Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007.

The Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007 makes findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to the promotion of solar water heating systems and other technologies that reduce natural gas demand and defines terms for purposes of the act. The act requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to evaluate data available from a specified pilot program, and, if it makes a specified determination, to design and implement a program of incentives for the installation of 200,000 solar water heating systems, as defined, in homes and businesses throughout the state by 2017. The act requires the PUC, in consultation with the State Energy Resources and Conservation Commission and interested members of the public, to establish eligibility criteria for the solar water heating systems receiving gas customer funded incentives. The act requires the PUC to establish conditions on those incentives. The act defines a solar water heating system as a solar energy device that has the primary purpose of reducing demand for natural gas through water heating, space heating, or other methods of capturing energy from the sun to reduce natural gas consumption in a home, business, or any building receiving natural gas sold or transported for consumption in this state and that meets or exceeds the eligibility criteria. The act excludes solar pool heating systems from that definition. This bill would expand the definition of a solar water heating system to include a facility meeting the specified requirements and would qualify the exclusion from the definition of a solar water heating system as being limited to a single-family residential solar pool heating system. The bill would delete the requirement that the PUC evaluate data available from a specified pilot program before it makes a specified determination to design and implement a program of incentives for the installation of 200,000 solar water heating systems in homes and business throughout the state by 2017. The bill would revise certain eligibility criteria as being applicable to installation of solar water heating systems at government, nonprofit, and educational sites and would require the PUC to determine an appropriate division of funds between solar water heating systems that are and are not solar pool heating systems. The bill would require the PUC, not later than February 1, 2014, to complete a review of whether the rebate levels established by the PUC will be sufficient to spur investment to reach the goals of the program and to report the results of the review to the Legislature. The bill would require the PUC to require a gas corporation or 3rd-party administrator to implement the changes made to the act by the bill not later than July 1, 2013. The bill would make other technical, nonsubstantive changes to the act. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime. Because the duties of gas corporations pursuant to the Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007 would be expanded by this bill, a decision or order of the PUC would be required to implement the program requirements, a violation of which would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of a crime. The Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007 requires the governing body of each publicly owned utility providing gas service to retail end-use gas customers to adopt, implement, and finance a solar water heating system incentive program to meet certain requirements. By expanding the definition of a solar water heating system to include a facility meeting the specified requirements and qualifying the exclusion from the definition of a solar water heating system as being limited to a single-family residential solar pool heating system, 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 specified reasons.