Legislative Update: Two important California CLEAN bills closer to law
The Clean Coalition is excited by these important milestones and will continue its work ensuring the bills become law.
With the Clean Coalition’s support, two important pieces of CLEAN legislation may soon become California law. SB 1332, designed to speed up the implementation of SB 32 CLEAN Programs, passed the State Senate on May 24. Less than a week later, Assembly Bill (AB) 1990, which would create a CLEAN Program targeting low-income California communities, passed the State Assembly.
SB 1332, a Clean Coalition-sponsored bill, would set a start date for Publicly Owned Utilities (POUs) to launch their SB 32 CLEAN Programs and direct POUs to consider locational and environmental benefits in their SB 32 pricing. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 21-12 and then passed the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee by a vote of 9-4 on June 18. The Clean Coalition expects this bill to become law and estimates that this legislative victory will result in an additional 100 MW of CLEAN Program capacity available in California by mid-2013.
AB 1990, also known as the “Solar for All” bill, was approved by the State Assembly by a margin of 49-27 and will now head to the Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications committee. The legislation – introduced by Assemblyman Paul Fong of Cupertino, California and sponsored by the California Environmental Justice Alliance – calls for a CLEAN Program designed specifically to help low-income communities in California access clean local energy. AB 1990 would bring another 375 MW of clean local energy online in California by 2020. Eligible projects must be 500 kW or smaller, with a minimum contract term of 20 years. The bill would also include a diverse set of eligible technologies, including solar PV, landfill gas, wind, and geothermal. The Clean Coalition has been a leading policy partner in advancing this bill, pairing its CLEAN policy design expertise with the grassroots organizing strength of the state’s leading environmental justice organizations.
The Clean Coalition is excited by these important milestones and will continue its work ensuring the bills become law.
