Energy Commission shall report to the Legislature, to be included in each integrated energy policy report prepared pursuant to Section 25302 of the Public Resources Code, regarding the progress made by each local publicly owned electric utility serving end-use customers in meeting the requirements of this section.

(f)A local

publicly owned electric utility may meet its minimum planning reserve margin through individual contractual procurement or through an aggregated or pooled portfolio of resources if that aggregation or pooling is defined in a contractual arrangement and each participating local publicly owned electric utility meets its individual minimum planning reserve margin based on its share of the resource portfolio pool.

§ 9621

Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 138, Sec. 1. (SB 437) Effective January 1, 2022.

(a)This section shall apply to a local publicly owned electric utility with an annual electrical demand exceeding 700 gigawatthours, as determined on a three-year average commencing January 1, 2013.

(b)On or before January 1, 2019, the governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility shall adopt an integrated resource plan and a process for updating the plan at least once every five years to ensure the utility achieves all of the following:

(1)Meets the greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets established by the State Air Resources Board, in coordination with the commission and the Energy Commission, for the

electricity sector and each local publicly owned electric utility that reflect the electricity sector’s percentage in achieving the economywide greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030.

(2)Ensures procurement of at least 50 percent eligible renewable energy resources by 2030 consistent with Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division 1.

(3)Meets the goals specified in subparagraphs (D) to (H), inclusive, of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 454.52, and the goal specified in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 454.52, as that goal is applicable to each local publicly owned electric utility. A local publicly owned electric utility shall not, solely by reason of this

paragraph, be subject to requirements otherwise imposed on electrical corporations.

(4)In furtherance of the carbon neutrality goals set forth in Executive Order B-55-18 To Achieve Carbon Neutrality (September 10, 2018), each updated integrated resource plan shall include, as applicable, details of the utility’s electrical service rate design that support transportation

electrification, and existing or planned incentives to support transportation electrification, including rebates. The rate design shall include details for all applicable transportation sectors, including, but not limited to, on-road and off-road vehicles in the light-, medium-, and heavy-duty

sectors. Each integrated resource plan shall also include information about the utility’s customer education and outreach efforts being implemented to inform utility customers of available incentives and decisionmaking tools, such as cost calculators or cost estimates that can assist customers in predicting the cost of paying for electricity for these vehicles.

(c)In furtherance of the requirements of subdivision (b), the governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility shall consider the role of existing renewable generation, grid operational efficiencies, energy storage, and distributed energy resources, including energy efficiency, in helping to ensure each utility meets energy needs and reliability needs in hours to encompass the hour of peak demand of electricity, excluding demand met by variable renewable generation

directly connected to a California balancing authority, as defined in Section 399.12, while reducing the need for new electricity generation resources and new transmission resources in achieving the state’s energy goals at the least cost to ratepayers.

(d)(1) The integrated resource plan shall address procurement for the following:

(A) Energy efficiency and demand response resources pursuant to Section 9615.

(B) Energy storage requirements pursuant to Chapter 7.7 (commencing with Section 2835) of Part 2 of Division 1.

(D) A diversified

procurement portfolio consisting of both short-term and long-term electricity, electricity-related, and demand response products.

(E) The resource adequacy requirements established pursuant to Section 9620.

(2)(A) The governing board of the local publicly owned electric utility may authorize all source procurement that includes various resource types, including demand-side resources, supply side resources, and resources that may be either demand-side resources or supply side resources, to ensure that the local publicly owned electric utility procures the optimum resource mix that meets the objectives of subdivision (b).

(B)The governing board may authorize procurement of resource types

that will reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector and meet the other goals specified in subdivision (b), but due to the nature of the technology or fuel source may not compete favorably in price against other resources over the time period of the integrated resource plan.

(e)A local publicly owned electric utility shall satisfy the notice and public disclosure requirements of subdivision (f) of Section 399.30 with respect to any integrated resource plan or plan update it considers.

§ 9622

Added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 547, Sec. 36. (SB 350) Effective January 1, 2016.

(a)Integrated resource plans and plan updates adopted pursuant to Section 9621 shall be submitted to the Energy Commission.

(b)The Energy Commission shall review the integrated resource plans and plan updates. If the Energy Commission determines an integrated resource plan or plan update is inconsistent with the requirements of Section 9621, the Energy Commission shall provide recommendations to correct the deficiencies.

(c)The Energy Commission may adopt guidelines to govern the submission of information and data and reports needed to support the Energy Commission’s review of the utility’s integrated

resource plan pursuant to this section at a publicly noticed meeting offering

all interested parties an opportunity to comment. The Energy Commission shall provide written public notice of not less than 30 days for the initial adoption of guidelines and not less than 10 days for the subsequent adoption of substantive changes. Notwithstanding any other law, any guidelines adopted pursuant to this section shall be exempt from the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

§ 9625

Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 354, Sec. 4. (AB 2700) Effective January 1, 2023.

(a)In its relevant distribution planning process, a local publicly owned electric utility shall consider the fleet data produced by the Energy Commission pursuant to Section 25328 of the Public Resources Code, and other available data, to facilitate the readiness of their distribution systems to support the level of electric vehicle charging anticipated by Executive Orders No. B-48-18 and N-79-20, the Energy Commission’s integrated energy policy report adopted pursuant to Section 25302 of the Public Resources Code, the Energy Commission’s assessment prepared pursuant to Section 25229 of the Public Resources Code, and relevant State Air Resources Board regulations. The local publicly owned electric utility’s consideration

shall also include, as applicable and available, other local plans related to electric vehicle charging, including air quality management plans, regional seaport plans, regional transportation plans, and sustainable communities strategies.

(b)A local publicly owned electric utility shall identify any distribution investments made pursuant to this section in its integrated resource plan adopted pursuant to Section 9621.