MP1/avs 12/16/2004
BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Order Instituting Rulemaking to Implement the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program.
Rulemaking 04-04-026
(Filed April 22, 2004)
ASSIGNED COMMISSIONER'S RULING AND SCOPING MEMO ESTABLISHING SCHEDULE FOR PHASE TWO OF THE RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD PROCEEDING
This scoping memo sets forth the next steps to be taken in this proceeding in order to continue this Rulemaking's implementation of the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) program. This Scoping Memo and Ruling follows two prehearing conferences (PHCs) held on May 5, 2004 and November 3, 2004, at which the parties discussed the schedule in this proceeding. Pursuant to Pub. Util. Code § 1701.1(b), this ruling further determines the issues to be considered in the proceeding as well as procedures and the timetable for their resolution, and addresses other procedural matters. Three major steps will occur in the immediate future: we require briefing on certain legal issues that require immediate attention, the utilities are directed to prepare and file RPS plans, and we ask for conceptual proposals to advance our progress in two important areas that need further development.
Issues to be Briefed
Several important issues require resolution of primarily legal (rather than factual) questions, or can be developed and addressed best through briefing. Those issues are: 1) participation of Electric Service Providers (ESPs) and Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) in the RPS program; 2) participation of small and multi-jurisdictional utilities in the RPS program; 3) treatment of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) associated with generation from Qualifying Facilities (QFs) for which the contract does not expressly identify the RECs or their transfer of ownership from the QF to the IOU; and 4) refinement of reporting requirements, including issues relating to line loss.
Parties will be given the opportunity to submit opening and reply briefs on any or all of these issues. On the first two issues (re ESP/CCA/other utility participation in the RPS program), we are looking for comprehensive and detailed analyses of the legal foundation upon which the Commission can establish rules governing RPS participation for these entities. Actual implementation of their participation will occur in a second decision, but we intend to establish the fundamental basis for their participation from the briefs received. Any and all issues that need to be addressed and resolved for ESP/CCA and small and multi-jurisdictional utility participation in the RPS program should accordingly be raised in the briefs.
On the third issue - treatment of RECs associated with generation from QFs presently under contract with the Utilities - we wish to ensure that such RECs be counted towards California's RPS and not be double counted for another purpose (e.g. the QF RECs should not be counted towards regulatory compliance in another region or to meet any other market claim). After many years of diligent effort to develop the renewable QF industry in California, this renewable generation should be counted towards meeting the state's RPS goals. Accordingly, we intend to resolve this issue promptly. Parties should provide a description of how such RECs should be treated for purposes of the RPS program. In doing so, parties should provide an analytical framework and foundation for their proposals, including reference to previous Commission and state of California actions. Comments that merely assert an ownership interest in particular RECs as an already-established fact are not helpful.
On the fourth issue - RPS compliance reporting requirements - we have received some suggestions for adding more specificity and greater uniformity to the reporting requirements. To facilitate the briefing of this issue, parties should use the Green Power Institute's (Green Power) proposed changes to the RPS reporting requirements1 (see Appendix A & B) as a starting point. Parties should also address (1) Pacific Gas and Electric Company's (PG&E's) request to change the RPS compliance reporting dates from Feb 1 - July 1 to March 1 - August 1;2 (2) Green Power's request that the utilities publicly disclose their annual procurement target (APT) baseline figures, down to the level of each plant and generation technology;3 and (3) the legal and implementation issues associated with factoring line losses into the APT calculation.
Opening briefs on the four issues above are due on January 10, 2005, with reply briefs due on January 20, 2005. We anticipate having a draft decision on these issues placed on the Commission's Agenda in April, 2005.
1 Green Power's Petition to Modify Decision (D.) 03-06-071 August 12, 2004.
2 PHC Statement on Phase 2 Issues of PG&E, p.5.
3 Green Power's Petition to Modify, supra,
