Cal. PRC § 25310 — California Code / Code prc / Division 15 / Chapter 4 / Section 25310
Section 25310
Status: in_force

(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) “End use” means the purpose for which energy is used, including, but not limited to, heating, cooling, or lighting, or class of energy uses upon which an energy efficiency program is focused, typically categorized by equipment purpose, equipment energy use intensity, or building type.

(2) “Energy efficiency savings” means reduced electricity or natural gas usage produced either by the installation of an energy efficiency measure or the adoption of an energy efficiency practice that maintains at least the same level of end-use service or by conservation actions that reduce energy use by reducing the quantity of baseline energy services demanded.

(b) On or before November 1, 2007, and by November 1 of every third year thereafter, the commission in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission and local publicly owned electric utilities, in a public process that allows input from other stakeholders, shall develop a statewide estimate of all potentially achievable cost-effective electricity and natural gas efficiency savings and establish targets for statewide annual energy efficiency savings and demand reduction for the next 10-year period. The commission shall base its estimate at least in part on information developed pursuant to Sections 454.55, 454.56, 715, 9505, 9615, and 9615.5 of the Public Utilities Code. The commission shall, for each electrical corporation and each gas corporation, include in the integrated energy policy report, a comparison of the public utility’s annual targets established pursuant to Sections 454.55 and 454.56, and the public utility’s actual energy efficiency savings and demand reductions.

(c) (1) On or before November 1, 2017, the commission, in collaboration with the Public Utilities Commission and local publicly owned electric utilities, in a public process that allows input from other stakeholders, shall establish annual targets for statewide energy efficiency savings and demand reduction that will achieve a cumulative doubling of statewide energy efficiency savings in electricity and natural gas final end uses of retail customers by January 1, 2030. The commission shall base the targets on a doubling of the midcase estimate of additional achievable energy efficiency savings, as contained in the California Energy Demand Updated Forecast, 2015-2025, adopted by the commission, extended to 2030 using an average annual growth rate, and the targets adopted by local publicly owned electric utilities pursuant to Section 9505 of the Public Utilities Code, extended to 2030 using an average annual growth rate, to the extent doing so is cost effective, feasible, and will not adversely impact public health and safety.

(2) The commission may establish targets for the purposes of paragraph (1) that aggregate energy efficiency savings from both electricity and natural gas final end uses. Before establishing aggregate targets, the commission shall, in a public process that allows input from other stakeholders, adopt a methodology for aggregating electricity and natural gas final end-use energy efficiency savings in a consistent manner based on source of energy reduction and other relevant factors.

(3) In establishing the targets pursuant to paragraph (1), the commission shall assess the hourly and seasonal impact on statewide and local electricity demand.

(4) In assessing the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency savings for the purposes of paragraph (1), the commission and the Public Utilities Commission shall consider the results of energy efficiency potential studies that are not restricted by previous levels of utility energy efficiency savings.

(5) The energy efficiency savings and demand reduction reported for the purposes of achieving the targets established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be measured taking into consideration the overall reduction in normalized metered electricity and natural gas consumption where these measurement techniques are feasible and cost effective.

(d) The targets established in subdivision (c) may be achieved through energy efficiency savings and demand reduction resulting from a variety of programs that include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Appliance and building energy efficiency standards developed and adopted pursuant to Section 25402.

(2) A comprehensive program to achieve greater energy efficiency savings in California’s existing residential and nonresidential building stock pursuant to Section 25943.

(3) Programs funded and authorized pursuant to the California Clean Energy Job Creation Act (Division 16.3 (commencing with Section 26200)).

(4) Programs funded by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund established pursuant to Section 16428.8 of the Government Code.

(5) Programs funded and authorized pursuant to this division.

(6) Programs of electrical or gas corporations, or community choice aggregators, that provide financial incentives, rebates, technical assistance, and support to their customers to increase energy efficiency, authorized by the Public Utilities Commission.

(7) Programs of local publicly owned electric utilities that provide financial incentives, rebates, technical assistance, and support to their customers to increase energy efficiency pursuant to Section 385 of the Public Utilities Code.

(8) Programs of electrical or gas corporations, local publicly owned electric utilities, or community choice aggregators, that achieve energy efficiency savings through operational, behavioral, and retrocommissioning activities.

(9) Programs that save energy in final end uses by reducing distribution feeder service voltage, known as conservation voltage reduction.

(10) Programs that save energy in final end uses by using cleaner fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as measured on a lifecycle basis from the provision of energy services.

(11) Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs.

(e) Beginning with the 2019 edition of the integrated energy policy report and every two years thereafter, the commission shall provide recommendations and an update on progress toward achieving a doubling of energy efficiency savings in electricity and natural gas final end uses of retail customers by January 1, 2030, pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c). The commission shall also include with the recommendations and update both of the following:

(1) An assessment of the effect of energy efficiency savings on electricity demand statewide, in local service territories, and on an hourly and seasonal basis.

(2) Specific strategies for, and an update on, progress toward maximizing the contribution of energy efficiency savings in disadvantaged communities identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.