Item 7
1 VALLEY CLEAN ENERGY ALLIANCE
Staff Report – Item 7
To: Board of Directors
From: Mark Fenstermaker, Pacific Policy Group
Subject: Legislative Update – Pacific Policy Group
Date: October 12, 2023
______________________________________________________________________________ Staff, VCE’s lobby services consultant at Pacific Policy Group, and the Community Advisory Committee’s Legislative - Regulatory Task Group continue to meet and discuss legislative matters. Below is a summary of recent activities in the California Legislature and Administration.
The 2023 legislative session concluded on September 14 and Governor Newsom has until October 14 to sign or veto all of the bills put on his desk. One such bill for the Governor to decide upon is AB 1373 (Garcia), the policy bill that supplanted the Governor’s trailer bill proposal to authorize the Department of Water Resources to take on central procurement, amongst other provisions. Lobbying efforts by CalCCA and individual CCAs, including VCE, shaped the policy to ensure CCAs maintain their procurement autonomy and limit the types of resources that DWR may procure. While the language does not explicitly limit DWR to procuring offshore wind or geothermal resources from the Salton Sea, those two categories align with the limitations on the types of resources that can be procured while solar and terrestrial wind do not. Importantly, VCE, as well as CalCCA and other CCAs, ended up in a “neutral” position after working out amendments with the Governor’s Office, the author, and the relevant policy committees. Senator Dodd played an important role during negotiations earlier in the summer that prevented previous, harmful iterations of the proposed policy from advancing and VCE has appreciated his representation on this legislation.
The Legislature will reconvene on January 3, 2024, and the 2024 session will run through August 31, 2024. The most pressing items between now and the beginning of the next session are how the leadership changes in both houses affect committee chairpersonships and committee makeups. Assembly Speaker Rivas made very few committee changes once he assumed the Speakership, but changes are anticipated in 2024. Incoming Senate Pro Tem McGuire may also make changes to committees once he takes over from current Pro Tem Atkins. There are many legislators terming out in 2024 or running for other office, so the carousel of incoming and outgoing legislators over the next 18 months will weigh on the decisions of the new leaders.
The following chart provides an overview of bills that staff, Pacific Policy Group, and the Community Advisory Committee’s Legislative - Regulatory Task Group monitored and engaged on throughout the year.
Item 7
2 Measure Summary Outcome VCE
Position
CalCCA
Position
AB 1373
(Garcia)
Authorizes the Department of Water
Resources to act as a Central
Procurement Entity Passed Legislature
Oppose
Unless
Amended;
Neutral
Oppose
Unless
Amended;
Neutral
AB 50
(Wood)
Requires the CPUC to determine
appropriate timelines for IOUs to
energize customers. Passed Legislature Support Support
AB 538
(Holden)
Would allow the CAISO to seek the
creation of a regional Western grid.
2-year bill –
Held in Asm.
Appropriations
None None
AB 1567
(Garcia)
Proposes a $15.9 billion water and
climate resilience general obligation
bond be placed before the voters in
the next election. Includes $2 billion
for clean energy projects.
2-year bill –
Held in Sen. Natural
Resources & Water
None None
SB 867
(Allen)
Proposes a $15.9 billion water and
climate resilience general obligation
bond be placed before the voters in
the next election. Includes $2 billion
for clean energy projects.
2-year bill –
Held in Asm. Natural
Resources
None None
AB 557
(Hart)
Eliminates the Jan. 1, 2024, sunset on
the ability of local bodies to use
teleconferencing during a declared
state of emergency.
Passed Legislature None None
SB 537
(Becker)
Would allow board members of
multijurisdictional, cross-county
local agencies residing more than
40 miles from the public meeting
to attend public meetings remotely
without being accessible to the
public.
2-year bill –
held on Asm. Floor None
None
(Peninsula
Sponsored,
Sonoma
Supported)
AB 625
(Aguiar-Curry)
Extends the sunset date of the
Bioenergy Market Adjusting Tariff
(BioMAT) program as proposed in
Public Utilities Code Section
399.20(f)(6) amongst other
provisions.
Dead - Held in Asm.
Appropriations
Suspense
Support
None
(MCE,
Sonoma,
Pioneer,
Supported)
SB 688
(Padilla)
Creates a grant program for piloting
projects to advance agrivoltaic
systems.
Dead – Held in Asm.
Appropriations
Suspense
None None