Electricity: procurement: generation from biomass.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law requires electrical corporations, in addition to other requirements to procure generating capacity from bioenergy projects, to collectively procure, by December 1, 2023, their proportionate share of 125 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from bioenergy projects that commenced operations before June 1, 2013, and that use certain feedstocks. This bill would extend that procurement deadline to July 1, 2025. Existing law requires electrical corporations, local publicly owned electric utilities, and community choice aggregators with contracts to procure electricity generated from biomass that expire on or before December 31, 2028, to seek to amend the contracts or to seek approval for new contracts that include expiration dates 5 years later than the expiration dates in the contracts that were operative in 2022. Existing law specifies that this requirement does not apply to biomass facilities located in federal severe or extreme nonattainment areas for particulate matter or ozone. This bill would require those entities to seek to amend the contracts or seek approval for new contracts to include expiration dates at least 5 years later, rather than expiration dates 5 years later, than the expiration dates in the contracts that were operative in 2022. The bill would specify that this contracting requirement applies to a biomass facility located in an area that voluntarily opts for severe or extreme nonattainment status for particulate matter or ozone but the air district has determined that the continued operation of the facility does not impede the air district's ability to meet its applicable attainment deadline. This bill would prohibit the extension of a contract between an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, or community choice aggregator and a biomass generator that is located in the Sacramento federal ozone nonattainment area unless the biomass generator first obtains a letter or certificate from the air district with jurisdiction over the biomass generator that states that the Sacramento federal ozone nonattainment area voluntarily opted to be classified in one or more federal standards in a severe or extreme nonattainment zone and that the continued operation of the facility does not impede the air district's ability to meet its applicable requirements. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Sacramento federal ozone nonattainment area. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 399.20.3 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2276 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2276 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. Under existing law a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because a provision of this bill would be a part of the act, and a violation of a commission action implementing the bill's 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.