Section 399.21 Of Article 16. California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program From California Public Utilities Code >> Division 1. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 2.3. >> Article 16.
399.21
. (a) The commission, by rule, shall authorize the use of
renewable energy credits to satisfy the renewables portfolio standard
procurement requirements established pursuant to this article,
subject to the following conditions:
(1) The commission and the Energy Commission shall ensure that the
tracking system established pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
399.25, is operational, is capable of independently verifying that
electricity earning the credit is generated by an eligible renewable
energy resource, and can ensure that renewable energy credits shall
not be double counted by any seller of electricity within the service
territory of the WECC.
(2) Each renewable energy credit shall be counted only once for
compliance with the renewables portfolio standard of this state or
any other state, or for verifying retail product claims in this state
or any other state.
(3) All revenues received by an electrical corporation for the
sale of a renewable energy credit shall be credited to the benefit of
ratepayers.
(4) Renewable energy credits shall not be created for electricity
generated pursuant to any electricity purchase contract with a retail
seller or a local publicly owned electric utility executed before
January 1, 2005, unless the contract contains explicit terms and
conditions specifying the ownership or disposition of those credits.
Procurement under those contracts shall be tracked through the
accounting system described in subdivision (b) of Section 399.25 and
included in the quantity of eligible renewable energy resources of
the purchasing retail seller pursuant to Section 399.15.
(5) Renewable energy credits shall not be created for electricity
generated under any electricity purchase contract executed after
January 1, 2005, pursuant to the federal Public Utility Regulatory
Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 2601 et seq.). Procurement under
the electricity purchase contracts shall be tracked through the
accounting system implemented by the Energy Commission pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 399.25 and count toward the renewables
portfolio standard procurement requirements of the purchasing retail
seller.
(6) Nothing in the amendments to this article made by the Clean
Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015 (Senate Bill 350 of the
2015-16 Regular Session) is intended to change commission Decision
11-12-052 regarding the classification of renewable energy credits
from generation on the customer side of the meter.
(7) A renewable energy credit shall not be eligible for compliance
with a renewables portfolio standard procurement requirement unless
it is retired in the tracking system established pursuant to
subdivision (c) of Section 399.25 by the retail seller or local
publicly owned electric utility within 36 months from the initial
date of generation of the associated electricity.
(b) The commission shall allow an electrical corporation to
recover the reasonable costs of purchasing, selling, and
administering renewable energy credit contracts in rates.