Section 381.1 Of Article 7. Research, Environmental, And Low-income Funds From California Public Utilities Code >> Division 1. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 2.3. >> Article 7.
381.1
. (a) No later than July 15, 2003, the commission shall
establish policies and procedures by which any party, including, but
not limited to, a local entity that establishes a community choice
aggregation program, may apply to become administrators for
cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation programs
established pursuant to Section 381. In determining whether to
approve an application to become administrators and subject to an
aggregator's right to elect to become an administrator pursuant to
subdivision (f), the commission shall consider the value of program
continuity and planning certainty and the value of allowing
competitive opportunities for potentially new administrators. The
commission shall weigh the benefits of the party's proposed program
to ensure that the program meets the following objectives:
(1) Is consistent with the goals of the existing programs
established pursuant to Section 381.
(2) Advances the public interest in maximizing cost-effective
electricity savings and related benefits.
(3) Accommodates the need for broader statewide or regional
programs.
(b) All audit and reporting requirements established by the
commission pursuant to Section 381 and other statutes shall apply to
the parties chosen as administrators under this section.
(c) If a community choice aggregator is not the administrator of
energy efficiency and conservation programs for which its customers
are eligible, the commission shall require the administrator of
cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation programs to direct
a proportional share of its approved energy efficiency program
activities for which the community choice aggregator's customers are
eligible, to the community choice aggregator's territory without
regard to customer class. To the extent that energy efficiency and
conservation programs are targeted to specific locations to avoid or
defer transmission or distribution system upgrades, the targeted
expenditures shall continue irrespective of whether the loads in
those locations are served by an aggregator or by an electrical
corporation. The commission shall also direct the administrator to
work with the community choice aggregator, to provide advance
information where appropriate about the likely impacts of energy
efficiency programs and to accommodate any unique community program
needs by placing more, or less, emphasis on particular approved
programs to the extent that these special shifts in emphasis in no
way diminish the effectiveness of broader statewide or regional
programs. If the community choice aggregator proposes energy
efficiency programs other than programs already approved for
implementation in its territory, it shall do so under established
commission policies and procedures. The commission may order an
adjustment to the share of energy efficiency program activities
directed to a community choice aggregator's territory if necessary to
ensure an equitable and cost-effective allocation of energy
efficiency program activities.
(d) The commission shall establish an impartial process for making
the determination of whether a third party, including a community
choice aggregator, may become administrators for cost-effective
energy efficiency and conservation programs pursuant to subdivision
(a), and shall not delegate or otherwise transfer the commission's
authority to make this determination for a community choice
aggregator to an electrical corporation.
(e) The impartial process established by the commission shall
allow a registered community choice aggregator to elect to become the
administrator of funds collected from the aggregator's electric
service customers and collected through a nonbypassable charge
authorized by the commission, for cost-effective energy efficiency
and conservation programs, except those funds collected for broader
statewide and regional programs authorized by the commission.
(f) A community choice aggregator electing to become an
administrator shall submit a plan, approved by its governing board,
to the commission for the administration of cost-effective energy
efficiency and conservation programs for the aggregator's electric
service customers that includes funding requirements, a program
description, a cost-effectiveness analysis, and the duration of the
program. The commission shall certify that the plan submitted does
all of the following:
(1) Is consistent with the goals of the programs established
pursuant to this section and Section 399.4.
(2) Advances the public interest in maximizing cost-effective
electricity savings and related benefits.
(3) Accommodates the need for broader statewide or regional
programs.
(4) Includes audit and reporting requirements consistent with the
audit and reporting requirements established by the commission
pursuant to this section.
(5) Includes evaluation, measurement, and verification protocols
established by the community choice aggregator.
(6) Includes performance metrics regarding the community choice
aggregator's achievement of the objectives listed in paragraphs (1)
to (5), inclusive, and in any previous plan.
(g) If the commission does not certify the plan for the
administration of cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation
programs submitted by a community choice aggregator pursuant to
subdivision (f), the community choice aggregator electing to
administer these programs may submit an amended plan to the
commission for certification. No moneys may be released to a
community choice aggregator unless the commission certifies the plan
pursuant to subdivision (f).